The Queen’s official residence, Windsor Castle, is to undergo substantial work aimed at improving visitor facilities. The original Entrance Hall will be reinstated and for the first time the State Entrance will be made viewable to the public. A new Visitor Centre and dedicated Learning Centre for school children will be constructed on the grounds, and a Cafe (which was initially trialled several years ago) will become a permenant feature within the 14th Century Undercroft, one of the oldest parts of the castle and an area originally used for the storage of wine and other provisions.
Consideration is being given to improved access to the ground floor State Apartments, and to allow freer movement between rooms, allowing visitors to choose the route that they want to take on their tours.
With Windsor Castle improvements taking an estimated £27m, the remaining £10m will be allocated to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Abbey grounds and forecourt will be redeveloped in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland, and the Abbey Strand buildings which are located just outside the palace gates will be restored and house a Learning Centre.
The Royal Collection Trust is funding the work, which is due to be completed by the end of 2018. Jonathan Marsden, director of the Trust stated “People have been visiting Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse for centuries and now more than 1.5 million do so every year. We want everybody to have a proper sense of arrival, to be able to make choices about how they go about their visits. We will interpret the palaces and collections in new ways, open up new spaces to the public and we’re going to create two purpose-built learning centres.”
Collectively known as ‘The Future Programme’, the refurbishment projects will “improve visitor facilities, interpret the buildings in new ways, create dedicated learning centres and open up new spaces to the public.”
Work is due to begin early next year, with no closure to visitors.
