Hay Festival Wales, 31May - 10 June, 2012

Hay Castle from the town

The Royal Commission will have a strong presence at this year’s Hay Festival from 31 May to 10 June 2012.  Staff will be at hand throughout the festival on the Hanes Cymru- History Wales stand on the festival field.  The festival sees the launch of Cadw’s latest lavishly illustrated large-format guide, with a talk by Richard Suggett on Thursday 7 June:  From Castell Criccieth to Penarth Fawr: Celebrating the Poets and Carpenters of Late-medieval Wales.

In addition, The Royal Commission will be arranging an exhibition at Hay Castle which draws on the resources of the National Monuments Record of Wales. This will be based at the Castle Gatehouse (formerly the Nepal Bazaar shop) for the duration of the Festival. Hay Castle passed into the ownership of the Hay Castle Trust in 2011. The Trust is a charity formed to conserve this Grade I listed building and to establish a new cultural centre.  The Royal Commission is advising on the interpretation of Castle House, the three-storey mansion built alongside the twelfth century castle keep.Castle House has been considered a Restoration house and conventionally dated to 1660. However re-examination of the architectural detail suggests that it was built before the Civil War, probably during Charles I’s reign.  Earlier this year samples for tree-ring dating analysis were taken from original timbers that had survived two twentieth century fires.  It is hoped that the results will be available in time for the Hay Festival when, on 5 June, Richard Suggett will be leading informal tours of Hay Castle at 12 and 2pm.


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