Robert Owen Museum. Photograph courtesy of Robert Owen Museum

The Robert Owen Memorial Museum is the only museum specifically devoted to social reformer Robert Owen.

It is located on the ground floor of the Town Council building in the centre of Newtown, Wales. The Grade 2 listed building, of Arts and Crafts design was erected in 1902, in order to provide a Free Library and a meeting room. The Co-operative Union subscribed part of the cost, in memory of Owen.

The bulk of the collection was acquired in the 1920s, some seventy years after his death. Most of the items are from Robert Owen’s time and have a direct association with him.

Much of the collection consists of books and other printed material, most of which is not on display, but can be viewed by prior appointment. The Museum has 55 of Robert Owen’s letters, one of which is on display together with a transcript (his writing is almost illegible). This and other transcripts can be viewed on this web site.

Visiting

The Museum is open throughout the year, except Christmas Week and Bank Holidays and admission is free. See the Museum’s website for more details.

The Museum is easily found, being on the ground floor of the Town Council building in the centre of Newtown, opposite the Town Clock.

There are two car parks within easy walking distance. It is ten minutes walk to the railway station. There is a two-hourly train service from Birmingham.
Other things to see in Newtown include Robert Owen’s Tomb and Statue, and the Textile Museum.

Groups are welcome, preferably with a few days notice. Groups of more than 30 people are advised to split to avoid congestion.

The Curator will gladly arrange to be on hand, or to give a short talk. They will allow researchers access to items not on display by prior appointment.

A Simple Quiz and a more difficult Quiz Sheet are available for school visits. Teachers are welcome to download them and make copies before their visit.

Also see…

• Robert Owen Museum

Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales

Plas Penrhyn was Bertrand Russell‘s home in Penrhyndeudraeth, Wales.

Russell had a fondness for Wales and would live there for most of his later years.  The original idea to move to Wales was to provide a suitable place for his grandson’s family to live comfortably.  John, Russell’s grandson wanted to be a writer and there was little way to support his wife and three children in this manner.

Plas Penrhyn was near Duedraeth castle where Russell had stayed before and was near the sea (Penrhyndeudraeth means peninsula with two beaches in Welsh).  Percy Bysshe Shelley also had maintained a cottage in the local area.

It was from this regency manor that Russell would telgram both Khrushchev and Kennedy during the Cuban Missle Crisis, write his biography and live out his later years. In one passage of his biography he describes his first impressions of the house:

We stopped in North Wales where our friends Rupert and Elizabeth Crawshay-Williams had found a house, Plas Penrhyn, that they thought would make a pleasant holiday house for us and the children. It was small and unpretentious, but had a delightful garden and little orchard and a number of fine beech trees. Above all, it had a most lovely view, south to the sea, west to Portmadoc and the Caernarvon hills, and north up the valley of the Glasslyn to Snowdon. I was captivated by it, and particularly pleased that across the valley could be seen the house where Shelley lived. The owner of Plas Penrhyn agreed to let it to us largely, I think, because he, too, is a lover of Shelley and was much taken by my desire to write an essay on ‘Shelley the Tough’ (as opposed to the ‘ineffectual angel’). Later, I met a man at Tan-y-Ralt, Shelley’s house, who said he had been a cannibal…

Russell died at Plas Penrhyn on February 2, 1970, He was cremated at Colwyn Bay and his ashes scattered over the Welsh hills.

Visiting

Plas Penrhyn is now a private residence.

See also…

• BBC Wales biography of Russell

Sunset over Colwyn Bay

Colwyn Bay (Bae Colwyn) is a town and seaside resort in Conwy county borough on the North Wales coast.

Philosopher Bertrand Russell was cremated here on 5 February 1970. In accordance with his will there was no religious ceremony; his ashes were scattered over the Welsh mountains.

Visiting

The A55 road passes through the town which is also served by Colwyn Bay railway station.

Also see…

• Bay of Colwyn Town Council

Trellech

The birthplace of philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell in 1872.

It was then called ‘Ravenscroft’ and was the country home of Russell’s parents Lord and Lady Amberley.

Visiting

Cleddon Hall is not open to the public. However there are a number of other points of historical interest in the village, including the ‘Lost City of Trellech‘ excavation project, as well as the Trellech Castle motte and other monuments.