Upnor Castle will reopen to the public this weekend.

The historic venue in Upper Upnor will open again this Saturday as part of Medway Council’s phased reopening of its heritage attractions.

Many heritage attractions across Medway started to reopen from July 4 July in line with the government’s easing of coronavirus restrictions.

New social distancing measures have been put in place at all council heritage attractions to help protect visitors and staff. They include limiting the number of visitors at a time and accepting card payments only.

Visitors to council attractions across the Medway Towns will be asked to supply their name, email, phone number and postcode as part of the NHS Test and Trace system.

Details will be kept for 21 days and handed to the national test and trace system if needed, as part of the government’s efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus and save lives.

The entrance gates to Upnor Castle will open at 10am on Saturday. Opening hours have been reduced to Tuesday to Sunday, 10am-5pm, with last admission at 4.30pm. However, the castle will be open to visitors on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Guildhall Museum, Medway’s Visitor Information Centre in Rochester High Street and Rochester Art Gallery are all open to the public.

Rochester Castle remains closed while essential maintenance work is carried out but the grounds are open.

Eastgate House, Temple Manor and the Brook Pumping Station will remain closed until further notice.

Visitors are asked to check the new social distancing measures which have been put in place at Medway Council’s heritage attractions before arriving at medway.gov.uk

Council leader Cllr Alan Jarrett said: "Upnor Castle is a truly special heritage attraction, which is enjoyed by all the family. Council staff have put new measures in place to enable social distancing and safely allow visitors back through the castle gates.

“Medway is steeped in history and families have a fantastic choice of places to visit before the school summer holidays come to an end.

"Our heritage attractions will remain open after the schools have gone back for the public to continue enjoying and learning about Medway’s rich historic links.”

Also starting up again are conducted walking tours of Rochester.

Tours with a City of Rochester Society guide resume on Wednesday, September 2.

The tours, which the society has been operating for more than 40 years, will take place every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday until Saturday, October 31.

They start at 2.15pm outside the Visitor Information Centre, at 95 High Street, Rochester, and last about 90 minutes.

The tours are free of charge but donations to society funds are always welcome.

There is no need to book in advance, but participants will be asked for their contact details for track and trace purposes.

To ensure social distancing, no more than eight people will be taken on each tour.

For more information contact 01634 721886.

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