Designing and installing a bird control system that effectively removes the target species yet remains discreet is a tricky yet common instruction. Arundel Castle, based in the heart of West Sussex, was one such task we took on. With a beautiful building like this the bird control method needed to be as invisible as possible. This was the oldest building we have worked on, some parts of the building were establised over a thousand years ago. It is also a Grade I listed building.

We designed for the Duke a system that would work as a prevention in several key areas of the property including the main entrance turrets, lightwells and the medieval drawbridge.

One of the problems faced in the old section of the castle was pigeons roosting and nesting under the central walkway and the entrance drawbridge. The solution was the installation of weldmesh to the undersides of the supports to act as a discreet yet impenetrable defence (excuse the pun!). The drawbridge was particularly tricky as this was a tourist hotspot and so a physical prevention like netting was out of the question. Therefore, we felt that the only appropriate method was the installation of bird gel strips to all the wooden cross sections to make the landing of any pigeons uncomfortable.

Areas around the main turrets were installed with netting as this acted as the best prevention method. Isolated windows protected from the wind were installed with a series of birdwire to act as a discreet yet impenetrable system.