The Big Brick Build: English Heritage: Bolsover Castle
For the last three years, I have run 10 days of LEGO® building activities at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire. The activities are part of a campaign run by English Heritage at several of their sites across the UK, designed to engage families, bring history to life and to increase visitor numbers.
I really enjoy using my 20+ years of teaching experience and my LEGO® design skills to design and build bespoke activities each year to engage visitors of all ages and provide a fun experience that they will remember. It’s great to see visitors returning each year to discover what new activities there are to do.
The activities include building a large collaborative mosaic. This is built from 16,384 bricks and split into sections so that it can be built and rebuilt every day. Over the 10 days we built and then disassembled over 160,000 bricks just in the mosaic activity alone!
The next activity is a big build. As you can see from the photos, this build varies and past designs have included the main Castle, a giant 6ft tall soldier and the Castle Walled gardens. The idea is that kids and families build a small section and contribute to an impressive final 3D build.
Not all kids like to follow instructions and as I believe building LEGO® is all about being creative, I also design a creative challenge for each year. Past challenges have included building horses, dragons and this year designing mazes for the Castle garden. I love to see the imagination of the visitors in their creations, and they are often proud to have then placed on display along with the other builds.
An additional challenge that I run each afternoon is a speed build challenge. Its fun for older kids, and adults to have a bit of fun and competition seeing how quickly they can construct a bespoke mini build (normally around 100 pieces) and have the chance to win a great prize if they are the fastest time of the week.
The final two activities that I run are specifically designed to be inclusive and to ensure that there is something for everyone. I have an area with DUPLO® bricks which are larger than standard LEGO® bricks and are suitable for younger children (under 3 years old). They are still able to build along with the main theme and display their creations along with the others. Finally, I have a quiet zone designed for neurodiverse visitors who really benefit from a private area where they can get involved without the noise and distractions within the main area. This might just be used by a few families per day, but it is a really valued addition and enables everyone to get involved in their own way.
Here is some feedback I received from the Bolsover Castle manager after this year’s event:
“Steve and his team have brought us so much fun here at Bolsover Castle. It was amazing to see people of all ages getting involved – from younger children using Duplo to competitive adults at the speed build! Bolsover’s iconic wall walk looked spectacular in Lego format and the mazes were so creative. We were blown away by the Lego mosaic that created a picture of the gates to the Venus Garden. It was the perfect image for our site and our visitors, and it was amazing to see it brought to life before our eyes. Over 3,000 visitors participated in the Big Brick Build which was a great boost for the castle and shows just how popular Lego continues to be. We love hosting the Big Brick Build to be able to engage with our local community, bring the history of Bolsover Castle to life, and have lots of fun along the way!”
Heather Maxwell, Site Supervisor, Bolsover Castle
If you are interested commissioning me to come along to your venue and running some hands-on LEGO® building activities to engage your visitors and boost visitor numbers, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Steve Guinness
The Brick Consultant
I am a self-employed sole trader and use genuine LEGO® bricks. I am not employed by the LEGO® group, and my events are not directly sponsored, authorised or endorsed by the LEGO® group.