Shire Hall Museum - Monlife
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Shire Hall Museum

Shire Hall built in 1724, is grade 1 listed, formerly the location of the Assize Courts and Quarter Sessions for Monmouthshire. It is most famous for the 1839/40 trial of the Chartist leader John Frost and others for high treason for their part in the Newport Rising.

Monmouth Museum’s collection tells the history of the town and includes objects relating to history of the ancient Wye Valley market town.  We care for the nationally significant Admiral Lord Nelson collection donated to the town by Lady Llangattock in 1923.  We also hold collections relating to Charles Stuart Rolls, the co-founder of Rolls-Royce and his exploits in balloons, and early motor cars.

While Shire Hall and the museum were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the opportunity was taken to consider their long-term future, how to improve our audience offer and ensure the best conservation of the collection. As a result, the decision was made to bring Monmouth Museum into Shire Hall to create one new, sustainable museum offer.

Shire Hall Museum, Monmouth is open 11.00 am to 4:00 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays (holiday opening hours may vary). Admission is FREE. To contact Shire Hall, Monmouth, please email, Shirehall@monmouthshire.gov.uk or call 01600 775257. Follow Shire Hall, Monmouth on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with the latest events, offers and information.


What can I see and do now?

At Shire Hall you can find out about the events associated with the Newport rising through courtroom and cell displays and audio-visual guides. Staff have been working to increase the exhibitions and activities throughout the building and visitors can now see:

Ground floor

  • Eddie Butler History of Monmouth video
  • Dig Monmouth – an exhibition about Monmouth’s archaeology
  • Children’s activities including colouring, puppet theatre and shop

First Floor

  • Short film – 15 minute heritage Monmouth
  • A model of Monmouth town 
  • Photo of a celebration street party, Wyebridge Lane, c.1904.

Courtroom 1

  • Chartist video
  • Dressing up
  • You’ll never get away with it!  Courtroom activity

Courtroom 2

  • Henry V tapestry
  • Rockfield interactive
  • Changing Temporary Exhibition”

Judge’s room

A mockup of the judge prior to sitting in court

Public gallery

Sit above the courtroom and take in the atmosphere

Cells

Witness first-hand the environment that prisoners would have experienced           


What are our plans?

The Nelson Museum is now closed. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Currently we are working to move the Museum and its collections into Shire Hall. This has been made possible thanks to a large grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The development phase of this project will take place between August 2023 and February 2025. During this time, a new team will be consulting members of the public in Shire Hall, at workshops and consultation sessions to help us understand what topics our visitors would like to see in the future museum.

We will be working with architectural and museum designers, feeding back the information gathered from our communities to help us create engaging new galleries, an inspirational learning space, dedicated object storage and more. 

This work will contribute to Monmouth having a newly developed museum in Shire Hall by 2027 (with regular updates along the way) showcasing the town’s incredible local history and Nelson artefacts. For this, we will need the support of our communities and visitors and we hope that you will join us on this exciting journey.

For more information, keep an eye on the MonLife website, our social media pages or come and visit the Shire Hall to see our consultation exhibitions from January 2023. Please click HERE to complete our community engagement  questionnaire.


What is happening to the Nelson collection?

Monmouth is very rightly proud of its connections with Nelson and people have been asking us what is happening with it whilst it is not on display.  We have been carrying out a programme of works on the collection, thanks to funding from Welsh Government and the Federation of Museums and Galleries of Wales, which include:

  • rehousing the manuscript collection in conservation grade packaging.
  • carrying out conservation work on the books
  • working with an academic and the National Maritime Museum to carry out a significance assessment of our collection
  • beginning a programme of work talking to groups to find out what stories they would like to see in the new displays
  • compiling inventories of the Nelson Collection and inputting that information onto our computer database
  • adding Nelson stories to our collections website https://www.monlifecollections.co.uk/

Working with Young People

Thanks to funding from the Winter of Wellbeing and the Summer of Fun we have been able to consult with young people aged between 16 and 25 to find out what they would like to see in our heritage sites.  We are specifically working with them at Shire Hall to ensure there are spaces that are relevant to them.


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This post is also available in: Welsh