Commercial hire events at our monuments are organised by third parties in compliance with Cadw’s Terms and Conditions and Cadw will charge a fee for the hire of the venue and any additional staffing costs. These types of event can vary greatly in scale and content and can involve:

  • monument opening outside of normal opening hours
  • exclusive monument hire
  • the need to restrict access to certain parts of the site
  • not available for site visitors, a private event
  • additional Cadw staff to monitor events out of hours
  • events selling tickets for commercial or fundraising
  • events taking place over multiple consecutive days
  • all commercial hire events will incur a fee for venue hire plus additional staffing required.

Examples of commercial hire events:

  • ticketed performances (concerts/music events)
  • sporting events – running / marathon events
  • special interest groups events
  • ice rinks
  • pop-up cinema (e.g. Rugby live-stream)
  • food and drink events
  • rally events, car owners’ clubs etc
  • theatre performances selling tickets
  • private gala evenings.

Events which do not fall within this description, where a fee cannot be paid, may be classed as a community hire event and require submission via the Cadw Community Event Application form

We will require all hirers to use our online application form to request the use of any Cadw monument for a third party event, which will enable the team to decide whether the event is appropriate for the site in question. This also notifies us of any special requirements the applicant may have and allows us to advise the community group of any concerns.

The form should be submitted a minimum of five weeks in advance of the event, and earlier if possible.

It will be necessary to submit with the application a proposed event plan, risk assessment and confirmation that public liability insurance will be in place to cover the event.

We will assess events on the following criteria:

  • is the event suitable for the site?
  • will the event interfere with visitors’ enjoyment of the site?
  • will the event clash with other bookings?
  • will the conditions at the time of year be suitable for the event?
  • has the organiser liaised with the local authority over any required licences?
  • if the monument is a joint management site, has the organiser liaised with the landowner over permission to use the site?
  • are the management arrangements satisfactory?
  • has enough time been given between submission of application and the event for appropriate procedures to be followed?

It may be necessary for the applicant and a member of the Cadw Commercial Events Team to meet to discuss the event, sometimes at the site or online.

This is because many of our sites are Scheduled Monuments and are protected by law under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. As long as the planned event meets the above criteria to a satisfactory degree, Scheduled Monument Consent should not be required, or may be fast-tracked.

Agreement

All applications will be assessed following the criteria above. A decision will then be made as to whether the event can go ahead and/or whether we would wish to see changes to what is proposed in order to be able to provide agreement.

No later than 14 calendar days prior to the event, you will need to provide:

Final event plan

This will detail what the event will entail, the proposed number of attendees, the proposed safety and security measures, the past experience of the event organisers in undertaking similar events and any other permissions required. The plan should clearly identify what is specifically to happen on the land in the ownership of Cadw. We will provide guidance on completing the event plan.

Appropriate full and final risk assessments

Risk assessments help ensure the safety of visitors to the event, visitors to the site and volunteers or staff holding the event, as well as complying with relevant health and safety legislation.

It is not required to eliminate all risk but the organiser should take steps that are ‘reasonably practicable’. There must be clear evidence within the assessment identifying good safety management systems. More advice and standard templates are available from the Health and Safety Executive or Purple Guide and we will provide guidance on completing risk assessments.

If the risk assessment is deemed as satisfactory the event will be given clearance to proceed.

Proof of appropriate public liability insurance

For the vast majority of events that require permission, it is expected that the organiser will hold adequate PLI for at least £5 million.

The PLI must provide cover for injuries suffered by members of the public or Cadw staff and any damage done to the property that arises due to event activity or lack of diligence on the organiser’s part.

It is important to remember that our commercial hire events service needs to ensure third party events do not damage our historic sites in any way (see Terms and Conditions on application form) . Some activities that might damage the fabric of our sites are therefore not eligible. These include:

  • fireworks or pyrotechnics
  • naked flames (such as candles or burning torches)
  • balloon/lantern releases.

Occasionally, we will facilitate royal, military or ministerial activities at particular sites. As a public body, we are unable to accommodate requests for activities of a political nature such as campaigning or canvassing.

Our Cadw sites are scheduled monuments which means they would require additional consent for some event activities.

We will also require that:

  • all electrical equipment brought on site is pre-agreed and has a current Portable Appliance Test (PAT) certificate, issued by a qualified electrician
  • all hard items to be used on internal floors are fitted with appropriate rubber bottoms or matting to prevent damage
  • power cables have appropriate cable covers over them and, where in contact with historic fabric, under them as well
  • no tent pegs are hammered into the ground, and no ground penetration is completed without appropriate consent.

In order to start the community event application process, please fill in our 

Commercial hire event application form