Nottingham Castle has closed to the public, just over a year after the attraction was the subject of a £30million revamp. The trust that was responsible for running the site has gone into administration.
The closure of Nottingham Castle has sparked serious concern about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on museums and other cultural institutions. Nottingham Castle Trust said that visitor numbers had been “significantly below forecasts”.
While the attraction has respectable ratings on both Tripadvisor and Google - 3.5 and 4.0 out of five respectively - a look at customer reviews points to some of its recent problems. In particular, various reviewers complained about the price of the entry fees.
Read more: The collapse of Nottingham Castle is a dark day for the city
“When we say [we] visited, we turned around when we saw the price for visiting,” wrote Campervan Tales on Tripadvisor last month. “Much was made of the revamp but sorry, we won't pay that to look around what, let's be fair, is a stately home and not a castle.”
Prior to its closure, Nottingham Castle tickets were priced at £15 for adults, £14 for senior citizens, students and £9.50 for children aged between five and 17. Family tickets for one adult and up to three children were priced at £24.50.
Bethan W added in her Tripadvisor review that Nottingham Castle was “very expensive for what it is”. Others remarked on the fact that, despite the name, Nottingham Castle isn’t actually a castle but is, rather, a ducal mansion built on the remains of the medieval castle.
Reviewer CP was specifically critical of Nottingham Castle’s recent refurbishment. Despite the £30m investment, they argued, there was “very little to show for it apart from a new roof, a new child’s playing area and an inaccurate interactive and poorly created and often broken Robin Hood Adventure”.
Nevertheless, other visitors were more positive. Simon Wardman wrote in his Google review that the attraction offered “great views of Nottingham” and that the caves at the site were “definitely a highlight of any visit”.
Nottingham City Council leader David Mellen has said that Nottingham Council will reopen in due course.
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