Lost Castles was the first cultural project to involve all six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region. Hundreds of volunteers worked with renowned French artist Olivier Grossetête to create monumental structures based on medieval forts and historic buildings that were in the region at one time.
Construction began on site for Liverpool, Wirral and Sefton on Thursday 9 August 2018, and for Knowsley, St Helens and Halton from Friday 10 August. Once the creations were complete, a programme of family friendly free activities took place on the Saturday, with street theatre, storytelling, falconry displays, live music and even appearances by a dragon or two. Communities came together once again on the Sunday to topple the structures.
Many of the cardboard buildings towered more than 20 metres high, and each borough used its own heritage as inspiration. The project was made possible with support from Arts Council England, the City Region Combined Authority, and the Global Streets Strategic Touring Programme, which aims to bring the very best international outdoor art to towns and cities.
All of the cardboard was responsibly recycled after the event.
The six boroughs
Each place drew on a different piece of local history. Follow a link to read the full story of what was built and what happened across the weekend.
- Liverpool recreated Liverpool Castle in Williamson Square, inspired by the fort that stood at the top of Lord Street from around the 1230s.
- Halton built a version of Halton Castle beside the medieval ruins at Norton Priory Museum & Gardens.
- Knowsley took Elsinore Castle from Shakespeare’s Hamlet as its model, at the entrance to Knowsley Safari Park.
- Sefton recreated Bootle Castle, also known as Miller’s Castle, in North Park, with the two Mersey navigation obelisks beside it.
- St Helens rebuilt Stuttgart Old Castle in Victoria Square to mark 70 years of twinning with the German city.
- Wirral raised a Viking stave church in Ashton Park, West Kirby, celebrating the peninsula’s Norse history.
How the project worked
Lost Castles was built in three movements. Volunteers raised each structure by hand over two days, free family activities filled the Saturday, and the community returned on the Sunday to bring the castle down. The subject of each build was chosen with local partners so that the work spoke directly to the heritage of its borough.
Credits and partners
Lost Castles was delivered by Culture Liverpool with the six boroughs of the Liverpool City Region and the following partners.