National Woollen Museum
Encyclopedia
The National Woollen Museum located in Drefach Felindre, Llandysul
, Carmarthenshire
is part of the National Museum Wales
.
surpassed even coal
as the most important of Wales' industries. The Teifi Valley
was the centre of the West Wales
woollen industry, earning itself the nickname "The Huddersfield
of Wales."
.
The restoration work includes a glass roofed courtyard, and a new gallery which displays aspects of the National Flat Textile collection. As well as historic machinery, a raised walkway gives a view of textiles in production at Melin Teifi, the site's commercial woollen mill. In 2005 a Research and Collections Centre opened which includes a room dedicated to hands on learning opportunities.
The renovation was part of a £40m museum strategy for Wales, and opened by National Assembly for Wales
Culture Minister Alun Pugh
. The strategy embraces three existing site-specific museums; the National Woollen Museum, the National Slate Museum at Llanberis
; Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon
; and development of the new National Waterfront Museum
in Swansea
.
Llandysul
Llandysul is a small town in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The community of Pont Tyweli lies directly across the Teifi River in Carmarthenshire. It is in the valley of the River Teifi and is visited for its fishing and canoeing....
, Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
is part of the National Museum Wales
National Museum Wales
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, comprises eight museums in Wales:* National Museum Cardiff* St Fagans: National History Museum, Cardiff* Big Pit National Coal Museum, Blaenavon...
.
Background
Historically and into the 19th century, the production and processing of woolWool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
surpassed even coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
as the most important of Wales' industries. The Teifi Valley
River Teifi
The River Teifi forms the boundary between the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales for most of its 75 mile length, flowing into the sea below the town of Cardigan. The catchment of the river is estimated to be 1,008 square kilometres yielding an average flow at Glan...
was the centre of the West Wales
West Wales
West Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth., an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics....
woollen industry, earning itself the nickname "The Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
of Wales."
Cambrian Mills
David Lewis erected Cambrian Mills on the site of a former small water-powered weaving workshop in 1902. The new mill was to supply the need for woollen cloth for working men in the coal and steel industries. In 1915, a hundred people were employed and flannel was produced for military uniforms. In 1919, fire broke out in the carding and spinning department and the damage caused was estimated at £20,000. A workman on the top floor had a lucky escape when, having found his exit route blocked by flames and smoke, he climbed onto the roof and was rescued with the aid of a long ladder. The mill was subsequently rebuilt despite the recent decline in orders for woollen textiles. In 1965 the mill was put up for sale with 30 people being employed at that time and in 1976 the museum was opened to the public.The museum
Both the mill and the village of Drefach Felindre are a national heritage site. Launched as the Museum of the Welsh Woollen Industry in 1976, it reopened in March 2004 as the National Woollen Museum following a two year, £2 million refit partly funded by the Heritage Lottery FundHeritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
.
The restoration work includes a glass roofed courtyard, and a new gallery which displays aspects of the National Flat Textile collection. As well as historic machinery, a raised walkway gives a view of textiles in production at Melin Teifi, the site's commercial woollen mill. In 2005 a Research and Collections Centre opened which includes a room dedicated to hands on learning opportunities.
The renovation was part of a £40m museum strategy for Wales, and opened by National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
Culture Minister Alun Pugh
Alun Pugh
Alun John Pugh is a former Labour Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and Sport. Pugh was born into a poor coal mining family in the Rhondda Valleys. He moved to North Wales in the mid 1980s. Pugh currently lives in his former constituency near Ruthin, and lived in...
. The strategy embraces three existing site-specific museums; the National Woollen Museum, the National Slate Museum at Llanberis
Llanberis
Llanberis is a village in Gwynedd, North Wales, lying on the southern banks of Llyn Padarn in Snowdonia. It takes its name from Saint Peris, an early Welsh saint.According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llanberis was 1,954...
; Big Pit National Coal Museum in Blaenavon
Blaenavon
Blaenavon is a town and World Heritage Site in south eastern Wales, lying at the source of the Afon Lwyd north of Pontypool, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. The town lies high on a hillside and has a population of 6,349 people...
; and development of the new National Waterfront Museum
National Waterfront Museum
The National Waterfront Museum, Swansea or NWMS is a museum situated in Swansea, Wales, forming part of the National Museum Wales. It is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage....
in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
.