Partners
Powys County Council Libraries
& Archives Service
Powys County Archives Office has pioneered the presentation of digital images of local historical material via the Internet in England and Wales. The Powys Digital History Project was launched in 1995 and has grown in a series of grant-funded phases to its present size, with over 1,000 pages available on-line.
Brecknock
Museum
and Art Gallery
Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery is the regional museum and gallery for southern Powys. It collects, documents, conserves, displays and interprets for public benefit natural, prehistoric, historic and artistic material relevant to this region. It also provides a lively programme of exhibitions throughout the year, many of which reflect wider themes in Wales. It is undergoing a continuing programme of upgrading. Recent phases completed include: the refurbishment of the Art Gallery; the installation of a 'sound and light' interpretation with high quality costumed figures of its original Assize Court; the provision of disabled access to all floors and bilingual internal signage; and the refurbishment of the shop. Funding for these has been obtained from the HLF, ERDF and WTB. A Trust has recently been established to acquire major artworks for the collection.
Tel: 01874 624121
Fax: 01874 611281
Radnorshire Museum was founded in 1930 to house a recently excavated log boat, and other treasures donated by the Radnorshire Society. These included the complete site record from Castell Collen which was the major site of the mid-Wales Roman defence. The museum's current aims are to preserve and present Radnorshire history, including outreach work to local schools and other community centres. It has an active Friends programme which involves lectures and tours, as well as volunteer opportunities within the museum itself. It is currently extending its educational remit by developing the archaeological collections, as handling collections, loans-boxes, and as the basis for on site activities, and visits from schools. Finally, the Museum encourages repeat visits by having a constantly changing series of temporary exhibitions which represent local interests.
Tel: 01597 824513
Fax: 01597 825781
Powysland
Museum and
Montgomery Canal Centre
The Powysland Museum was founded in 1874 by the Powysland Club to house the collections of members and to promote study of the old kingdom of Powys. Since 1974 the museum has been the county museum for the old mid-Wales county of Montgomeryshire. In 1990 the collections were moved to a carefully restored and renovated 19th century warehouse by the Montgomery Canal. The new venue has four galleries. Three of these contain displays illustrating the history and development of life in the area from the earliest prehistoric settlers to the 20th century population with displays on archaeology, farming, local transport, Victorian life and the two World Wars. The fourth gallery is used for temporary exhibitions which change every three to four months and cover a varied range of subjects.
To make visits more enjoyable the museum offers a large range of education facilities including worksheets, hands-on sessions and history clubs.
Tel: 01938 554 656
The Brecknock Society
The Brecknock Society is the local history society for the county of Breconshire. It has published an annual volume of transactions entitled Brycheiniog since 1955. Integrated with the Brecknock Museum Friends, the society has played a key role in the development of local history in Breconshire and is currently engaged in a major oral history project to record the memories and recollections of many of the county's inhabitants.
The Radnorshire Society
The Radnorshire Society was founded in 1930 and covers not only local history but also natural history for the old county of Radnorshire. It produces an annual volume of transactions entitled The Transactions of the Radnorshire Society and maintains its own reference library and small archive based in Llandrindod Wells. The Society sponsors 4 public lectures a year, and has an active Field Section which meets once a month from March to November.
The Powysland Club
The Powysland Club was founded in 1867 and is the senior county historical
society in Wales. Among the Club's significant achievements are the publication
of eighty-eight volumes of its academically acclaimed journal the Montgomeryshire
Collections, the creation of the first public museum in Wales and the establishment
and maintenance of one of the finest private historical libraries in Wales.
The Powys
Family
History Society
The Society was established in 1980 by a number of enthusiasts interested in tracing their ancestors in one or more of the historic counties of Breconshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, which now come under the administrative county of Powys. The aims of the Society are to encourage the study of family history and, in so doing, encourage the transcription and preservation of records and information which would otherwise be lost. The Society has three Groups (one in each of the counties mentioned) all working together under the umbrella of the parent body. Each Group concentrates mainly on the records of its former County, but membership is common to all three. Members exchange information and help each other with their research.