Exploring our Welsh Heritage at St Fagans Museum – A Family Day Out

St Fagans national history museum is an open air museum set in the beautiful grounds of St Fagans Castle.  When you visit it really is like stepping back in time.  They have brought to life what it was like living in Wales years ago.  The museum covers the whole social history of Wales; its people, its buildings and its culture.

About St Fagans National Museum of History

Set in 100s of acres of beautiful countryside, the outdoor museum contains more than forty re-erected buildings.  Each of the buildings have been painstakingly rebuilt brick by brick, from their various locations across Wales.  It was fascinating to see the houses as they were all decorated and styled in the same way they would have looked years ago.

The idea for the museum was based on Skansen, an outdoor museum in Stockholm, Sweden.  In Skannsen most of the wooden buildings were easy to take apart and reassemble. What is so impressive is that in St Fagans, as most Welsh buildings were masonry, this made it much more difficult to rebuild them.

A Family Day Out at St Fagans National Museum of History

St Fagans makes for an interesting day out for both adults and children alike.  While you are there you can walk around and explore different houses which are fully decorated in the style and decor of the time.

On paper, this could sound pretty boring to some kids (and adults).  When I tried to sell it to mine before we went, they asked “why would we want to look round old houses?”  But, when we went they loved it!  We’ve now visited it several times and they always find something new to explore or learn about.

One of our favourite things to do is to walk around the old miners terraced cottages.  The cottages were built in Merthyr back in 1795 and were moved to St Fagans in the early 1980s.

As you move along the cottages you get to see how the decor, contents and even their gardens changed over time from 1805 up to 1985.

Kids love spotting the differences between the houses and what developments have taken place between them such as the introduction of lighting.

The Llwyn-yr-eos farm, built on the estate of St Fagans back in the 18th Century, is also wonderful to look around.

In the outer farm buildings you will spot the chickens and pigs.  There were some adorable piglets when we were there.

Another highlight is the village centre.  Here you can visit the old style iron mongers and a shop from the 1920s.  You can buy an ice-cream, traditional sweets and pick up some freshly baked bread.  It really is like stepping back in time.

After browsing around the village we headed off to the fun fair.  Here the boys could swap their money for some old pennies and have a go at the vintage slot machines.

We then spent some time on the vintage rides and had a go at traditional fair games such as catch a duck and knock down the coconuts.  All of the rides were at an additional charge.

Whilst the cafe there looks nice we decided to take our food and ate it on one of the outdoor picnic tables.  There is plenty of green space there with shaded areas perfect to lay down a picnic rug too.

Our Verdict of St Fagans National Museum of History

There really is so much to see and do at the Museum that you will struggle to fit it all in on one visit.  But as entry is free you can return as often as you like.  It is not surprising St.Fagans Museum is one of the UK’s top ten free attractions as voted by users of TripAdvisor.

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