Time-travelling playground swings into action

Prehistoric-themed outdoor space opens thanks to local funding support

A community project bringing heritage to life at Cardiff’s largest prehistoric site has created a new children’s play area, with major support from Wales & West Housing and Cardiff Council.

The Hidden Hillfort Project is exploring the history and archaeology of Caerau’s Iron-Age hillfort and the surrounding area, helping to connect communities with their heritage in a ten-year project run by Action in Caerau and Ely and a host of partners including Cardiff University.

The sponsorship has been used to create a new ‘heritage-themed’ children’s play area at the site as part of the award-winning project.

The playground designs have been developed by local people in collaboration with specialists Green Play and are designed to explore aspects of the monument’s 2,000-year-old heritage through play; including round-house features, stepping stones of time and slides down hillfort-inspired rampart defences.

The playground officially opened on 3 September attended by local families, Cardiff Councillor Peter Bradbury, members of the UNITY community group who helped to design the playground and Wales and West Housing Group Chief Executive Anne Hinchey.

Housing provider Wales & West Housing donated £70,000 sponsorship as part of its Making A Difference fund, which works with its suppliers and contractors to give back to the local communities through supporting sports and community groups.

The playground opening marks the next exciting stage for the CAER Hidden Hillfort Project, with its new Heritage Visitor Centre due to open this autumn.