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Museum Details
Abergavenny Museum
The Castle
Abergavenny
NP7 5EE
Monmouthshire
Wales
Collection details
Archaeology
Archives
Costume and Textiles
Social History
Facilities
Shop: yes
Study area: yes
Wheelchair access: yes
Contact details
General information (Tel)
:
01873 854 282
General information (Fax)
:
01873 736004
E-mail
:
abergavennymuseum@monmouthshire.gov.uk
Website
:
www.abergavennyhistory.co.uk
Open
1 March-31 October
Mon-Sat
1100-1300
1400-1700
Sun 1400-1700
1 November-31 February
Mon-Sat
1100-1300 & 1400-1600
Admission charges
Free entrance but donations are welcome.
Description
Housed in a Regency hunting lodge, which is known as 'the keep', Abergavenny Museum is set within the ruins of a Norman castle. The museum presents the story of this historic market town from prehistoric, Roman and Norman times through to the present day.
The museum also stands on the motte which dates from 1087. Most of the castle remains date from the 13th Century. As the seat of the medieval lords of Abergavenny, the castle was the focus for more than three centuries of border warfare. In 1175 the Great Hall was the scene of the infamous massacre of the Welsh chieftains by the Norman Lord, William de Braose.
The castle grounds have been open to the public since 1881 when they were leased by the Lord of Abergavenny to the local authority, and the museum was started in 1959. The museum, castle and the picturesque grounds are still leased and are now under the control of Monmouthshire County Council.
Today, different exhibitions are held on a regular basis and the displays include recreations of a Victorian Welsh farmhouse kitchen and a saddler's workshop; another favourite is Basil Jones's grocery shop, pictured below. If you remember visiting the shop in Cross Street, why not record your thoughts in the memory book?
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Information published here was believed to be correct at the time it was prepared. Welsh language pages developed with CYMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales, funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.