Set high on the dramatic North Cornwall Coast and steeped in legend and mystery, Tintagel Castle is one of the country's most iconic visitor attractions. Made famous through the legends of King Arthur, Tintagel has inspired imaginations for hundreds of years and now attracts over 190,000 visitors annually.

Alongside the awe-inspiring setting and legendary history, from summer 2015 visitors to Tintagel will also be able to enjoy improved visitor facilities. The planned developments will celebrate Tintagel's past whilst updating the visitor centre, interpretation, ticketing facilities and café, to offer a better experience for visitors.

"Tintagel is an historically significant and culturally iconic place, and it's really important that our visitor experience reflects this" explains Property Manager Matt Ward, "For centuries the legendary links to King Arthur have drawn people to Tintagel and each year we now welcome thousands of visitors to the castle.

We know how much they enjoy the breath-taking location and magical atmosphere, but we are now looking at how our interpretation and facilities can better do justice to this unique place and the stories it has to tell. At the heart of the village of Tintagel, the castle is one of Cornwall's leading heritage attractions and, through these improvements, we hope to make the area even more appealing to visitors."

The planned visitor improvements will include:

• New visitor facilities within the existing building, including a shop, membership room, and new and expanded interpretation to tell Tintagel's tales
• A reconfiguration of the area around the building, including a wider external pavement, a canopy over part of the frontage, a more attractive area at the entrance to the site, a bridge making the café fully accessible and a second bridge providing direct access between the visitor building and the café
• A new kiosk at the entrance to the mainland courtyard

The new on-site interpretation will explore both the development of the Arthurian legend, and the people who helped to inspire it. On both the mainland and headland, archaeological evidence can be seen for over 1,500 years of habitation and development, giving clues to the lives of Tintagel's historic occupants.

The site of Tintagel Castle has played a significant role in Cornish history, and has been inhabited at least since the late Roman period. It was home to a prosperous community from the 5th to 7th centuries AD, but it was not until the 12th century that Tintagel gained its international literary fame when Geoffrey of Monmouth named it as the place where King Arthur was conceived. It is likely that this literary connection inspired Richard, Earl of Cornwall, younger brother of Henry III, to build his castle at Tintagel in the 1230s.

Plans for the new developments are currently being submitted for planning consent and, pending approval, work on the new visitor facilities will begin this autumn. The new facilities will fully open to the public in the summer of 2015.