Llanidloes Museum
Curator: Eva Bredsdorff
LLanidloes Museum, The Town Hall, Great Oak Street, Llanidloes, Powys SY18 6BN
Telephone 01686 413777 during opening hours (see foot of page)
Telephone 01938 554656 outside opening hours
The Museum
Llanidloes Museum of Local History and Industry was established in 1930 within the town's old Market Hall, a Grade I listed, timber building and the only example surviving on its original site in Wales. In 1993 it was decided to separate the museum collections from their venue in order to preserve the building itself and to meet the standards of collection care, access and interpretation for the artefactsIn 1995 the museum reopened in a new site within the ground floor of the Town Hall. This is a Grade 2 listed building, dating from 1907, situated on the main street and the natural venue for the local museum. In the year 2000, thanks to the generosity of Llanidloes Town Council the Museum was able to take over an extra room within the Town Hall thus doubling its size. A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and partnership funding from Kite Country and Powys County Council enabled the Museum to expand and improve its displays and make a larger proportion of the collections accessible to the visitor. The new, refurbished museum opened on the 30th May 2001.
The new Museum layout is divided into logical sections reflecting the nature and type of the collections. In the entrance hall the visitors will find up-to-date material about other attractions in the area and similar information. The area will also be used for small temporary displays as well as for education purposes.
The Local History Gallery
This gallery depicts the development of Llanidloes during the last three centuries. Topics include the history of the Old Market Hall, civic events in the town as well as both World Wars; there are displays on the mining and woollen industries, the building of the railway and the importance of religion and non-conformism; much attention is paid to the Chartist movement, and the 'riots' of 1839. But Llanidloes of today is not forgotten with displays of local trade and tourism.
The Victorian Rooms
The museum's new gallery is taken up by two different exhibitions. Household items are shown in two themed cases representing late Victorian rooms. The 'parlour' has period furniture such as settle, chairs and a cradle. While the kitchen, and laundry setting has a fireplace with a crane, fire irons and a kettle tilter with kettle. Placed on shelves are sugar cutters, wooden plates and bowls, a tea caddy, jelly moulds as well as butterprints and many other utensils.
The Natural History Gallery
The exhibition called 'If you go down to the woods . . .' looks at the importance of trees and man's influence on the forests of Britain. This theme ties in with the Kite Information Point housed within the area which focuses on Hafren Forest and the wildlife living there.This display also shows how today nature can be studied without disturbing the wildlife and its habitat in contrast to the Victorian 'shoot to study' technique represented by the Museum's collection of stuffed animals.
OPENING TIMES
All year:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 11am-1pm & 2-4pm
Wednesday: Closed
Thursday: 11am-1pm & 2-4pm
Friday: 11am-1pm & 2-4pm
Summer (June-August)
Saturday: 10am-1pm & 2-5pm
Winter (September-May)
Saturday: 11am-2pm
PARKING
Car parking is available in nearby streets and car parks.
DISABLED VISITORS
The museum is situated on the ground floor and has easy access to all displays.
ENQUIRIES
and objects for identification can be left at the museum and will be dealt with at the earliest convenience. Enquiry to the curator should be directed to The Curator, Powysland Museum, The Canal Wharf, Welshpool, Powys SY21 7AQ
PARTIES
School classes and other groups are very welcome. Talks, worksheets and hands-on sessions can be arranged with prior notice.
