The Museum of Welsh Life is to be found on the outskirts of Cardiff, about 4 miles from the city centre in a village called St Fagans. Take Junction 33 off the M4 to the A4232, and follow the signposts - turn left just after the level crossing into the main car parking area. Parking is £2.50 per car, but entrance to the Museum itself is free. There are dedicated spaces for disabled visitors and ramps provide access to the main museum building, restaurants and shops. Wheelchairs are available on request but cannot be booked in advance.
By bus, take the number 32 or 320 from Cardiff Central Bus Station to St Fagans.
---GENERAL OVERVIEW---
The Museum of Welsh Life, is a 100 acre open air museum comprising a main gallery building and a collection of reconstructed buildings situated in the grounds, gathered
from all over Wales. This is a popular outdoor attraction where the visitor is able to wander around the impressive grounds and go into selected buildings to see how the people of Wales lived and worked in times past.
Originally, over 30 buildings were relocated from various parts of Wales to the Museum, ranging from a 13th Century church to an original 1950's prefab home. All are set in the beautiful Welsh countryside - with many picturesque locations for picnics and recreation dotted throughout.
St Fagans opened on 1 July 1948. The Museum is located in the grounds of the impressive St Fagans Castle, which is actually a large late 16th Century manor house donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth.
---WHAT'S TO SEE AND DO?---
---The Museum Building---
On leaving the parking area visitors enter into a large indoor museum which houses displays covering craft collections (metalwork, leatherwork, textiles, basket making etc), vehicles, costumes, artefacts and farming implements. All illustrate daily living in Wales from the Middle Ages though to modern times. There is also a library housing 40,000 historical volumes and photographic archives. The whole building is littered with photographs and paintings illustrating times past and is really the centre point for any visit.
The main building also houses a large gift shop stocking Welsh crafts, books, traditional Welsh fayre (some lovely chutneys!), and the usual tourist souvenirs - all items seem reasonably priced. Opposite the gift shop is a small cafeteria serving the usual selection of sandwiches and soft drinks, although this was a little pricey, and with the beautiful location I would really recommend bringing a picnic and enjoying the scenery outside. The main restaurant and toilets are located on the upper level - accessible by lifts and ramps. The toilets were very clean and well serviced.
---Outside---
Due to the historic nature of the buildings, access inside some of them may prove difficult for wheelchair users and pushchairs. The layout is such that there are steep areas that may also prove tricky, but the easier routes are all signposted which is really a great help. However, there are ramps and lifts provided in some of the buildings, enabling disabled visitors access inside.
The grounds themselves are very impressive, with the gardens leading to the St Fagans Castle the jewel in the crown. The Castle itself was once the Summer Home of the Earl of Plymouth and has a lavishly decorated interior. The formal gardens surrounding the Castle are beautifully terraced with mediaeval fishponds and waterfalls at the base containing some very friendly ducks! The gardens also include the rosary and an Italian garden - we even found a cork tree which is a very unusual find in a Welsh garden.
There is a further area on from here with some lovely wild ponds (we selected this site under a shady tree for our picnic) - this area overlooks a Summer House from the 1800's which was originally situated in Bute Park in the centre of Cardiff (reviewed separately). This Summer House provides a handy retreat should it rain, and is a beautiful building in its own right.
The buildings really are too numerous to detail individually, one area for example is laid out as an old village, with shops, a bakery and a pub, together with homes, a school and a Workmen's Institute (incorporating a wheelchair lift). All are laid out around a village green, and it is from this area that visitors can take a pony and trap ride around the grounds, or alternatively take a ride on the train that runs every hour around the grounds (at 50p a stop it's quite a bargain and the children loved it!). All the properties are decorated inside with period furnishings and the shops sell traditional fayre (the smell from the bakery was wonderful!). Further buildings include a barn, farmhouses and outbuildings (even a pig sty), places of worship and a number of traditional Welsh homes from various ages past.
---ADDITIONAL INFORMATION---
A visit to the Museum can take a whole day if one were to tour every property, or alternatively it is a great place to go for a few hours just for a picnic - it's really up to the individual - but there is plenty to see for everyone which makes for a really good day out.
The Vale of Glamorgan Farmers Market is held at St Fagans on the second Sunday of every month from 10.00am to 1.00 pm and various free workshops and activities are held throughout the year.
The Museum of Welsh Life St Fagans Cardiff CF5 6XB Tel: 029 2057 3500 Open 10.00 am - 5.00pm daily, including Bank Holidays.
Pictures of Museum of Welsh Life
The Gardens
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Advantages: Free entry, good public transport links, plenty to do Disadvantages: Hordes of schoolchildren in term time, not all parts have wheelchair access
Collingwood21 03.10.2002 (21.11.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Museum of Welsh Life
Advantages: Free entry, good public transport links, plenty to do Disadvantages: Hordes of schoolchildren in term time, not all parts have wheelchair access
Collingwood21 03.10.2002 (21.11.2002)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Museum of Welsh Life
Jun 26th, 2006
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