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St. Fagans, Cardiff, CF5 6XB
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I could write three or four tips on St Fagans' Museum of Welsh Life but I will save you from this, and write one big one at the moment!
LIKE ALL MUSEUMS IT IS FREE!!
The 'museum' is in fact an exciting parkland of 100 acres - the grounds of St Fagan's Castle. What makes it so amazing is the large number of real Welsh traditional buildings that have been re-located to this park. They come from all parts of Wales and all types of landscape - huge stone farmhouses, small whitewashed cottages, terraced houses, shops, chapel, a school, a full-size Miners' Institute and a C13th church. And the modern 'House of the Future', designed by London architects to show how an energy-efficient house can be built in Britain for a reasonable price.
Also see St Fagan's Castle next door, which is in fact a large C16th manor house with gardens.
What makes the museum even more special is the way the buildings are brought to life. You can buy things from the shops (including a working bakery). There are animals in the fields, washing on the clothes lines and, on cold days, fires burning in the hearths. Bi-lingual (i.e. English and Welsh) members of staff can be easily found to answer questions. There is a big shop, restaurant and visitor centre.
I find that winter days are better because of the roaring log- and coal-fires and smoke rising from the chimneys. Buy some welshcakes or 'bara brith' from the bakery. Highly recommended to visit are the Rhyd-y-car row of steelworkers' cottages, furnished in different periods from 1800 to 1980.
Check the website for opening times and special events. Leave a Comment Phone: +44 (0)29 2057 3500Directions: St Fagans village, 4 miles west of Cardiff. There are buses from Cardiff Bus Station. By car follow signs for Fairwater and/or St Fagans.Website: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/mwl/
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 Side view of St Fagans by M0B1US
Opened in 1948, to walk around this huge 100 acre open air museum is to walk around Wales - from Celtic times to the present day!
It is Wales' most popular heritage attraction and unlike the many theme parks in the World geared to a particular time or period, it covers the lives, work and leisure of Welsh people over the last five hundred years.
The Museum stands in the grounds of St Fagans Castle, a late 16th century manor house donated to the people of Wales by the Earl of Plymouth (he of Plymouth Arms fame!) and is made up of almost 50 different buildings and attractions that have been transported and rebuilt brick by brick from all across Wales.
The site is simply massive and although I had over three hours, I felt I was rushing to see just over half of what was on show!!!
Favourite parts of the visit included the Castle itself, the house of the future, making friends with the mill cat and watching the school kids taking turns to throw their own pots at the pottery for £2.95 a time!
Check out the website for more info on the best museum of its type that I have even been to!
Don't just take my word for it, check out Carmela71's page as well! :-)
>>>Fun Fact!
At 100 acres, the Museum of Welsh Life is almost a quarter of the size of the entire Principality of Monaco! Leave a Comment Phone: +44 (0)29 2057 3387Directions: St Fagans village, 4 miles west of Cardiff. Take the 32 or 320 buses from the Central Bus station - £2.60 return. MAPWebsite: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/mwl/
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 General Store at St Fagans by AbbyL
Buildings of varying ages and styles have been carefully removed from their original locations and rebuilt brick-by-brick here in order that you can get a feel for life in Wales over the centuries.
People dressed in costume add to the atmosphere and are surprisingly knowledgeable,so feel free to ask questions.
There's a farm and lots of animals wandering about the place, so plenty to keep the kids happy.
Be sure to try Welshcakes and Bara Brith at the bakery, traditional desserts baked on site.
Look out for my personnal favourite, the little row of terreaced cottages. Each of these is decorated in a different style, ranging from the 17th Century to the 1980s. Hard to believe families could actually live in places so small. The observant amongst you may notice the upstairs floorboards (look to the ceiling) in one of these houses are loose - to allow coffins to be removed, as the stairs are too narrow to bring them down!
The grounds are lovely too, so if the weather's good take a picnic! Leave a Comment
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 The Museum of Welsh Life by percy961Leave a Comment
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 Celtic Village by Goner
The buildings are fully furnished with the artifacts and furniture of the times. St. Teilo’s, a 13th century church, was brought here and during the process 16th century wall paintings were discovered on the church’s walls that told the Bible stories for the ordinary people who couldn’t read or write.
Terraced houses portray life in a Welsh mining community that spans over 200 years. The Gwalia Stores is a general store where you can buy cheese and other items from the 20’s. The Llawryglyn Smith is where you can watch the blacksmith shaping horseshoes and farm tools. Fleece and flannel are manufactured in the Esgair Moel Woollen. There is a mill that produces stone-ground wheat flour used in the Derwen Bakehouse where traditional and bara brith bread are made - you can it nice and hot. You can see a wood turner, a cooper, a clogmaker and a leather worker demonstrating their works.
There are farmhouse filled with Edwardian furniture. A Celtic village shows household and hunting equipment of 3000 years ago.
There is a large indoor museum showing farming implements and vehicles, costumes, crafts, and artifacts of daily living from the Middle Ages to today. The craft collections include woodworking, leatherwork, metalwork, basketmaking, and pottery. A textile craft collection includes quilting, embroidery, lacemaking, tailoring, and woollen products.
There’s a library of over 40,000 volumes for research studies as well as photo archives. Special events are held throughout the year.
Allow about 4 hours to visit.
Restaurant, snack bar and tearoom on premises. Do have a Welsh Cake from the snack bar - delicious. Leave a Comment
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 Great Gardens Outside St.
Fagan's Castle by psychocy, 4 more photos
The museum lies on the grounds of St. Fagan's Castle - a manor house worth exploring in itself. Another house, called 'The House of the Future', is an energy efficient home set on the property. It also can be explored. There is a shop, visitor center, and a lunchroom-style restaurant.
We spent most of a day there, but it wasn't enough time to do justice to this great museum. If you want to truly feel like you've stepped back in time visit the Museum of Welsh Life. Leave a Comment
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Amazing 100 acre open-air museum with buildings taken from all over Wales from different periods of time. Staff demonstrate traditional crafts. One could spend hours and hours here. And is FREE!!!. Leave a Comment Directions: Museum of Welsh Life St Fagans Cardiff Wales CF5 6XBOther Contact: 44 (0) 29 20573500 www.nmgw.ac.u
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one of europe's biggest open air museums.centuries of welsh tradition,culture,industry,and costume are gathered together in a hundred acres of beautiful countryside. icould go on butyou would not believe. just go there. Directions: st fagans,just north of cardiff. signposted from junction 33 of m4.Other Contact: tel.cardiff (01222) 573500
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 One of many buildings here by Nich
The original buildings have been moved from various parts of Wales and re-erected to show how the people of Wales lived at various times in history. Leave a Comment Phone: +44 (0)29 2057 3387Directions: M4 (Juncton 33) along the A4232 and follow the signposts.Website: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/mwl/
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 Folk Museum by MartinSelway
This place is fantastic. If you set aside a whole day I doubt if you would see everything. It is well worth paying to see - the fact you can get in for FREE now is a tremendous bonus.
It is split into two half’s. There is the Castle half - this has lakes, formal gardens, collections of coracles etc.
The other half is the collection of historic buildings and the Museum. Examples of traditional buildings have been taken down brick by brick and reassembled exactly as they were in the grounds of the museum.
There are all sorts of buildings here: a cock pit; school; farm houses; terraced valley's houses; toll houses; mills; black-smiths; the list goes on and on.
One of the great joys for me about this place is that it is a living museum. When you walk into one of the old farmhouses there are no taped-off rooms - you walk around and see it as it would have been maybe a hundred years ago. Maybe the fire will be lit; there will be a musty smell in the air; the old furniture smells of beeswax. I think it must be just about as authentic an experience that you can get.
Most buildings will have a custodian who knows that building inside out. They will be happy to explain how it was made, what life was like for those that lived in it.
If all this was not enough, many of the houses actually produce something. So the old bakery bakes, the mill grinds wheat into flour; the blacksmith produces wrought iron work etc. You can buy items at the Museum shop.
If you're into this sort of place, then go, you will not be disappointed.
[For more photos see my travelogue]. Leave a Comment Phone: +44 (0)29 2057 3387Directions: St Fagans village, 5 miles west of Cardiff. Plenty of free parking.Website: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/mwl/
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