4:30pm Sunday 14th March 2010
Castell Henllys has gained a royal seal of approval.
The north Pembrokeshire Iron Age hill fort is top of the class again after being presented with a third Sandford Award for the quality of the site’s heritage education.
Two Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority staff members travelled to Windsor Castle to accept the Sandford Award for Heritage Education from His Royal Highness the Earl of Wessex KG KCVO on February 15th.
Rhonwen Owen, Castell Henllys site co-ordinator, and Sally Hargraves, one of the contributors to the Castell Henllys educational schools’ programme, collected the award. It recognises excellence in heritage education through work with schools.
Rhonwen said: “Castell Henllys staff are absolutely delighted to have won this prestigious award again.
The award is a benchmark for our schools’ programme and we take on board the recommendations of the judge in order to ensure that the cross curricular programme delivers what schools need.”
Sandford Award judge Gareth Fitzpatrick’s report stated: “The best resource that any site can have is the human one and Castell Henllys is blessed in this respect.
“Castell Henllys is unique in the way it demonstrates and interprets the Iron Age.”
He added: “The academic archaeology has left a legacy of interesting learning programmes that engage visiting children with hands-on experiences of what life could have been like in prehistoric Celtic Wales in ways that satisfy and enhance the demands of the contemporary curriculum.”
Sites which have achieved a 2009 Sandford Award range from urban centres such as the Manchester Jewish Museum and the Science Museum in London, to rural heritage sites like Castell Henllys.
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