Newtown Textile Museum — Attraction in Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn

This is a spectacular and awesome museum about the history of the Textile Industry in Newtown. The museum tells the story of the Textile/Wool Industry in Newtown in a very riveting, informative and enthralling way, which keeps you interested, fascinated & intrigued. The building which houses the museum used to be woollen mill with a living quarters on the bottom level for the workers and the museum tells the story of the Textile/Wool Industry over three floors with the ground floor housing a room which was a former living quarters for the workers at the mill, which houses a side cabinet and a few tables and chairs along with fake food in the bowls giving you an idea of the difficult conditions they had to live in whilst working at the mill with their families and also the diet they had. On the ground floor there is a gallery about how and why the Textile Industry started up in Newtown and how it grew. The visit on the ground floor is further supplemented by a brief tour which is brilliant by the volunteers who are extremely welcoming and very friendly giving some useful and interesting about the museum has a former woollen mill and how the workers and the working conditions. The first floor gives you two recreates living spaces giving you an idea of how they lived in the difficult conditions they had. On the first floor there some more galleries about the Rise and Fall of The Textile Industry in Newtown, The People that were influential in the Textile Industry in Newtown, The Working Conditions the workers had and also the hours they worked, Child Labour, Health issues that arose at the time with the working and living conditions and The Charterist Protests. Amongst the informative galleries there are some interesting artefacts such as a truncheon, coins, medication box & bottles and a literacy book. The second floor which is the best and intriguing floor has a recreated working space where you can see some amazing large weaving looms and some spinning looms which are in a fantastic condition and are great to see. The Second floor talls about the processes involved with obtaining the Wool from the sheep, cleaning it and then weaving it into cloth products at the final stage and the most interesting part is how the weaving looms work in making the Textile products which is explained extremely well and there is also some interesting Textile products to view. In the recreated working space on the second floor you can view a great video about the making of Textile products and there are some recreated baskets of Wool prior to production giving you a further idea of how The Mill worked. The Third Floor talks about the impact the mill had on the community both from a social and economic point of view and talks about sporting and social events in Newtown as a result of the workers living in the town as a result of The Mill Industry and there are a couple of recreated shops such as a cobblers and also a recreated business started up from a local businesswoman which is very enlightening to read about. The third floor talks about the process of Tanning leather and there are some interesting artefacts to see such as Tools used to cut the Wool from the Sheep and also an interesting International Dial Time Recorder to see which was used to calculate worker's hours etc. Other interesting artefacts on the third floor are a washing machine, postal packages and also leather products. There is no cafe on site but there is a small lovely selection of souvenirs in the reception area at reasonable prices. The site is free admission but donations are very welcome to keep the place going and the volunteers on site as stated earlier are very friendly and helpful and welcoming making the visit and experience of all the more of a pleasure and brilliant. Overall this is a spectacular and amazing museum which makes for an enjoyable and interesting about the Textile Industry in Newtown. Museum that is very much worth a visit in the...

Great insight into the past with historic and replica items. Access not good for disabled or elderly folks. Not much can be done about this. Front access is via three quite large steps. Level access to the rear but only the ground floor may be viewed without climbing steps. Domestic and industrial history spread over 4 storeys. We have been to Newtown several times previously without visiting. If you are able bodied I certainly recommend a visit. Free entry with contribution boxes for you to help...

This little know museum is an essential visit if you want to understand Mid Wales' history and its part in textile production. There's a lot of info about flannel production, Pryce Jones, and a section on the Charterist riot in nearby Llanidloes. Top floor has a collection of old looms and related equipment. A visit to the nearby (walking distance) Robert Owen museum is...