Abertillery and District Museum

About the museum

Abertillery and District Museum Society was founded at a meeting on 30 September 1964 with the aim of setting up and maintaining a museum in Abertillery and promoting the history of the area. The museum first opened on 13 January 1972 on the ground floor of Abertillery library, where it stayed until August 1996. It was then put into store in the Metropole Building while the society raised money for a new home.

A new museum opened on 21 June 2001 on the ground floor of the Old Market Hall in the Metropole Building. A Heritage Lottery Fund grant in 2006 paid for new cases, displays and a children's education area, and the improved museum reopened in July 2007. It is run by the volunteers of the society, who are happy to talk about the exhibits.

Visitors can wander freely through the displays, which begin with a Stone Age axe and a Bronze Age palstave found at Llanerch Padern, Cwmtillery, and continue with Roman and Celtic scenes, a farmhouse kitchen, local myths and legends and a washhouse. Further displays cover coal mining and the story of local hero Arthur Bobbett, a miner whose gallantry medals are kept in the museum. The coffee shop contains a marble counter and soda fountain from the early 1900s that came from the Express Cafe in the town centre.

Highlights

• Stone Age and Bronze Age finds from Cwmtillery
• Roman and Celtic displays with finds from near Caerleon and Caerwent
• Farmhouse kitchen, washhouse and Victorian shop displays
• Medals of the miner Arthur Bobbett
• Coffee shop with an early twentieth-century marble soda fountain

Permanent exhibition

• Permanent displays – Free-flowing displays from the Stone Age to the twentieth century, including Roman and Celtic scenes, a farmhouse kitchen, a washhouse and coal mining life.

Founded

1972

Operated by

Abertillery and District Museum Society Ltd

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free. Purchases in the shop and cafe are by cash only.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

• Hands-on stations

Interactive displays for school groups let children dress up in costumes from the period they are studying, including a shop that can be adapted for Victorian or wartime rationing.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on the ground floor of the Old Market Hall in the Metropole Building on Market Street.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop

A coffee shop at the end of the visit serves hot drinks and has a marble counter and soda fountain from the early 1900s. The museum shop sells a range of products; payment is by cash only.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit