Abergavenny Museum is a

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 thes ...

situated in the grounds of

Abergavenny Castle Abergavenny Castle ( cy, Castell y Fenni) is a ruined castle in the market town of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, established by the Norman lord Hamelin de Balun . It was the site of a massacre of Welsh noblemen in 1175, and was attacked ...

, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, south east

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The museum is housed in the square 'keep' on the high point of the castle

motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

, in the hunting lodge built for the

Marquess of Abergavenny Marquess of Abergavenny (pronounced Aber''genn''y) in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom created on 14 January 1876, along with the title Earl of Lewes (pronounced "Lewis"), in the County of Sussex, for the ...

in 1819 on the site. The castle grounds overlook the River Usk and Castle Meadows and is in Abergavenny town centre itself.

History of the museum

The museum had been mooted early in the 20th century but action to establish it only took place in the late 1950s at a period when parts of the old town of Abergavenny were undergoing some redevelopment and some interesting historical and archaeological artifacts came to light. Local residents realised that some action had to be taken to prevent these items from being lost forever and to provide a home for future finds. The action of local volunteers established the museum on its present site.

The collection

The museum houses a collection of objects of local significance: old photographs of the landscape and town; archaeological finds discovered when the new 1960s Post Office and telephone exchange was built on part of the site of the Roman fort of Gobannium; earlier prehistoric finds dating from the Mesolithic,

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

such as axe heads and arrow heads; items from the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began wit ...

s; a Welsh kitchen of the 1890s, a saddlers shop from 1900 to 1930 and Basil Jones' old

grocer A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

s sho

from Abergavenny town; and nationally valuable collections associated with Father Ignatius and

Lady Llanover Augusta Hall, Baroness Llanover (21 March 1802 – 17 January 1896), born Augusta Waddington, was a Welsh heiress, best known as a patron of the Welsh arts. Early life She was born on 21 March 1802, near Abergavenny, the youngest daughter of ...

Liaison with schools

Abergavenny Museum works closely with local schools and educational establishments. It provides a range of workshops covering the Celts and Romans locally to the Victorian kitchen.

References

External links

Abergavenny Museum website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110605022121/http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/search/ Gathering the Jewels Welsh website— some of the artefacts held at Abergavenny Museum
Museum Wales on a rare Roman find from near AbergavennyMuseum Wales on coins found near Abergavenny
{{Museums and art galleries in Wales, state=collapsed History of Monmouthshire Museums in Monmouthshire Local museums in Wales Abergavenny

History of the museum

The collection

Liaison with schools

See also

References

External links