Editing Conisbrough Castle (section)

===20th – 21st centuries===
[[File:Conisborough Castle entrance.JPG|thumb|upright=1.6|The inner bailey seen from the outer bailey, showing the remains of the [[barbican]] (the protruding gateway at right) and the mural towers (built into the walls)]]
Conisbrough Castle was bought by the Conisbrough local council in the 1940s, who placed the castle into the guardianship of the [[Ministry of Works (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Public Works]] in 1949, but retained the freehold ownership of the land.<ref name="english-heritage1993">{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Two sets of archaeological excavations were carried out on the site between 1967 and 1969, exposing the foundations of the buildings in the inner bailey, and then from 1973 to 1977, examining options for future visitor facilities.<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1980|p=59}}; {{harvnb|Thompson|1969|p=215}}.</ref> By 1984, when the government agency English Heritage took over the management of the property, the condition of the visitor services was unsatisfactory and the industrial character of the surrounding area was discouraging tourists.<ref name="english-heritage1993"/>

In response, [[English Heritage]] and [[Doncaster Council|Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council]] formed a three-way agreement in 1988 with the Ivanhoe Trust, a local charity designed to generate new employment in the region.<ref name="english-heritage1993"/> Under this agreement the trust would manage the site, English Heritage would maintain the historic fabric of the castle, while the council would construct a new visitors' centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.conisbroughcastle.org.uk/CastleHistory/CastleHistory.aspx|title=Castle History|access-date=30 December 2014|publisher=Conisbrough Castle|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401170403/http://www.conisbroughcastle.org.uk/History/history.htm|archive-date=1 April 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> A new, controversial visitor's centre was built in the style of a collection of jousting tents, while the floors and roof of the keep were reinstalled between 1993 and 1995 with [[European Union]] funding, in an attempt to limit the erosion of the castle stonework.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{harvnb|Davis|2012|p=5}}; {{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|title=Deal lifts hopes for boom in castle visitors|newspaper=[[The Yorkshire Post]]|date=5 March 2008|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102002957/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Visitor numbers following the investments fell far short of expectations, however, and by 2006 had settled at around 30,000 each year, only slightly above the level in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 19, March 1993|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101231902/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/conservation-bulletin-19/conservationbulletin19.pdf|archive-date=1 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{cite news|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|title=Deal lifts hopes for boom in castle visitors|newspaper=Yorkshire Post|date=5 March 2008|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102002957/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/deal-lifts-hopes-for-boom-in-castle-visitors-1-2492905|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The external facilities did not age well and funding shortages led to the new audio-visual effects in the keep being turned off to save money.<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|2012|pp=5–6}}.</ref> Discussions between the three partners about the future of the castle took place, but relations broke down and English Heritage resumed the direct management of the castle in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/local/row-as-castle-trust-ousted-1-611267|title=Row as castle trust ousted|publisher=South Yorkshire Times|date=12 March 2008|access-date=30 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102001614/http://www.southyorkshiretimes.co.uk/news/local/row-as-castle-trust-ousted-1-611267|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The castle was closed for a £1.1 million programme of renovations in 2013, funded by the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]], as part of which a new visitors' centre and visitor facilities were constructed.<ref>{{harvnb|Davis|2014|p=11}}; {{cite web|url=https://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/print/900000+Heritage+Lottery+Fund+award+confirmed+for+Conisbrough+Castle+30072012101000|title=£900,000 Heritage Lottery Fund Award Confirmed for Conisbrough Castle|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref> The castle is protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building and as a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101192747-conisbrough-castle-conisbrough-ward|title=Conisbrough Castle, Conisbrough|publisher=British Listed Buildings|author=English Heritage|access-date=28 December 2014}}</ref>