Cadw Drone Policy

Any drone flights over our monuments must be completed in accordance with the UK Drone Code.

Drone pilots are to be licensed with the CAA (Civil Aviation Authorities) and all drones marked with the operator’s flying ID. This must include the appropriate flying stipulations for the weight, environment and current weather conditions.

Recreational Use

This is where drones are used to capture images for personal use and will not be published on any third party publicly accessible platforms.

If this is to be the case, an application following the commercial process needs to be followed. Drones cannot take off or landed upon Cadw land or property. Authorisation must be sought from local landowners before drones can be flown. There are strict CAA enforced no drone fly zones at the following sites, due to their close proximity to airports, railways and other high risk surrounding areas.

•    Castell Conwy 
•    Kidwelly Castle 
•    Tŷ Newydd Chambered Tomb 
•    Din Dryfol 
•    Parc le Breos Chambered Tomb

Any flights deemed to be a nuisance will be reported to the local police and CAA authorities.

These will be viewed as:

• low overpassing and repeated overpassing
• low level buzzing or chasing of member of the public
• unauthorised launching and landing
• suspect close target recces
• driving dangerously close to the historic fabrication of the monument.

You should always be mindful of other visitors on the site and be considerate of the fact that their visit might be to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the site and do not wish to be disturbed by a drone.

Any drone landing / crashing onto Cadw land will be collected, IDs taken and reports made to the CAA and local police authorities. We reserve the right to retain your drone for police collection if we deem this necessary (if this is the case we need to add to policy)

Any drone making contact with any historic fabrication of the site constitutes as a heritage crime.

A heritage crime is any offence which harms the value of heritage assets and their settings. Some heritage assets are protected by specific legislation to prevent harm caused by damage or unlicensed alteration.

Commercial Use

Drones being used for commercial and publication purposes must complete an application. This will ensure that the types of footage required can be maintained with pilot and visitor safety being paramount. Commercial flights may stimulate partial or full site closure, that will need to be coordinated appropriately.

Costs will be charged for any change to the site’s opening and closing hours, this will be included within the fees for commercial filming and use of Cadw imagery etc. All commercial pilots will need to submit their public liability insurance (min. £5 million), method statement and supporting risk assessments.

These will be processed and spot checked before flights can be authorised, it is therefore necessary to submit these early. For partial closures pilots must be easily identifiable and ensure that they work within a set safe area of work.

Drone Surveys

As per commercial use, the authorisation of drone surveys will need to follow the same process of approval. In the majority sites will need to be closed. All risk assessments and method statements will be thoroughly checked before authorisation.

All pilots must be easily recognisable, separating them from members of the public and always work within a safe area of work.