Alistair Hardaker
Image: National Slate Museum redevelopment New Play Area graphic
£25m project sees 1998 visitor facilities face demolition to make way for new learning centre.
The National Slate Museum has formally handed over its site to construction partners MPH Construction, marking the beginning of physical works one year after the museum closed to visitors in November 2024.
The £25m redevelopment project is funded by a £12 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with additional support from Welsh Government, UK Government via Cyngor Gwynedd as part of the Llewyrch o’r Llechi project, Welsh Government’s Communities Facilities Programme, Garfield Weston Foundation and other funders.
Initial works will involve demolishing the shop and café buildings, which were added during the museum’s 1998 redevelopment.
Helen Goddard, National Slate Museum Project Manager, said: “ So much has happened since we closed the museum back in November 2024, including relocating all the collections off site to our new collections centre, a programme of engagement work in the local community and detailed work on developing our building plans”.
The redevelopment includes conservation work on the museum’s Dinorwig window frames, with some requiring recasting of the metal frames, alongside repointing walls and securing the building’s infrastructure. The project aims to transform the site into a gateway location for the World Heritage Site.
Since closure, all collections have been relocated to a new collections centre at Llandygai.
Museum staff have been repositioned across the slate landscape, with shop and café staff now based at the nearby Quarry Hospital. The museum’s quarrymen have moved to Penrhyn Castle, where slate splitting is being demonstrated in the former home of a quarry owner for the first time. The museum’s blacksmith is working at Cei Llechi, The Slate Quarry at Caernarfon.
