Cardboard Castles to tower over Liverpool City Region

Cardboard castles are springing up across the city region this weekend as part of Liverpool 2018 celebrations.

Six separate structures, some up to 20m (65ft) high, are appearing in parks and squares including Norton Priory at Runcorn, Williamson Square in Liverpool and even Knowsley Safari Park until Sunday, August 12.

Lost Castles – the brainchild of French artist Olivier Grossetȇte - has seen hundreds of volunteers work with thousands of cardboard boxes to build monumental castle-inspired structures, some of which are based on actual medieval forts or historic structures which were in the region at one time.

People have been involved in workshops during July and August, with the castles and other structures standing tall over the four days of the special event.

Liverpool's 'castle', a Viking stave church in Ashton Park at West Kirby, and a recreation of Bootle Castle, based in North Park, were erected yesterday with help from hundreds of members of the public.

The Liverpool Castle under construction

And the structures in Knowsley (inspired by Hamlet's Elsinore Castle and situated at the entrance to the Safari Park), the old castle from St Helens' twin town Stuttgart (in Victoria Square) and Halton Castle at Norton Priory, will be raised from the ground today.

And what goes up must come down, with volunteers getting to demolish their work on Sunday, after which it will be recycled.

There will also be a series of supporting activities over the weekend at each site.

The project has been supported by Arts Council England, City Region Combined Authority and the Global Streets Strategic Touring Programme.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “Culture should be for everyone, and that’s why I’m delighted Arts Council England has awarded this grant for an exciting cultural project that will take place in all of the boroughs of the Liverpool City Region.

“Exciting engagement projects and events such as Lost Castles, which is all about telling stories at a local level, can only come about through partnerships. All our local councils have all worked fantastically well on this and it’s great that Arts Council England has helped us to bring Lost Castles to life.”

Marseille-based artist Olivier Grossetȇte has created magnificent cardboard structures all over the world, from Aix-en-Provence to Australia.

To find out more about getting involved, visit the website www.lostcastles.co.uk