St Fagans Collections

Buildings

The collection currently consists of two in situ buildings and over forty historical buildings that have been dismantled and re-erected on the Museum site.

The collection comprises of a variety of building types, including farmhouses and outbuildings, dwelling houses, craft workshops, commercial premises, a school, a workmen's institute and places of worship.

there is also a collection of over 1,000 items of house fabric and fittings.

Buildings and structures are not accepted for removal to the Museum unless threatened with demolition or collapse. Dismantling them and re-erecting them at St Fagans is a means of ensuring their future.

Tŷ Gwyrdd

One of the Museum's most challenging projects to date was the building of Tŷ Gwyrdd (Green House). The structure was inspired by a joint St Fagans/BBC Wales competition to design a house showing how housing in Wales evolve over the next fifty years. It was to be based on traditional building techniques such as can be seen in many of the buildings on site but using them in innovative and forward-looking ways.

The winning design was created by Jestico & Whiles and is aimed at contributing to the on-going debates about issues such as energy efficiency, sustainability, changing family structures and new patterns of work and leisure.

Tŷ Gwyrdd, built by Redrow Homes, combines the vernacular tradition with cutting-edge technology in one integrated package.

As with many houses in the Museum collection, timber is the main building material, combining tradition with sustainability. The roof is shaped as a natural water collector and is insulated with a thick layer of sedum, which also acts as a natural filter. This 'grey water' is then re-cycled, so that the House is frugal in its water consumption. The south face of the House is extensively glazed to maximise solar energy, controlled by a 'skin' of shutters, which are automatically adjusted.

The House makes highly efficient use of energy. Local materials were used wherever possible, thus avoiding energy being used for haulage. A striking example is the re-use of the earth removed from the foundations being used to make bricks for the spinal wall, providing the building with thermal mass. Wool is used as highly effective insulation for the walls. By keeping the use of externally produced electricity to a minimum, it is estimated that the House is virtually self-sufficient and produces no carbon dioxide emissions. Central heating and hot water is provided by means of an electric ground-source heat pump - a kind of fridge in reverse - which pumps cold water down to a depth of 35 meters, taking natural heat from the ground and releasing it as warmth.

The design and furnishing of the interior was co-ordinated by leading Welsh designer, Angela Gidden. The products designed and developed especially for the project address the same concerns as the House itself. The garden, designed by Richards, Moorhead and Laing and created by Gerald Davies Ltd, again has a strong theme of sustainability, and environmental responsibility.

This should not be seen as an ideal home, but rather as a possible practical solution to future housing needs in Wales. In this, the House for the Future embodies one of the primary aims of the Museum, which is to use knowledge of the past to inspire informed discussion about the future.

St Teilo's Church

The Building

the St Fagans specialist Historic Buildings Unit is currently working on its most ambitious project to date, namely the re-erection and refurbishment of a medieval church from Llandeilo Tal-y-bont in west Glamorgan. This is the first time such a church has been moved to an open air-museum in Britain. Although some churches have been re-erected in museums on the continent, the vast majority of these are timber-built, whereas this building is of solid masonry construction.

History

The Church is believed to have been built during the 13th century on the site of an earlier pre-Norman church. Over time the building was altered and extended. The oldest parts of the present structure, the nave and chancel, are believed to have been built during the 13 or 14th centuries. During the late 14th century, two small transepts, or chapels, were added to the north and south of the chancel to create a cruciform church. Two arches were formed to link both transepts to the chancel. The north chapel was known as the Gronow Chapel, presumably in recognition of its benefactor. During the late 15th century the Church's capacity was increased by the addition of an aisle to the south side of the nave. The old south wall was replaced by two arches, with a third arch opening into the chancel. In order to improve the congregation's view of the altar from the south aisle, a 'squint opening' was formed through one of the side walls of the chancel arch. Finally, a porch was added to the entrance door leading into the south aisle of the church.

Architectural features

The roof timbers are of typical early 15th century design (arch-braced collar-beams) though they may in fact be somewhat later in date. The west wall of the nave was altered in the early 18th century (datestone 1736) and most of the stone-mullioned windows were replaced by timber-mullioned windows at this time.

Later, some of these windows were blocked and new (Victorian gothic) windows inserted in the north and south walls. One original two-light stone-mullioned window (14/15th century) survives in the south aisle. The head of another two-light cusped window were found in the north chapel where they had been used to block-up a window opening. Probably the oldest surviving feature is the stone font, which is believed to have been carved in the 13th century but might in fact be even earlier.

Ref http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/191/