Pendennis Castle ENGLISH HERITAGE TEACHER S KIT. A resource for Travel and Tourism students

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1 make the most of their visit to. BACKGROUND INFORMATION In this section you will find a variety of information on. Topics include: A short history Development as a tourist attraction The work of English Heritage Conservation at Pendennis Presenting the site to visitors Impact on the locality Human resources Visitor services Marketing A short history is a mixture of fortifications spanning over four hundred years. Within the Elizabethan ramparts is one of Henry VIII s castles, part of an internationally important chain of defences built in the 1540s along the south coast in response to the threat of invasion. This threat was from the combined forces of France and Spain who were anxious to restore the authority of the Pope after Henry had taken the role of the Head of the Church of England. Pendennis is amongst the earliest fortifications designed for cannons and originally supported all the functions necessary in artillery defences, such as storage of gun powder, accommodation and kitchens for the garrison. The purpose of the castle s guns was to defend the Falmouth estuary against unauthorised entry or exit by pirates or foreign enemies. In 1596 fear of a second Armada led Queen Elizabeth to improve the defences at Pendennis. A massive rampart enclosing much of the headland was built, within which a large force could gather to counter any attempt to take Pendennis, perhaps as a prelude to a general invasion of England. Fifty years later, in 1646, the castle was besieged by Parliamentary forces, and held out for five months until starvation forced its surrender. Unlike many castles, Pendennis was too important to be deliberately damaged after its capture to prevent future rebellion. During the next three centuries its defences were up-graded, including the installation of more powerful guns. In the early 20th century a large barrack block was built to house a permanently stationed Regiment of Royal Garrison Artillery. As late as the Second World War Pendennis s powerful coast artillery guns protected convoys and warships assembling or seeking shelter in the quiet waters of the estuary. After this, new fighting technology made Pendennis obsolete, and the army

2 make the most of their visit to. left in The 16th century buildings were given into the guardianship of the Ministry of Works for most of the period between the two World Wars, and the whole of the castle was placed in guardianship in Guardianship involves taking over responsibility for care and upkeep. This duty passed to English Heritage in Pendennis Headland is scheduled in its entirety, and the Henrican castle and the barrack block are listed. Pendennis castle is a registered museum, owned by the State and cared for by English Heritage. Its long history of continuous adaptation makes Pendennis nationally significant as an example of the history of fortification, as, although it expanded to meet new needs, very little of the older defences were destroyed. For further historical information regarding the castle, please download the Teacher s Kit which can be accessed via the English Heritage website. allowed access to most of the site, and a small shop was established. The barrack block was converted into a Youth Hostel in 1963 by sub-dividing the barrack rooms. After English Heritage took over the site in 1984, a range of visitor services were installed including a ticket point, car parking, toilets, and an interpretation programme. A new shop was installed in 1994, with a new ticket point two years later. During the half moon battery (an 18th century fortification updated in and again later in 1909 and 1939) was refurbished, and in 1997 a new car park within the Hornworks was created. The later history of is being highlighted as part of a larger initiative called Fortress Falmouth, and this has resulted in new or revamped areas being opened to the public in 1998, including the battery observation post, east bastion, tunnels to the half moon battery, the one gun battery, and the war shelter. An interactive Discovery Centre was opened in Development as a tourist attraction The public were given access to the 16th century buildings at Pendennis between the World Wars when guardianship first passed to the Ministry of Works. After 1956, visitors were In 2000 the Youth Hostel was closed and following funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in 2005, the barrack block was restored and converted to accommodate an education suite, a new exhibition and hospitality areas. The

3 make the most of their visit to. barrack block was built for military purposes and this aspect of the castle s history is explained through displays and a family Activity Zone on the ground floor. In the mid 2000s the sergeant s mess and custodian s house were converted by English Heritage into holiday cottages for tourists. The work of English Heritage English Heritage is a government body responsible to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It identifies the parts of our environment which are architecturally or historically important; buildings are entered on a list (listed buildings); monuments and buried remains onto a schedule (scheduled ancient monuments) and gardens onto a register, (registered parks and gardens). English Heritage has four main aims: To secure the preservation of ancient monuments and historic buildings To promote the preservation of the appearance of conservation areas To promote the public s enjoyment of, and advance their knowledge of ancient monuments and buildings To assist others to conserve historic remains, by providing technical and financial support. English Heritage directly manages over 400 historic properties which are open to visitors. These include pre-historic monuments such as Stonehenge; Roman remains, like villas and defence works; Medieval castles, abbeys and priories; Tudor and Stuart forts; houses and agricultural and industrial buildings. Some are well preserved and others are ruins. Some are very well known and others are important because they reflect the history of their locality. English Heritage conserves these properties. Conservation involves protecting remains from damage and further decay, which may involve renovation work, the renewal of damaged parts. This is different from restoration, which involves carrying out alterations in order to restore the property to its original form. English Heritage also helps the public to understand its properties by providing aids to interpretation. These include exhibitions, audio tours, guidebooks, models, videos, downloadable apps, interactive equipment and panels to help people understand what they are looking at. Conservation at Pendennis When Pendennis was in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works, the Henrican castle and the other 16th

4 make the most of their visit to. century parts had been maintained in good condition, but the late 19th century and 20th century buildings (which came into guardianship in 1956) were not then seen as important, and they were closed up, and some were even demolished to improve the view of Henry s buildings. When English Heritage took over responsibility for the site in 1984, it reversed this policy, taking the stance that the later buildings were an integral part of the story of Pendennis and should be preserved. In the early 1990s, the battery observation post at half moon battery, a two storey concrete building with a wide slot window giving a view of the estuary and coastal area, was found to have a panoramic view painted above the window. This exactly depicted the view from the window as it would have been in the 1940s, its function being to help in identifying landmarks in order to give directions to gunners in the Second World War on lining up their targets. This discovery led to a programme of research and more rigorous conservation of the later buildings, resulting in presenting them as they might have looked when in use. and the surrounding headland, together with St Mawes Castle and St Anthony s Fort on the Roseland Peninsular, form the sites that we know today as Fortress Falmouth. English Heritage has worked with the owners of the other defences, Cornwall County Council, Carrick District Council and the National Trust, to determine a Conservation Plan for the fortress. This acts as supplementary planning guidance for the fortress, and is managed by a Project Board made up of representatives of the bodies which have a stake in the fortress. The condition of English Heritage sites is constantly monitored. In addition, every four to five years English Heritage commissions external architectural consultants to conduct surveys on the condition of its sites. The surveys not only indicate what work needs doing immediately, but also help in planning future conservation policy. The last condition survey at Pendennis was held in 2008: this covered all the existing buildings, and resulted in general maintenance work being carried out, like replacing tiles, and ensuring that all buildings were waterproof. A further examination is due in Presenting the site to visitors There is a souvenir guide, which also includes the Castle of St Mawes. The guide is in English only, although copies were also available in French, but these have been withdrawn owing to poor sales. This is available to buy onsite or via the English Heritage website. A free

5 make the most of their visit to. orientation leaflet is given to each visitor. Free guided tours are available to certain areas of the castle, such as the half moon battery magazine, as part of the admission fee. Visitors are directed to start their tour at the Discovery Centre, a hands on interpretation area, which gives information on the history of Pendennis, and contains interactive displays and models. Interpretation panels are placed at different points around the site, giving information about each location. The half moon battery magazine has the sight and sound experience of being shelled from a cruiser, and other areas on site also provide a visual and audio representation of what they were like when in use. Some also include smells, others are arranged to look as if the soldiers have just been called away, and there is a reconstructed Tudor gun deck with models of soldiers firing the guns. The Royal Artillery Garrison Barracks have been extensively reinterpreted for the public and includes audio-visual elements. The barrack block also accommodates offices for site staff, two education rooms, three hospitality and corporate hire suites (including a commercial kitchen), tearoom and a hands on interpretative centre. Impact on the locality Falmouth is now part of a regeneration area, relying heavily on seasonal employment offered by the tourist industry. It has attracted tourists since the 1860s, and is a popular yachting centre today. There are many pubs, cafes and gift shops, and these are used by visitors to, and the shop at the castle stocks local Cornish products. Most people visit the castle by car, but there is a train service to Falmouth from Truro, which is 12 miles away. Foot passenger ferries operate between Truro and Falmouth, mostly in the summer, stopping at St Mawes and some of the smaller villages. A free familiarisation afternoon is offered to local hoteliers, traders and the local authorities to help promote and raise awareness about the castle. Human resources has one Property Manager, two Property Supervisors, three full-time Historic Property Stewards, two members of the Hospitality Team, four members of the Catering Team and one member of Administrative support. In addition, seasonal staff are recruited to cover the busier summer months. Staff are responsible for cleaning and care of grounds. Maintenance and security staff

6 make the most of their visit to. are all hired in on contract. The Property Manager ensures the smooth running of the site, and works with regional and central departments to co-ordinate policy, marketing, promotion, development and planning. The Property Supervisors are the operational day-to-day managers and are responsible for health and safety and staff issues, including managing the team so that everyone works together to ensure that the public enjoys visiting. The Stewards have five main responsibilities: to project a welcoming image to help visitors appreciate the property and enjoy themselves to keep the site clean, safe and secure to encourage sales to keep records needed by English Heritage. Stewards greet the visitors at the ticket point, take the admission charge, answer any questions, give out the free orientation leaflet or sell the guide books if the visitor wants one. Stewards make themselves available throughout the site to answer questions, direct people, and give information about English Heritage and the benefits of membership. Additional duties include: picking up litter, cleaning, checking the property for deterioration, vandalism and wear and tear, and being aware of health and safety hazards. A Sales Team Member is employed during the busy summer months to encourage visitors to buy membership. Visitor services attracted visitors in English Heritage is aware that the quality of the visitor experience is crucial to the continued success of the castle, and has done much to improve visitor enjoyment by opening new areas and providing more services. A new car park was opened in 1997 within the Hornworks, with space for 75 cars, with an adjacent overflow park for 200. There is a tea room which is open all year round (opening times vary in winter), with seating for 60, and additional seating outside in fine weather. There is no designated play area, but the grounds are large, mostly grass with no restrictions on supervised play or picnics. There are lavatories on site. The shop sells books, and souvenirs on Tudor and Second World War themes, together with English Heritage s range of food and drink. There is onsite parking for people with mobility problems, and there are

7 make the most of their visit to. wheelchair ramps to provide access to the ground floor of Henry s castle. The shop, tea room, barrack block and Discovery Centre are accessible to wheelchair users, as are most of the grounds. There are toilet facilities for disabled people. A brief guide is available in Braille and large print. Pendennis has an Education Centre comprising of two education rooms which are equipped with audio visual facilities, costumes and replica material. Education groups are also able to book on expert led, hands-on Discovery Visits exploring different aspects of the castle s history. Whilst there is a charge of 90 for the Discovery Visits, education groups are able to book a self-led education visit for free which includes use of the Education Centre. There are a range of free online learning resources to support a visit including a Teachers Kit and notes on using the costumes and artefacts. English Heritage has customer service quality standards that cover the following areas: Welcoming Visitor care Dealing with last admissions Introducing and explaining the site Site admissions Using the telephone Specialist enquiries Dealing with commercial photographers and film makers Managing commendations and complaints Media relations. Onsite staff hold Welcome All certificates, with part time staff holding Welcome Host certificates. All staff aim to have a first aid certificate. Marketing English Heritage cares for its sites through regional teams of experts. A regional marketing plan, which dovetails with the national marketing plan, is written. From this the Property Manager can create a list of targets for the site with the help of the Area Manager. The Marketing Manager helps sites to meet their targets for increases in the number of visitors, income and memberships. Promotional techniques are based on a programme of leaflets, public relations activities, advertising, events and online campaigns. New opportunities such as summer evening openings or collaboration with tour operators are included when appropriate. Events are advertised in local papers. Pendennis features with Tintagel Castle in a Group Visitor Guide, and it is allotted space on local railway publicity. The Cornwall Association of Tourist Attractions (CATA) produce a

8 make the most of their visit to. Cornwall Map and a Cornwall Guide to the Quality Attractions which features. The castle also appears in the Falmouth River Cornwall Area Guidebook, in Cornwall education listings and independent guide magazines such as Blackbird Pie. The staff at Pendennis work with the local community in improving the castle s marketing profile and has representatives on Falmouth Town Centre Forum, Cornwall Association of Tourist Attractions (top 40 attractions), Cornwall Tourist Board and Falmouth Hotels Association. Wedding receptions and private or corporate functions are held within the grounds and, in 1998, the castle was registered to hold civil wedding ceremonies. This facility is proactively marketed. A copy of the visitor figures, and demographic breakdown, for the last six financial years is available overleaf along with the latest marketing materials. Events are either funded by the central English Heritage Events Team (in which case it also organises the event), or by the Site Manager s, or the Regional Promotional, budgets. The site team play an important part in the events programme, helping in the organisation, and sometimes suggesting events and performing in them. There are about 12 events a year, often targeted at Bank Holidays and the summer season, and include living history, re-enactments, dancing, and children s summer events from the Time Travellers Go series. Specialist members events are also arranged throughout the year. The site is used by outside groups who pay a fee, for instance for filming work and small open-air theatricals.

9 make the most of their visit to. RESOURCES Visitor Figures Paying visitors Members Free educational visits Other Total number of visitors The latest English Heritage marketing leaflet for

10 INFO LOCATION Castle Close, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 4LP OS Grid Reference SW OPENING TIMES Open daily 1 April 31 October plus winter weekends. Open for pre-booked education groups on Mondays and Fridays in November and March. HOW TO GET THERE Bus First 400 from Falmouth, Jun-Oct Rail Falmouth Docks 1 2 mile Ferry the St.Mawes ferry alights at the Prince of Wales Pier in Falmouth, a 20 minute walk from the castle. FACILITIES Parking drop off and pick up only. Coaches park in the Gyllyngvase car park, along the sea front (Cliff Road). Disabled access to the castle keep is via impacted gravel paths. The grounds are grassed and tarmaced. There is full wheelchair access to the barracks, and a virtual tour of the site. Shop a shop selling gifts is located onsite alongside a tearoom. Toilets there is a large toilet block located onsite with an accessible WC. Picnics are welcome in the grounds. Limit on party number 180 onsite at any one time. Required teacher/adult helper to pupil ratio 1:6 for school years 1-3 and 1:15 for all other groups aged under 18. Pupils must be supervised at all times. Please remember that you are responsible for completing your own risk assessment. Hazard information available when booking. LEARNERS GO FREE Educational visits are free to English Heritage properties and should be booked at least 14 days in advance via the Education Booking Team: Telephone: bookeducation@englishheritage.org.uk A GUIDE TO RESOURCES: Two education rooms are available onsite and should be reserved in advance of a visit. Tudor, Civil War and World War Two Discovery Chests containing handling objects and costumes are available onsite. A World War Two oral history resource and Butterworth cartoons are located onsite. These are supported by teachers notes and activity ideas. A Teachers Kit is available on the English Heritage website. A guidebook is available and can be purchased through the English Heritage website. Teachers with a valid Free Educational Visit booking receive 20% off when purchasing., 2009 English Heritage HISTORY ACTIVITIES IMAGES

11 ACTIVITIES make the most of their visit to LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES GCSE AND GNVQ Investigating travel and tourism English Heritage can be used as an example of a public sector organisation and as an example of one of its properties in the heritage component. You can read more about how English Heritage is managed on our website. A visit to the castle can be combined with a series of visits investigating the attractions of the locality. This can provide the research needed to compile a guide to the area for different types of visitors. Devise a two day itinerary for your students to help them enjoy their visit to the area. Marketing Investigate the techniques that English Heritage use to market their properties, and particularly examine the materials used to promote Pendennis Castle. Design a poster to promote the castle at the local railway stations, or design a new product for the shop and promote it. Present your ideas outlining the market principles behind it. Customer service Look at and record all the different ways that English Heritage communicates with its visitors to, before, during and after a visit. Devise a way of observing and recording the quality of customer service, and record your research and recommendations in a formal report. Create a game to help new seasonal stewards understand the benefits of good customer service. Planning an event Organise a visit to the site for a group. Your students may wish to visit the What s On pages of the English Heritage website for event ideas. You will need to consider: planning (who to target, how to get them interested), research (what do they need before and during the visit, how to get there) organising (making contact with English Heritage - with those concerned, letters of consent, health and safety issues, etc) running the visit. VOCATIONAL A LEVEL At this level, a greater depth of analysis is required and the organisation of English Heritage will be more significant. Tourism development Examine the role of English Heritage and where it fits into the structure and scale of the leisure and tourism HISTORY INFO IMAGES

12 ACTIVITIES make the most of their visit to industry. Look at how the development of the industry over the last hundred years has influenced the development of the castle and the town as a tourist attraction. Use this information to produce a pictorial timeline chart. Involve the community in the research, by asking about memories of the castle. Be adventurous and produce a documentary on Falmouth and its attractions. Investigating travel and tourism Compare the organisational structure of English Heritage with that of a private or voluntary sector organisation and present your findings in a formal report. Devise a bulletin or factfile on careers in the heritage industry for use in your institution and on your intranet if you have one. You may wish to look at the Working For Us pages on the English Heritage website for further information. Marketing Examine the marketing techniques used by English Heritage and other leisure and tourism bodies in the area such as the West Country Tourist Board, Cornwall County Council and local attractions. Carry out a SWOT analysis on the castle and using the knowledge you have acquired to devise a new marketing strategy for the castle. It should identify at least one new joint event with other local attractions, and should explore the potential of promoting the castle as an outside event venue. Customer Service Carry out a detailed customer service investigation on the castle and other attractions in the area. Make a PowerPoint presentation of your work. Use your information to produce a training video to demonstrate key customer service skills in the leisure and tourism industry. Health, safety and security Design a health and safety induction book or programme for use by stewards giving tours of the castle. Investigating heritage tourism Compare Pendennis with another heritage attraction. You may want to consider: funding of staff conservation maintenance marketing admission and profit. Look at key historical, conservation and interpretation features, and collect information on marketing and promotion techniques. HISTORY INFO IMAGES

13 ACTIVITIES make the most of their visit to Further information Visit the English Heritage website for more information including: the Corporate Plan annual reports and accounts funding structures management plans tourism policy and publications educational resources HISTORY INFO IMAGES The Heritage Explorer website provides over 9000 images for teachers to make use of in the classroom, as well as activity ideas for use both on and off site.

14 IMAGES An unlabelled site plan of the site. This image should be used in conjunction with the Activities section of this pack. Visit for more copyright-cleared images PAGE 5 5 HISTORY INFO ACTIVITIES English Heritage Photo Library

15 If you require an alternative accessible version of this document (for instance in audio, Braille or large print) please contact our Customer Services Department: Telephone: Fax: Textphone: