Wrexham County Borough Museum (or simply Wrexham Museum) is a

local history museum A local museum or local history museum is a type of museum that shows the historical development of a place/region (local history) using exhibits. These museums usually maintain a collection of historic three-dimensional objects which are exh ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough ( cy, Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam) is a county borough, with city status, in the north-east of Wales. It borders England to the east and south-east, Powys to the south-west, Denbighshire to the west and Flintshire to the nort ...

, Wales. It is located within County Buildings, alongside the

A. N. Palmer Centre for Local Studies and Archives The A.N. Palmer Centre for Local Studies and Archives, or simply the Wrexham Archives, holds the archives for the city of Wrexham. The archives are held at County Buildings, on Regent Street, Wrexham, and run by Wrexham County Borough Council as ...

and a proposed

Football Museum for Wales A ''national football museum'' dedicated to Welsh association football in Wrexham has been proposed by various politicians in both the Welsh Government and local councils, with Wrexham County Borough Council being the leading contender for a m ...

. The building is located on Regent Street, in the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

. The museum is managed by the Wrexham Heritage & Archives Service, which in turn, is operated by

Wrexham County Borough Council Wrexham County Borough Council () is the governing body for Wrexham County Borough, a Principal area of Wales, principal area in North Wales, north Wales, covering Wrexham and the surrounding area. History Elections take place every five years ...

as part of its Housing & Economy Department.

History

The museum is housed in County Buildings on Regent Street, in Wrexham's city centre. The building, designed by

Thomas Penson Thomas Penson, or Thomas Penson the younger (c. 1790 – 1859) was the county surveyor of Denbighshire and Montgomeryshire. An innovative architect and designer of a number of masonry arch bridges over the River Severn and elsewhere. He was th ...

, was a former militia barracks and later a police station and

Magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

. The police vacated the building in 1976–1977, and it became part of a local art college. In 1996, following the formation of Wrexham County Borough, the local council set up a museum in the then vacant building. The museum is managed by the Wrexham Heritage & Archives Service, part of

's Housing & Economy Department. The archives are regarded to be part of the museum, but were named in honour of local historian

Alfred Neobard Palmer Alfred Neobard Palmer (10 July 1847 – 7 March 1915) was a chemist and local historian. He published several books concerning the local history of Wrexham and north Wales. Biography Alfred Neobard Palmer was born in Thetford, Norfolk, England ...

, as the

, and opened in 2002. Regent Street, Wrexham - DSC09428

In 2009, the museum was awarded a £950,000 grant from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

to open up more of the building to display the museum's collections. In 2010–2011, a glass extension was added to the front of the building, as well as a museum-wide refurbishment, reopening on 14 February 2011.

Description

The museum focuses on the

history of Wrexham The city of Wrexham in north-east Wales has a history dating back to ancient times. The former market town was the site of heavy industry in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is now an active commercial centre. Wrexham was granted city status in ...

and the wider County Borough area. Touring national and local exhibitions are also featured at the museum at various events. The museum houses a Courtyard Cafe and a shop. It is walking distance from Wrexham bus station (),

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

() and General railway stations (), with a

multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

at the rear.

Wrexham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as St Mary's Cathedral or Wrexham Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Wrexham, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Wrexham, and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrex ...

is adjacent to the building's west. The Football Museum Wales project, backed by Wrexham County Borough Council and the Welsh Government, hopes to set up a national football museum in the building alongside Wrexham Museum, on the building's upper floor.

Galleries and collections

The museum hosts over 16,000 objects, with not all available to view at the same time, however any object can be requested to the museum to view in-person at an appointed time. The museum contains three exhibitions, described as 'galleries'. Gallery One is focused on the archaeology and social history of Wrexham County Borough. Gallery Two is centred on various collections of

Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, branded as simply Amgueddfa Cymru (formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales and legally National Museum of Wales), is a Welsh Government sponsored body that comprises seven museums in Wales: * N ...

and the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

. Gallery Three is used for various other programmes, including touring exhibitions in the museum for a limited period. This included an Ancient Egyptian touring exhibition from the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in 2015, and an exhibition on the Roman history of

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

in 2021. The museum also hosts an attraction known as the "Time Tunnel". Notable collections in the museum relating to aspects of the local history include: Wales Football collection, the local coal, iron and steel industries, and the brick, tile and terracotta industry.

References

{{Wrexham, state=collapsed 1996 establishments in Wales Museums established in 1996 Museums in Wrexham County Borough