Castle Howard Children's Map & Riddle Trail

I was approached by Castle Howard, a magnificent historic house in North Yorkshire, to work with them on the development of a new children's trail around the Castle Howard grounds.

When I visited Castle Howard I was blown away by the spectacular and awe inspiring grandeur of both Castle Howard itself, and the beautiful landscaped grounds and woodland which surround it.

Following my visit, I was commissioned to design and illustrate an A3 map of the Castle Howard's grounds, which would be fun, busy and would appeal to children. The map would form part of a new 'Riddle Trail', and families would use the map to find their way around a trail in the grounds, solving riddles as they went.

Geoffrey the Lion, the new Castle Howard mascot

The finished Children's Riddle Trail Map

Castle Howard's main concern, was that the map would help children enjoy exploring the grounds, and encourage them to take a good look around. It is easy for an adult to be captivated by the many statues and hidden gems within the grounds, however these can appear austere and "boring" to young visitors, who are often more concerned with heading straight to the adventure playground!

Castle Howard were also keen to have a character which would feature throughout the trail, both on the map itself and on the trail signage. We came up with the idea of using the lion from the Howard family crest, and naming the character Geoffrey, which is a Howard family name.

I tried to keep the map very lighthearted, and tried to bring the statues to life with facial expressions. There are lots of little things to spot, and I hope that children will take the map home as a souvenir of their visit.

The Atlas Fountain, detail from the Castle Howard Children's Riddle Trail Map

The front cover for the trail map