museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
of the
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
industry and its workforce in the
South Wales Coalfield
The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espec ...
. It is located at Cynonville within the Afan Forest Park Visitor Centre in the
Afan Forest Park
The Afan Forest Park (formally and locally known as Afan Argoed Country Park) is a forest park in Britain. It is set in the Afan Valley in Neath Port Talbot, in south Wales. It is well known for its mountain biking and hiking or hillwalking tr ...
Neath Port Talbot
Neath Port Talbot ( cy, Castell-nedd Port Talbot) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county bor ...
.
History
The museum, the first of its kind in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
, opened in June 1976. The main features of the museum at that time included a traditional miner's cottage scene and display cabinets containing historical photographs and documents designed to reflect the
industrial heritage
Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...
of
mining in Wales
Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It was key to the Industrial Revolution.
Wales was famous for its coal mining, in the Rhondda Valley, t ...
. In 1976, the museum received The Prince of Wales Award, and two years later it was highly placed in the National Heritage Museum of the Year Award. The museum was also highly commended by the British Tourist Authority in their "Come to Britain" competition.South Wales Miners' Museum /ref> The museum receives approximately 100,000 visitors annually. /ref>
Facilities and exhibitions
The museum, which re-opened in 2008 after rebuilding, features a recreation of a tunnel where models of
children
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
can be seen crawling through the space underground. There is also a realistic stable with a miner, his
pit pony
A pit pony, otherwise known as a mining horse, was a horse, pony or mule commonly used underground in mines from the mid-18th until the mid-20th century. The term "pony" was sometimes broadly applied to any equine working underground.English ...
and trailer. Outdoor exhibits include a blacksmith's shop, a lamp room with
Davy lamp
The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres, invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy.