A PART of Cardigan Castle has until now, been off limits for visitors as it is home to the colony of Britain’s rarest mammal, the Greater Horseshoe Bat.

But for two days only in April, the Medieval basement will be open to scheduled guided tours.

Historian and castle volunteer Glen Johnson will be taking one of the tours. He hasn’t set foot in the basement since 2005 and says he can’t wait to enter the room again.

“It’s really fascinating. I remember when I first set foot down the basement in 1984. We don’t really know what the room was used for and we’d need an archaeological dig to find out exactly what went on there. It may have been to store food and supplies, but the arrow splits suggests it was manned at time of war. We did find an arch giving access from the south, but we can only speculate unless a dig is made,” said Glen.

The basement, which dates back to 1240, is the oldest standing remains of the once-great castle and opening it up to the public on these two rare occasions this April coincides with the 820th anniversary of Lord Rhys’ death.

The walls are all white washed and it is thought that it hasn’t been stripped to stone leaving the original whitewash undisturbed. A modern wall divides the wine and coal cellar and there’s a door to the spiral staircase. You can also see the coal shoot made in the 18th century.

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