OWAIN GLYNDŴR DAY: Kids go free at Kidwelly Castle and Cadw sites across Wales this Sunday

Children and young people will be able to explore Kidwelly Castle and every other Cadw site in Wales for free this Sunday, as part of celebrations marking Owain Glyndŵr Day.

The free entry applies to under-17s on Sunday 13 September and covers all monuments run by Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service.

Glyndŵr Day itself falls on 16 September, the date in 1400 when Owain Glyndŵr was declared Prince of Wales by his supporters. He is widely regarded as the last native-born Prince of Wales.

That same date marked the start of the Glyndŵr uprising, a rebellion against English rule under Henry IV that lasted some 15 years. The revolt did not achieve its aims, but the Welsh Government says it left a legacy of national pride and cultural identity that endures today.

The local connection runs deeper than a day out. Kidwelly and Dinefwr castles were both besieged during Glyndŵr’s rebellion, along with Coity Castle in Bridgend county and Caernarfon in the north, making them what Cadw calls living links to a defining chapter of Welsh history.

Locally, the offer covers Cadw’s paid-entry sites including Kidwelly Castle and Laugharne Castle, with Cilgerran Castle, Lamphey Bishop’s Palace and St Davids Bishop’s Palace among those further west in Pembrokeshire.

Events are planned at several sites to mark the occasion, including a parade at Harlech Castle, which served as a key residence for Glyndŵr and his family and where he held his parliament after capturing it in 1404. Costumed guided tours will run at Criccieth Castle.

Cabinet Minister for Culture and Sport Heledd Fychan said Glyndŵr’s story was “woven into the fabric of Welsh identity”, with his influence still felt across the country today.

“Giving children free access to Cadw’s sites in his honour is a wonderful way to bring history to life for younger generations,” she said. “These castles and monuments are far more than historic buildings, they are storytellers in their own right.”

Dr Kate Roberts, chief executive of Cadw, said the hope was that free entry for under-17s would “inspire more families to discover what Cadw sites have to offer”.

“Every site in our care tells its own story, and so many of them were touched by Glyndŵr’s rebellion in one way or another,” she said. “Though his campaign ultimately fell short, the mark he left behind still resonates at many of the places we look after today.”

Cadw ran the same offer last September, when under-17s went free across its sites on the Sunday nearest Glyndŵr Day.

Kidwelly Castle is one of Wales’ best-preserved medieval fortresses, with a dramatic riverside setting and links to the 1136 battle in which Princess Gwenllian was killed.

More information is available at cadw.gov.wales.