Abergavenny Museum

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?