Future of Welsh 'Fairy-like' castle secure after being bought by trust

Gwrych Castle is a Grade I listed 19th-century country house near Abergele in Conwy County Borough (Welsh: Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy), in the north of Wales. The castle was built between 1810 and 1822. During World War Two, it housed 200 Jewish refugee children as part of Operation Kindertransport. The house had been open to the public until 1985, but after being closed it went into decline. It was bought in 1989 by an American businessman but plans to renovate the building didn't progress. The castle was looted, vandalised and reduced to a derelict shell. Subsequent plans to turn Gwrych Castle into a luxury hotel also failed to materialise. 

Mark Baker, an architectural historian and author, had long campaigned for the preservation of the building and was instrumental in forming the Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust. Since then volunteers have saved sections and signed a lease to look after a large part of the grounds. Although the castle and grounds are currently open daily for visitors, sections of the main building are closed due to its derelict state. After trying to save the building for decades the trust have now been able to secure the funding to buy the property. Just as the building was about to be auctioned off, Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust received grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) and from the Richard Broyd Charitable Trust.

The Gwrych Castle Preservation Trust will now set out plans to renovate the castle and the 250 acres of park and woodland. They described the future of the castle in positive terms and said: "After 50 years of uncertainty and having fallen into a perilous state-of-disrepair, the future of one of Wales's most important and fairytale-like country houses, that was set to become a royal residence, is now secure."