Carmarthenshire Museum
Old Bishop’s Palace, Abergwili, SA31 2JG

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Old Bishop's Palace

The Museum occupies a historic building known as the Old Bishop’s Palace. The exterior is Elizabethan in style and has recently had its slate roof replaced and stonework redressed. There are numerous examples of heraldry (painted and unpainted) associated with the Diocese of St David’s.

 

Bishop's Park

The property is situated within the beautiful surroundings of the Bishop’s Park. The park has also undergone recent restoration and includes a small lake, known as the Bishop’s Pond, a woodland walk and a large meadow. There is also a walled garden that is currently the subject of a further restoration project.

General Interior

There are several fine examples of Arts & Crafts inspired architecture inside.

The chapel is wood-panelled and contains numerous wooden decorative features and mouldings.

The central hall includes a fine wooden staircase and wood-panelled walls with a restored domed lantern roof providing light and a stylish architectural feature. It’s loosely decorated to resemble the sitting room of the Bishops of St David’s, with several Welsh dressers, a piano and paintings of local scenes. There is also an atmospheric library with further Arts & Crafts style features and decorative elements.

The central hall is a wood panelled open space dressed to inspire memories of when it was once used as a sitting room by former bishops. Welsh dressers decorate the alcoves of the space, which also includes a grand piano and paintings of local scenes, in addition to a fine Arts & Crafts style staircase. A stylish domed lantern roof illuminates the area.

Edwardian style Kitchen

Rounding out the ground floor is the original Edwardian-style kitchen space (without pots and pans), but including a fully-laden dresser, a large kitchen table and a mangle. Two ovens are embedded in the back wall along with a small cooking range.

Exhibition space

Two floors of the property contain exhibition rooms open to visitors that display collections from the 18th Century onwards.

The ground floor hosts four small exhibition galleries of varying sizes that display collections associated with 19th and early 20th Century Carmarthenshire and rural and industrial themes. Two larger galleries that are currently closed to the public after restoration works are intended to be opened in 2024. One is the former dining room of the bishops and boasts two tastefully restored fireplaces and the other was used a gallery space for recent filming on the S4C series ‘Yr Amgueddfa’.

Around half the first floor of the Museum is open to visitors and includes five exhibition spaces. One is the chapel, originally built in the 1600s, then rebuilt after great fire in the early 1900s. The room contains wooden pews with intricately decorated Arts & Crafts carvings, an altar, and a large window alcove with an organ.

The exhibition rooms consist of a 20th Century gallery with a mock-up of a Second World War kitchen; a Victorian school room; a traditional rural Welsh cottage with two interior rooms; and a temporary exhibition gallery.

Attic space

The attic space acts as storage for collection objects and contains several rooms once used by people who staffed the Bishop’s Palace.

The Museum occupies a Grade II historic building known as the Old Bishop’s Palace. The exterior is Elizabethan in style and has recently had its slate roof replaced and stonework redressed. There are numerous examples of heraldry (painted and unpainted) associated with the Diocese of St David’s.

The property is situated within the beautiful surroundings of the Bishop’s Park. The park has also undergone recent restoration and includes a small lake, known as the Bishop’s Pond, a woodland walk and a large meadow. There is also a walled garden that is currently the subject of a further restoration project.

Parking: Two visitor car parks offering spaces for 50-60 vehicles in total

Catering: Space available for catering but there is also a café on-site.

Filming restrictions: If filming were required on days when the property would usually be open to the public, the Museum may need to close for the convenience of the film crew. The property would therefore need to be compensated for any potential loss of earnings and additional staff time required to monitor/safeguard collections or be points of contact for the filming team.

Mitigations may need to be put in place to safeguard collection objects. Some collection objects, such as paintings, may be light sensitive and need to be taken off display or covered. Other objects may need to be moved to avoid damage/dust.

Food and drink would normally be limited to a small number of rooms within the property to avoid harm to collections.

There is ample parking onsite, but alternative arrangements may need to be made for larger vehicles or larger production crews.

Drone restrictions on property: No

Carmarthenshire Museum is an ambitious local authority museum situated within a historic old Bishop’s Palace and surrounded by beautiful parkland that has been restored to an early 19th Century design.

The property consists of three floors, one of which is an attic.

Inside, the Museum offers a range of furnished spaces and exhibition galleries, displayed according to different periods of history and different historical themes.

Several outbuildings are used for storage of collections and by partner organisations. The Tywi Gateway Trust, a charity established to restore the park and outbuildings, have office space, a visitor reception, and franchise out the café to a local business (Stacey’s Kitchen).

There is a Green Flag Award winning park surrounding the property that includes a large meadow, woodland, and a small lake. There is also a walled garden that is the subject of a restoration project over the next two years.

 

 

  • Old Bishop's Palace
  • Bishop's Park
  • General Interior
  • Edwardian style Kitchen
  • Exhibition space
  • Attic space