Peckforton Castle Open for Business!

The alarm was raised at 4.45am on Sunday (19th June 2011) morning after the Castle’s largest function space decorated with chandeliers and tapestries was set alight.

Twenty fire engines from as far afield as Shropshire and North Wales rushed to the scene and 70 guests – many still in suits and evening gowns – were evacuated to the safety of the courtyard by hotel night staff.

Around a quarter of the Castle was damaged but due to the team at Peckforton Castle’s hard work, determination and commitment the Castle’s public areas will be open as of lunch time Friday 24th June 2011. The venue will be operating as a 26 bedroom hotel, for the next few months whilst the damaged areas are refurbished and revamped. Furthermore, all services will be available including the 2010 Brasserie, award winning 1851 Restaurant, Falconry and Tranquility Spa. All conferences and weddings will be able to go ahead with a little reformatting where necessary.

Managing Director, Chris Naylor, hopes to see the Castle back to its former glory by December this year. “The reopening of the Castle in a less than a week after this devastating fire is a true testament to the strength of our staff here at Peckforton. The incident was truly heartbreaking for me and the entire Peckforton family – my parents, brothers and sister but also my team. It is now time to move on. We are determined not to beaten and will come back bigger and even better than before.”