November 2005

After considerable work, Muncaster has been successful in a bid to the Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) for the project to peel back the years at the Castle, trying to find out the different phases of building and to determine just how old the Castle actually is. The official title of the project is
"The Architectural Heritage of Muncaster Castle."

Experts from English Heritage will carry out most of the detailed investigative work, but volunteers are needed to help with many aspects of the project. During the course of the project, we hope to host a series of public meetings to explain what is happening, and tell people about the research findings. In addition to this, the experts from English Heritage will present a one day workshop on how to study and "read" old buildings, and this will be of interest to anyone with a love of history and archictecture. This day will include an illustrated lecture and site visits to a selection of builidngs in the area, including the Castle itself. Adam Menuge and Ian Goodall of English Heritage are top experts in this field, and we are delighted at the prospect of them working in and around Muncaster over a number of weeks.

At the end of the detailed research phase, a plain English report on the results will be produced, launched and made available at Muncaster. The results will also be used to improve the educational services and interpretation available at Muncaster.

A series of articles and updates on the project will be posted on this website, giving dates and venues for the open meetings. In the meantime, if anyone is interested in volunteering to help with the project please contact Peter Frost-Pennington on 01229 717614 or email peter@muncaster.co.uk