When we spotted a tweet about St Fagans National History Museum, we were immediately intrigued by this open air museum and decided to head there on a Sunday morning. Luckily for us the weather had some sunny spells in store.
I’m not sure what we were expecting, but it was definitely not such a huge place. The idea behind the museum located in the village of St Fagans, easily accessible by a bus from Cardfiff station, is quite amazing. Since 1948, buildings, houses and shops constructed as early as the 17th century have been re-erected in the beautiful grounds of St Fagans Castle, an Elizabethan manor house.
There can’t be many places where you can find a farm house from the 1600s located in the same area as a 1940s Post Office. And where else can you walk from a reconstructed Iron Age hut to a 1950s prefab house?
There was even food from the past including some delicious freshly baked bread from a 1930s bakery, and we were transformed back to the tea rooms of the early 20th century as we tucked into a platter of cheese and cakes washed down with a good old British cuppa served in fine bone china cups.
Although representing something particularly violent, even the cock fighting pit had a certain beauty about it, while the whole experience was topped off by Welsh speaking guides and a brush with the law when we bumped into some war time policemen catching up on the village gossip in the local tailor’s shop.
We had a chat with one of the members of staff who was hanging out in the Iron Age (as you do!), and he said although St Fagans National History Museum has been around for more than 60 years, it’s still a bit of undiscovered gem, particularly for people in England. But it’s a truly amazing place and we are very happy to sing from the rooftops how great it is and encourage you all to visit.
Enjoy the images below. We’ve given them the vintage touch as it seemed appropriate 🙂
