The Bishop’s Palace, a tourist attraction in Wells, Somerset asked us to design and build play structures for their Arboretum that reflected the palace’s history and enhanced the natural beauty of the space and visitor offering. There was no play facility for children at they wanted to enhance the family offering to increase footfall. We designed 4 structures for this listed landscape inspired by the story of the Dragon of Wells who terrorised the community until a Bishop of Wells banished him. Using water, landscape and natural materials including local stone we created a unique set of play structures especially for the arboretum. The play area was fully opened in September 2016.
The Bishop's Palace is absolutely delighted with the Dragon's Lair. The Green Play team were extremely creative, theming the play structures uniquely to the Palace and with an instinct for what children enjoy. It was important to us that the play area told stories of the Palace that would inspire children and families to explore and learn more about the legends and history of the site. To assist with this, Green Play designed a colourful story map that takes visitors around the fourteen acres of gardens before leading them to the Dragon's Lair. As a result of Green Play's hard work we have shared our inspirational site with many young visitors who visit the Dragon's Lair time and again, creating their own stories to enjoy as their imaginations run wild.
Rosie Martin CEO The Palace Trust
