St Fagan's Historical Village

 A bus took me directly to the St Fagan   carpark.

This is an amazing work of love -  to quote their website " St Fagans is a people's museum, where we explore history together through people's everyday lives.

Unfortunately the castle was closed for repairs, but I completely filled my time exploring the village.

They have rescued old buildings from all over Wales, deconstructed them (numbering every piece), then reconstructed them, making repairs where necessary. The buildings range from Iron Age huts, through Medieval farmhouses and finally a prefeb house built just after WW2.

Some of the pathways meandered through beautiful woods, and I spent 2.5 hours there and could have spent more if time allowed.

Many of the houses had volunteers in there to talk about the features of the house, and the type of lifestyle the people would have had.

Some highlights, starting with the Pre Roman Age. There are similar at Stonehenge, and they look very like the indigenous huts in SW Victoria.

Roof construction

And showing the layers of timber, moss and fern then thatch.

Then the old thatched farmhouses

with a pigpen

Later styles

And a building for the mine workers to improve their education, The Workmens' Institute, similar to the ones established in Australia.  The miners had it built, half using their own money and half a loan from the mining company which they repaid 50 years later. Inside, it was similar to a Gentleman's club: ithad fancy floors, a room for billiards, cards, and reading the newspaper, and an extensive library. 

There was a beautiful church, originally Roman Catholic, but during the Reformation all the paintings on the wall were whitewashed over. As they were rebuilding, the discovered some pf the original paint underneath, then used historical information to create the other images. The images allowed the people to learn the stories, as there were no books, and the mass would have been in Latin.

Here's part of the interior:

This trunk would have stored the valuables - it had three locks and three separate people had a key

There was a row of connected houses which had been kitted out according to the periods between 1805 and 1985 to show how things changed. You can see the whole set here; https://museum.wales/collections/historic-buildings/29/Rhyd-y-car-Terrace/

These photos are from the 1925 house. I found the war memorial and photo particularly moving. Note the covers on the legs - I asked the guy about them as I would have thought that they would have been in the Victorian age house.

The Toll house had an interesting sign on it - I knew about Toll Houses from reading Regency books, but I hadn't realised that the farmers were constantly being charged. There was a rebellion in West and Mid Wales against the tolls between 1839 and 1845, called the Rebecca Riots. The men dressed up as women. It is interesting to read the full history of the farmers' hardships and those extorting toll fees  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Riots 

This is a replica - the original was on the other side but was harder to read.

Nearby was a Cock ring, where they used to bet on fighting cocks. These days it is used for educational talks!

Some other random pics:

A cool chest made from slate to keep the cheese in

Beautiful roof structures all through the houses but this one was special.

And a closer look at the way this roof was made

Many of the beds were enclosed in a cupboard-like structure. They looked very comfortable.

And a beautiful old mill wheel