21-716: St Fagans National Museum of History ( / ˈ f æ ɡ ə n z / FAG -ənz ; Welsh: Sain Ffagan: Amgueddfa Werin Cymru ), commonly referred to as St Fagans after the village where it is located, is an open-air museum in Cardiff chronicling the historical lifestyle, culture, and architecture of the Welsh people. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales . It consists of more than forty re-erected buildings from various locations in Wales, and
42-463: A Shakespeare play, a musical, and a children's show, has become part of the Welsh theatrical calendar since its founding at Dyffryn in 1983. Scenes from the Doctor Who episodes " Human Nature " and " The Family of Blood " were filmed at the museum. Based on archaeological findings, a reconstruction of Llys Rhosyr , a thirteenth-century court of the princes of Gwynedd , was completed and opened to
63-745: A comparable museum in Wales was going to be more ambitious, as much of the vernacular architecture of Wales is made of masonry. A redeveloped main reception building was opened in July 2017. The six-year, £30-million redevelopment of the site, which was funded by a number of sources, notably the Welsh Government and the National Lottery , was completed in October 2018. The £30-million redevelopment project provided many benefits, including three new galleries showcasing Wales’ history, improvements to buildings such as
84-565: A place of worship for Christmas , Easter , and Harvest Thanksgiving . A Tudor merchant's house from Haverfordwest was opened in 2012. A relocation of the historic Vulcan public house from Newtown in Cardiff to St Fagans was completed in May 2024. Although the museum was intended to preserve aspects of Welsh rural life, it now includes several buildings that depict the industrial working life that succeeded it, that being almost extinct in Wales. There
105-482: Is a row of workers' cottages, depicting furnishing from 1800 to 1985, from Rhyd-y-car near Merthyr Tydfil (below), as well as the pristine Oakdale Workmen's Institute . A post-war prefabricated bungalow (below) represents later domestic lifestyles. From 1996 to 2012, the museum hosted the Everyman Summer Theatre Festival when it re-located from Dyffryn Gardens . This festival, which includes
126-464: Is funded by a precept on local council tax bills and supports a number of local facilities and services. Elections are held every five years. Six candidates stood for nine seats during the 2017 Cardiff Council election . All candidates were therefore elected unopposed, with three other seats filled through councillors being co-opted by members of the community council. The next election is due to be held in May 2022. Newtown, Cardiff Newtown
147-646: Is set in the grounds of St Fagans Castle , a Grade I listed Elizabethan manor house. In 2011 Which? magazine named the museum the United Kingdom's favourite visitor attraction. A six-year, £30-million revamp was completed in 2018 and the museum was named the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2019. The museum was founded in 1946 following the donation of the castle and lands by the Earl of Plymouth . It opened its doors to
168-543: The Marquess of Bute to house construction workers for Cardiff's new docks. In 1850 the South Wales Railway (from Swansea to Chepstow) had been opened, separating Adamsdown from Newtown. Newtown came to consist of six streets – Ellen Street, North Williams Street, Pendoylan Street and Pendoylan Place, Roland Street, Rosemary Street – immediately south of the railway and north of Tyndall Street. A footbridge gave access over
189-661: The Iron Age farmstead, Bryn Eryr, and Medieval Prince's court and Llys Llywelyn, as well as a refurbished main entrance building and a new restaurant, play area and learning spaces. One of the new buildings, the Gweithdy ('workshop'), features Stone Age tools and stick chairs. In June 2019, St Fagans was named UK's Museum of the Year 2019 by the Art Fund, which commended the facility's "exceptional imagination, innovation and achievement". The museum comprises more than forty buildings representing
210-435: The architecture of Wales, including a nonconformist chapel (in this case, Unitarian ), a village schoolhouse, a toll road tollbooth (below), a cockpit (below), a pigsty (below), and a tannery (below). The museum holds displays of traditional crafts, with a working blacksmith forge, a pottery, a weaver, a miller, and a clog maker. It also includes two working water mills: one flour mill and one wool mill. Part of
231-529: The city of Cardiff , capital of Wales . It is home to the St Fagans National History Museum . The name of the area invokes Saint Fagan , according to William of Malmesbury a second-century missionary to Wales but for whom there is no reliable historical evidence. In 1648, the Battle of St Fagans took place close by. To the south lies the village of Michaelston-super-Ely , and to the east
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#1732858071092252-523: The first significant areas of housing that developed outside of Cardiff's old town boundaries in the early nineteenth century, clearly evident by the 1830s. In the years following the Great Famine of Ireland of 1845 hundreds of Irish families began to arrive in Cardiff, often travelling as 'ballast' in ships from Cork and Waterford . They were generally housed in Newtown, which had been purposely expanded by
273-436: The houses were compulsorily purchased in anticipation of the redevelopment of the old dock areas. In 1970 the houses were demolished. The site became a trading estate . In 2010 this in turn had been demolished. It was anticipated the area would be redeveloped for mixed-use, with new housing and offices. One of the last original remnants of Newtown, The Vulcan public house on Adam Street (originally Whitmore Lane, Newtown),
294-777: The public in 1948, under the name of the Welsh Folk Museum . The museum's name in Welsh (also meaning "Welsh Folk Museum") has remained unchanged since that date, whereas the English title was revised to Museum of Welsh Life , thereafter St Fagans National History Museum , and again to its current title. The brainchild of Iorwerth Peate , the museum was modelled on Skansen , the outdoor museum of vernacular Swedish architecture in Stockholm . Most structures re-erected in Skansen were built of wood and are thus easily taken apart and reassembled, but
315-449: The public in October 2018. Called Llys Llewelyn ('Llewelyn's Court'), it was opened with the intention that schoolchildren would be able to stay in the buildings overnight, from spring 2019. The Gweithdy ('Workshop'), a sustainable building designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios , was first opened in July 2017; a café was later added. The new gallery was opened in October 2018, housing improved facilities for visitors while supporting
336-475: The railway. Newtown became known as 'Little Ireland'. Cardiff's first race riot occurred in Newtown in 1848. A Welshman, Thomas Lewis, had been stabbed to death by an Irishman, John Connors. Welsh mobs took the law into their own hands and headed to Newtown to find the culprit. At Lewis's funeral Irishmen with pick axes had to stand guard to ward off any further trouble. By the 1930s, Newtown had already deteriorated to slum conditions. Eventually, in 1966
357-477: The site includes a small working farm which concentrates on preserving local Welsh native breeds of livestock. Produce from the museum's bakery and flour mill is available for sale. The medieval parish church of Saint Teilo , formerly at Llandeilo Tal-y-bont in west Glamorgan (restored to its pre- Reformation state), was opened in October 2007 by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Rowan Williams , and still serves as
378-456: The study of collections and hosting demonstrations and workshops by traditional craftsmen. (present form: c. 1520 ) (present form: 1734) St Fagans 51°29′13″N 3°16′05″W / 51.487°N 3.268°W / 51.487; -3.268 St Fagans ( / ˈ f æ ɡ ə n z / FAG -ənz ; Welsh : Sain Ffagan ) is a village and community in the west of
399-589: The suburb of Fairwater . The community includes Rhydlafar to the north. St Fagans lies on the River Ely , and previously had a railway station on the South Wales Main Line , and currently there is a level crossing . The village is home to St Fagans National History Museum (formerly called the Welsh Folk Museum and the Museum of Welsh Life ) which includes St Fagans Castle and gardens. St Mary's Church in
420-435: The village dates from the 12th century, with an 18th-century tower. St Fagans Old Rectory is another important Grade II* listed building nearby. St Fagans is home to St Fagans Cricket Club. In 2017 construction started on a new Cardiff suburb of 7,000 houses, named Plasdwr , on countryside between St Fagans, Fairwater and Radyr. St Fagans elects a community council of up to nine community councillors. The council
441-423: Was a residential area of Cardiff , Wales that was also known as 'Little Ireland' because of its population of Irish families. Its six streets and 200 houses existed from the mid-nineteenth century until they were demolished in 1970. It was known as one of the "5 towns of Cardiff", the others being Butetown , Crockherbtown , Grangetown and Temperance Town . The areas later known as Newtown and Adamsdown were
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