Wrexham Museum Diary

The next twelve – fifteen months are going to be very eventful for Wrexham County Borough Museum and for the staff who work there.

Wrexham County Borough Museum – a great building and soon to be a better museum.

  • The staff and the displays have to move out.
  • The heritage service has to move to Bersham Heritage Centre.
  • The building has to be emptied.
  • Tenders for the construction work made, judged, and accepted.
  • The builders have to move in, do their work,and then move out.
  • The designers and the museum staff have to create the new displays.
  • These are just a few of the jobs that will be happening over the coming year.

For a behind the scenes view, read the museum diary. Each contributor will write in their own style.

Keep an eye out for the latest instalments.

John Exhibitions

August 13th

Chasing quotations for an exciting project at Holt castle. Let’s hope the funding bodies are equally excited.

August 17th

Glazing for new extension installed. Just needs the doors, the floor, the blinds, the fittings and furniture, and the sealant to keep the weather out!


The glazed extension under construction. 17.08.2010


The glass came on these frames. 17.08.2010


First look inside the glazed extension. 17.08.2010


Sealing the joins between the glass. 17.08.2010


Making the glazed extension waterproof. 17.08.2010


Installing the new York stone surrounds to the main entrance corridor. 17.08.2010


Finally caught someone using the pipe cutter. 17.08.2010

Making the roof over the main gallery watertight. 17.08.2010

August 18th

David Jones, M.P for Clwyd West and minister at the Welsh Office visits the museum site to give his backing to the project.


The main gallery from the entrance to Gallery 2, formerly known
as the special exhibitions gallery. 17.08.2010


The main gallery from the entrance to the archives search room. 17.08.2010

August 19th

Collected a church lectern and pew said to have been used by the poet and clergyman R.S. Thomas, when he served at Tallarn Green Church.

August 20th

Heritage road show gets blown away at Bangor on Dee racecourse!!

August 22nd

Help Rowland Chemists celebrate their bicentenary at the Brymbo Sports & Social Club.

August 23rd

Collect loan items from Bob Gray’s warehouse including Frank Wingett’s old Sinclair C5.

August 24th

Seeking out objects from the collection to feature on the Wrexham Your Town information station in the new gallery.

August 25th

Working on the content for the Age of the Princes interactive.

August 26th

Armour Systems, the display case manufacturers meet with museum staff to go through the specifications for all the cases in the new galleries. The ‘national gallery’ looks great now you can see the old beams.

August 27th

Karen, our collection manager’s temporary leaving do. The museum is going to have a baby!!


The road show at Gresford village fete. 30.08.2010

August 30th

The museum road show attends Gresford village fete. Learned that the Wrexham steeple in the famous rhyme belonged to St Mark’s.


One Gresford family’s preferred choice of objects to go on
show in the new museum. 30.08.2010


Lord & Lady Gresford, c.1390. 30.08.2010

August 31st

James from Heritage Interactive meets us to start the ball rolling on the Roman Remains and Wrexham Your Town displays in the new main gallery.

September 1st

Down to Cardiff to meet the top people at the National Museum. If we can meet their standards, we will get some iconic objects for display here in Wrexham.

September 2nd

Sarah the archaeologist calls in to discuss our ideas for Roman Remains. What sites and what objects shall we feature to show what life was like here in Roman times?

September 3rd

Meet Brian and Colin from Concept. They will be working with us to create an authentic sounding 1958 news story about the discovery of Brymbo Man.

September 4th

The builders knock out those naff windows from the archways at the museum. The loggia is back to how it used to look when the museum building was originally built.

September 5th

Meet the Centre Screen team to start work on the film that will reveal how the Rossett Hoard was produced.

September 6th

Meet with Gill from EDM (the interactive manufacturer) and Carl the Illustrator to start work on three interactives: rebuilding Holt Castle, smelling out Wrexham’s past and dating finds.

September 7th

Call out to local historians for some help with creating two maps of medieval and early modern Wrexham. Go on site – the new glazed extension looks great inside.

Museum Makeover Gallery 8th September 2010

Work gathers pace as the deadline for this stage of the museum project approaches:


The museum (County Buildings) from the north-west


The museum (County Buildings) from the new pedestrian entrance off St Mark’s Road


Masons at work in the front loggia of the museum


Preparing to install the new lintel and surrounds for the entranceway into the galleries


Once a gallery, now a canteen, soon to be Gallery Two
– venue for our forthcoming temporary exhibitions


Gallery One ‘the national gallery’ under construction


The arches in the front loggia – once again as Thomas Penson Junior intended


Slate awaiting its new role as the flooring for the glazed extension


It’s Welsh slate too from Penrhyn Quarry


The exit from Gallery One ‘the national gallery’


Mike Dowdell, project site manager for ISG, keeping on top of his brief


The museum building from the north-west

September 9th

Researching 1958 newspapers for reports on the discovery of Brymbo Man.

September 10th

Briefed the illustrator on the design of the Smelly Olde Wrexham display.


The road show at Ponciau Park community fun day

September 11th

The road show reaches Ponciau Banks. The park is rather different to when the archaeology road show visited five years ago!


The prince of Ponciau, one of the participant in our road show activities for children

September 13th – 17th

It’s mad on site. The builders are working flat out to catch up and meet the deadline: doors installed, slate floor laid, glass walls erected, walls painted, lights fitted… the list is endless. Steve is on site making sure the builders do what has been agreed.


The new glazed extension to the museum with its recently laid slate floor


Inside Gallery One ‘the national gallery’ during the installation of the glass doors and walls


Joiner making some final adjustments to one of the new doors

September 18th

Yesterday the reception desk broke down en route to Wrexham. It has arrived and is being installed.

September 20th

First designs for the Roman Remains touch screens arrive. Look good.


One of the early design pages produced during the process of deciding the
content for the Roman Remains touch screen planned for the new gallery

September 21st

First pencils for Smelly Olde Wrexham arrive. Would make a great postcard. Character profiles arrive for the Border Disputes films where the constable of Holt castle, a bard and a burgess’ wife will be the narrators.


Draft graphic layout for one of the planned interactives

Museum Makeover Gallery 2, 21st September 2010

ISG planned to finish and hand over the site week beginning September 27th. These images show the museum building a few days before the handover.


Museum building from the west, after resurfacing of the forecourt. 21.09.2010


Museum building from new pedestrian entrance after resurfacing of the forecourt. 21.09.2010


Still plenty to do in the main gallery! View from door to Gallery Two. 21.09.2010


The fit-out contractors will be responsible for turning the plans of the designers
and museum staff for the main gallery into reality. 21.09.2010


Museum building from the west, after resurfacing of the forecourt. 21.09.2010


Don’t get too excited! It’s just the door to the loos. 21.09.2010


Joiners working in Gallery One making the bulkheads to cover all the pipes,
wires and cables that a modern museum requires. 21.09.2010


The new lighting in the loggia. 21.09.2010

Pointing the vaulted ceilings in the loggia. 21.09.2010


Final adjustments to the main door. 21.09.2010


Wanted: imaginative people to run a coffee or tea shop
in probably the best location in town. 21.09.2010


The new exit from Gallery One, ‘the national gallery’. York stone has been used
to ensure the new doorways complement the original Cefn sandstone. 21.09.2010


Builder lagging the many new pipes and conduits in the roof space. 21.09.2010


This little device will control the blinds on the new glazed extension to ensure
the space does not become uncomfortably hot. A separate device measures the
wind speed and will retract the blinds if necessary. 21.09.2010

September 22nd

Working on the collections. Decided which side of each coin from the Llay Hoard should be visible when goes on display.

September 23rd - 24th

Working on content structure for touch screens in the new gallery.


Draft design for Roman Remains database.

September 27th

Meet local historian to learn more about the development of medieval Wrexham.

September 28th

Interviews with potential fit-out contractors. Workhaus are appointed. Top secret: the museum’s new mascot has just arrived.

September 29th

Still seeking out objects in the store. Latest search is for objects with animal associations for display in the Big Case.

Karen Education

1st July

Visited Penley Madras School to do a workshop on Toys in the Past. The children designed a mini-museum with the toys and had the opportunity to make a thaumatrope. Great fun was had by all.

3rd July

Took the main road show to Scientriffic at Glyndŵr University to show our zoetrope and to make more thaumatropes. People were fascinated by the weight of the chain mail and just how fit you had to be to be a ‘knight in shining armour’.

6th July

Took the main road show to the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen. The children enjoyed trying on the costumes, designing what they would like to see in their favourite museum and making thaumatropes.

13th July

Visited Victoria Junior School to work with some parents and children. We looked at Toys in the Past and had a good time playing with the replica games.

In the evening I visited the Acorns Youth Club in Penycae and met some children I had worked with when I visited Ysgol Penycae. This time we looked at Toys and Games. The children enjoyed the skipping and playing dominoes.

19th July

Visited Ash Grove Care Home to work with the residents. Took along some artefacts relating to life on the Home Front. Very interesting discussions about rationing and having evacuees to stay.

22nd July

Took the main road show to Ty Mawr Community Fun Day. A damp day didn’t deter the visitors from making thaumatropes and having a good time.

25th July

Took the main road show to Bellevue Park to help celebrate it’s centenary. Happy Birthday!

26th July

Visited the Buddies After-school club in New Broughton to look at Toys and Games in the past. The children created their own museum display and then had a good time playing with the replica toys.

27th July

In the morning I visited Victoria School holiday club to look at Toys and Games in the past. Again the children created their own museum display and especially enjoyed playing with the marbles and making thaumatropes.

In the afternoon I visited Gwern Alyn Care Home with the Toys and Games. Not much playing but a lot of discussion.

28th July

Visited Garth School to look at childhood in the past. The children dressed in costumes from different ages and then played with replica toys from those periods.

31st July

Bersham Heritage Centre hosted a World War I road show which was very interesting.

1st August

Attended ‘History Alive!’ at Bersham Ironworks with the main road show and a big thank you to all our helpers for their assistance with this.

3rd August

Visited Garth School to look at the work of J.C. Edwards and the children then designed their own tiles.

10th August

Visited Garth School to look at life during the war. The children had their own identity cards and we made model Anderson shelters.

11th August

Visited Friends After-school group at Acton Park School to look at life during the war. We made model Anderson shelters and talked about what it was like to be an evacuee.

13th August

Visited a group of Home Educators. They were also working with some loans boxes and having a good time washing the clothes and practising their best handwriting.

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