News and Events

The Museum always closes over the winter and we have welcomed the last of our visitors for the year now. We are sorry if you missed us but do make sure you visit in 2026. Next year we will be celebrating 10 years of this current management of the Museum and will look forward to seeing you.

We have enjoyed the summer with our weavers and demonstrators, who do so much to help our visitors enjoy themselves. Thanks also to our volunteers who are there to welcome everybody. Why not join us and help the museum thrive.

Do you have an afternoon to spare - once a month, or every couple of weeks. Even when we are closed there is work to be done. We would love to hear from you and you can help us keep the Museum open this year. Go to How to help page

Check out the latest stories about Newtown on the History page

You can now explore our art 24/7 on ArtUK.

Make sure you read the story behind our Edward Salter watercolour.

If you missed our exhibition this year, it will shortly be available on this website, so keep an eye open for that too. John Owen was Newtown's first photographer and was responsible for some of the earliest photographs of Montgomeryshire's people and places. There are some fascinating stories about his photographs on the History page.

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Filming at the Museum

Popular TV show comes to the Museum

The Bargain Hunt team were in Newtown recently where two teams took on the challenge to get the best bargains for antiques and attempted to sell them at an auction for higher prices. Each episode highlights also an interesting aspect of the area in which they are ‘hunting’, in our case this was Pryce Jones and the beginnings of mail order. The show was on the BBC on 29 August and will be available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days. Make sure you catch it. Our thanks to David Harper and the team.

Spinning and weaving

Demonstrations

Our weaver-in-residence and regular visitors Lea and Elfie enjoy sharing their skills with our visitors during our summer season. We hope they will join us again in 2026 so you can be inspired.

Emma will be working at the museum during the August holidays. She would love to talk to you about her work, and she will be there each Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Lea and her daughter Elfie are involved in all sorts of heritage crafts and historic spinning. Check out their Instagram page for loads of inspiration

Elfie is the other half of this dynamic duo who also loves weaving . They enjoy working in the atmosphere created on the loom floor at the museum.

@lea_and_elfie

New in 2025 - Explorer bags for children

Two of our volunteers have written a special children's story book about 'Tomos', the museum mouse. The story has been beautifully bound by Andrea, another of our lovely volunteers. It is one of a number of items to be found in our new Explorer Bags, to help our younger visitors to enjoy the museum.

We think they are suitable for young children aged around 5-8 years, so, if you are visiting with a child please ask our host on reception for the loan of one of our bags when you arrive. The story in the book can be used to guide the children around the museum, and the other things can encourage them to think what life would have been like in the mid-1800s. The bags should be returned at the end of your visit.

Inside you'll find: 'Tomos' book ; A flat cap or a molly cap; Magnifying glass; Spinner; Finger puppet.

getting ready for season 2025

Spring is in the air

Image of volunteer cleaning our model dog

Our very own tour

We are excited to tell you that we have completed the English version of our walk-through tour. The Welsh version is also available here. It helps visitors understand the building and the unique history of Newtown as well as making it more accessible for those with mobility issues. The historic nature of the building, limits access for some visitors and hopefully this tour will allow these groups of people to enjoy our great little Museum.

During the winter, you can get a good idea of the Museum and its history on this video and you will be able to come in person to see the Museum in the summer.

Taith Amgeudda

Yn ystod y gaeaf, gallwch gael syniad da o'r Amgueddfa a'i hanes ar y fideo hwn a byddwch yn gallu dod yn bersonol i weld y Amgueddfa yn 2025

Here is John, our curator, on the loom floor of the Museum filming the tour with Gwyn from Still River Films

We are also really pleased to have worked with Dragon UAV on the drone footage used in the tour. They are "Proud Supporters of Newtown Tourism - Dragon UAV ”

Weaver-in-Residence in 2024

Watch Rachel set up and weave on our loom

These videos, made in 2024, shows how much work is involved in weaving. The first video shows some of the processes involved, and the second one follows the whole story from selecting threads and colours through to a final length of cloth.

With thanks to Still River Films. and to Rachel who spent time with us in the summer and agreed to take part in these films.

The eternal beauty of weaving

Rachel describes the whole process of weaving in this excellent film.

Check out the shop

We have some new and unusual items for sale in the shop in the museum.

Family history

Linking families

Our own 'Who do you think you are' story connecting families with ancestors from Newtown!

Can you link your family to the cottages at our Museum? We were excited recently when we had a message from New Zealand finding a connection to the Clayton family who lived in Penygloddfa and are incorporated into our story.

In 2016 a visitor came to the Museum seeking information about her ancestors - the Claytons - who lived in Commercial Street (then South Street) in the 1840s. She was not only pleased to see where they had lived, but she gave us information on several generations of the family, some of whom emigrated to Australia. We have been happy she let us use the Clayton story in the Museum.

Our most recent message came from another person who also linked her family to the Claytons, and it seems that the two family historians share common great grandparents. We have put them in touch with each other - and as they both live now in New Zealand they may be able to share their stories in person.

Maybe you too can find a link to the Claytons in your family, or to other weavers who lived in Penygloddfa. Check out the census information for the area and do get in touch if you find your ancestors there.

School visits

A couple of the local schools took advantage of the opportunity to visit the museum in 2025 even when we were not open to the public. It was great to welcome them and give them a glimpse into life in the mid 1800s in Newtown.

We welcome enquiries from schools, and are keen to work with them.

School children talking about Victorian food

Accreditation granted

We are delighted to tell you that we were awarded Full Accreditation by Arts Council England in 2023. We were congratulated on a very strong application which was the result of a lot of hard work by all those involved with the Museum, in particular the members of the committee. This status will help us going forward, in particular with applications for grants which are vital to our future.

(For those unsure what Accreditation is all about, it means that we have been assessed against agreed standards for managing our collection properly, engaging with our visitors and being governed appropriately - all important things for running a museum well).

Laura Ashley Loan

Laura Ashley wedding dress. Do visit us to see this dress.

The dress is vintage Laura Ashley, believed to be circa early 1980s. The sample label sewn inside shows a date of 25/7/85. It has been loaned to the Museum by Rory Evans and it is lovely to see it on display in the Amelia Ray draper's shop (even though it was made about 100 years after Amelia's shop was operating). Thanks Rory.

The dress is believed to have been a sample piece which was then put into production. As such, it was never bought by a customer or worn as a wedding dress. It was apparently displayed in the window of the Laura Ashley shop in Newtown.

Photographs - take your own

John Owen, Victorian Photographer - the subject of this year's exhibition

Recently the Museum has acquired a collection of photographs taken by John Owen of Newtown. He had a studio in Broad Street for about 40 years, and many Newtonians took advantage of his business to have their portraits taken. Pryce Jones and his wife Eleanor Morris are shown in this image.

A dressing-up area and photo booth are part of the Museum now. Imagine yourself living in one of our cottages - a family with lots of children for example.

Inspired by John Owen, visitors of all ages will be able to try on some replica Victorian clothes and photograph themselves within our atmospheric Recreated Bedroom. We hope it will be fun and interactive, and encourage repeat visits too!