Making History at St Fagans

On 20 July 2012 the Heritage Lottery Fund announced that it is awarding £11.5 million to St Fagans: National History Museum.

This is the largest grant ever awarded by the HLF in Wales.

The money will go towards Making History, the exciting £25.5 million project to transform this much-loved museum.

We will be extending the timeline of the stories told at St Fagans, so that visitors can follow the stories of the people of Wales from the very first human inhabitants to the present day and beyond.

More information will be available here as the project develops, and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to take part in Making History at St Fagans.

Making History together

St Fagans has always been a museum about the people of Wales. Through the Making History project we want to involve even more of you in developing its future.

Here are our plans for improving St Fagans, but the plans aren't complete without your views. We want you to get involved - both on site and online - in the work of developing the buildings, exhibitions and activities.

New experiences

Over 230,000 years of history

For the first time, you will be able to explore life in Wales from the earliest humans to today in St Fagans.

We want to turn the Main Building into a place not just to pass through but to spend time in, enjoy and remember.

Fascinating galleries

Exciting new galleries will look at three aspects of our history. Come by to:

• discuss and debate how, when and why Wales became a nation
• discover details about different people's day to day lives, through the ages
• celebrate and learn the creative skills of generations of craftspeople

Experimental archaeology

The archaeological experience will extend out into the open-air site. Using archaeological evidence, we will recreate:

• Llys Rhosyr, one of the courts of the Princes of Gwynedd, where school children can stay overnight
• Bryn Eryr from Anglesey, where young people will be able to work with us to recreate an Iron Age home

Our plan is to create:

• A striking entrance to welcome you to St Fagans
• Activity and event spaces, an auditorium and better facilities for schools
• A dedicated research space where you can study our collections
• A cafe with views across the site, and access to a new play area.

On the site there will also be a brand new ecofriendly building with facilities for craft workshops and open-air performances.

You won't have to wait until the building is finished to see what's going on - look out for open days when you will be able to meet the building team and see the progress so far.