Tintagel Castle Footbridge and Landscape Enhancements

Historically, Tintagel Island and its Castle was connected to the North Cornwall mainland by a narrow strip of land, destroyed over time as a result of coastal erosion. The access routes and terrain leading to the Castle have always been challenging, relying on over a hundred steps to lead to the ruins on this dramatic cliff-top site.

Tintagel Castle is steeped in historic relics, myths and legends together with scare flora and a spectacular coastal setting. The ambition of the project was to provide improved access to the Castle ruins, including a new footbridge to reinstate the original land-bridge, and to offer visitors the opportunity to experience the route of early medieval times.

At the heart of the project lay the requirement to achieve appropriate, site specific interventions which would be sensitive to the site's historic and landscape character, archaeology and ecology. The proposed enhancements included a new and dramatic footbridge to connect the mainland and island, and the creation of visitor access routes and coastal habitats.

In 2014 feasibility studies were undertaken by Nicholas Pearson Associates, and the following year an international design competition was launched by English Heritage to find a bridge designer. The competition brief and jury were informed by the background feasibility studies, requiring an ingenious design and construction process which would respect the dramatic landscape setting and cultural heritage.

A thorough understanding of the Site's unique qualities combined with a responsive design and creative construction approach were essential. Consultation with key stakeholders and with the public helped refine the design approach of the project. Preparatory work took account of the site's landscape character, visual context, heritage setting, botany, invisible archaeological treasures of the soil, and material quality of the landscape. Extensive site analysis informed the type, layout, location and the detail of the landscape design.

Following grant of Planning and Scheduled Monument Consents, an investment of £5 million enabled the implementation of a new iconic footbridge, extensive works to the footpath network and protected habitats at Tintagel, realising a truly unique visitor experience.

The future sustainability of the site as an internationally significant visitor destination was reliant on a project that would both protect and enhance the site. These objectives were realised by the bespoke project design of the footbridge and footpaths; carefully planned and often innovative construction and delivery techniques; the transport and storage of materials so as to avoid compaction and erosion damage; translocation of coastal swards and protection and re-use of the soil resource and seed bank; use of locally sourced materials and planning for future maintenance.

The Tintagel footbridge, footpath and landscape interventions work hand in hand to provide step free access onto the Island. A new, breath-taking experience has been created for visitors, which references the sites historic geology and protects its heritage.