Venues: Wrexham Museum

Wrexham Museum tells the story of Wrexham and surrrounding area through interactive and family friendly displays.

Members Only: Wrexham’s Not So Secret Societies | Gallery 1

From 6/12/2019

Clubs and societies have been part of life in Wrexham and across the country since the 18th century. The history of these groups features in Members Only: Wrexham’s Not So Secret Societies display in the main gallery at Wrexham Museum.

Caption: Set of the nine ‘working tools’ of a freemason, used in ceremonies by the officers of the Gredington Lodge, Ruabon [WREMA 2019.21.1]

Men and women, either separately or together, have come together to form societies to protect themselves or their community, do good work, engage in philanthropy and to enjoy each other’s company for centuries. Two hundred years ago, any kind of collective was viewed with suspicion by the state, so many groups had to keep a low profile or hide their true intentions for fear of the law. The result was that some came to be seen as ‘secret’. This display opens the door on this ‘secret’ world.

Banner, National Federation of Professional & Business Women’s Clubs, Wrexham, c. 1968 [WREMA 94.14]

The exhibition, created with the help of Wrexham Heritage volunteers and supporters includes historic objects and archives connected to:

  • The Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds
  • The Ancient Order of Foresters
  • The Independent Order of Oddfellows
  • The Freemasons
  • The Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
  • The Rotary
  • The National Association of Business and Professional Women
  • The Soroptimists

and others.

The display has been put together with help from Mike Edwardson, Toni Robbins and Alan Jones. They have helped to choose the objects and research the collection, which has been built up thanks to donations from members of these groups locally or their descendants. Very few of the objects have been on display before and in many cases, such objects have not been publicly displayed in Wales ever.
The display is currently show in the main gallery at Wrexham Museum

Football Forever!

Introducing the story of football in Wales and Wales in football An exhibition at the home of the Welsh Football Collection in Wrexham — the spiritual home of Welsh football.

This event is suitable for all.

Ticket price: free.

Contact Wrexham Museum on 01978 297460 or email museum@wrexham.gov.uk.

Football Forever! Introducing the Story of Football in Wales and Wales in Football | Gallery 3

12/07/2019 – 11/01/2020

Football Forever! Introducing the Story of Football in Wales and Wales in Football is the latest exhibition, inspired by the Welsh Football Collection, to open at Wrexham County Borough Museum & Archives.

The exhibition highlights the eventful history of Welsh football through its links to the First World War, the Aberfan Colliery Disaster, the challenges of foreign travel, the 1924 Paris Olympics, the rise of feminism, disability and sport, the importance of a single street in Swansea and the sport’s origins in the town of Wrexham and the village of Ruabon.

The exhibition includes objects and archival material from the Welsh Football Collection, selected with the guidance of two guest curators, both dedicated fans of the game. The collection appears in a series of themed displays: Home Internationals, Stars and Characters, Europe and the World, Club and Domestic and All Forms of the Game including:

  • Trevor Ford’s No.9 shirt worn against Scotland, 1955
  • Len Davies’ shirt from Wales’s first overseas tour, 1929
  • Aaron Ramsey’s shirt from the game against Estonia, 2009
  • Match programme from the ‘battle of Wrexham’ against Austria, 1955
  • Captain’s arm-band from Ryan Giggs’ last international appearance
  • A ‘golden’ boot awarded to John Charles
  • And a medal awarded to Moses Russell for being part of the winning team that beat England, Scotland and Ireland in the 1923-24 Home International Championship.

Alongside these displays visitors have the chance to

  • Enjoy archive footage of historic matches courtesy of British Pathé Ltd.
  • Choose their top team to represent our country
  • Rank Welsh goalkeepers in order of greatness
  • Debate the rankings of Wales’s Greatest Ever Strikers
  • Try on some 19th century-style football kit
  • And make up their own football chants.

Football Forever! is on show from Friday, July 12th 2019 until Saturday, January 11th 2020.

 

Poster Pêl-droed yng Nghymru | Football in Wales poster

Forgotten Wars: The Royal Welch Fusiliers Around The World | Gallery 2

From 8.11.2019

Wrexham marked Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day 2019 with a new exhibition at Wrexham County Borough Museum & Archives: Forgotten Wars: The Royal Welch Fusiliers Around The World 1850 – 1970.

Over the past five years, the main focus of commemorations has been the First World War, but over the centuries the Royal Welch Fusiliers, who recruited heavily across north Wales and were based in Wrexham, were called on to fight in conflicts around the globe. Soldiers from north Wales served in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Many of these wars have become footnotes in history books, their monuments on our streets and in our churches often overlooked, even forgotten. However, these wars are well-remembered in other countries and this exhibition highlights this global history that is part of Wrexham’s and Wales’s history.

Highlights of the exhibition include:

  • Campaign medals from the Crimean War, the Boer War and the 1900 International Expedition to Peking
  • A letter about Florence Nightingale
  • Traditional weapons from the North-West Frontier province of the Indian Empire
  • An Other Ranks’ British Army Uniform from the 19th century
  • A Chinese communist guerrilla cap from the Malaya Emergency.
  • A sketchbook from the deployment in Bosnia-Herzegovina

The exhibition opened on November 8th 2019 and will run until summer 2021. Admission is free.

 

Rhyfeloedd Angof | Forgotten Wars

Brymbo: Foundries, Furnaces and Faith | Gallery 1

From 6/12/2019

The current ‘People and Places’ themed display in the main gallery at Wrexham Museum highlights the history of Brymbo. The display is based on the industrial, social and art history collections cared for by the museum, including:

  • An oil painting of John Wilkinson, original founder of Brymbo Ironworks
  • An illuminated address and photograph album presented to Mr J H Darby, managing director of Brymbo Steel Works, in April 1908 by the management and workforce
  • An original Brymbo Fire Brigade fireman’s helmet
  • A rare surviving shell made by the Royal Ordnance from Brymbo steel
  • Tools and equipment used by Walter Salisbury and his fellow foundry men at the steelworks and
  • Silverware from Bethel Wesleyan Chapel, Brymbo.

The display also provides an opportunity to showcase the art works and sculpture of Brymbo Steel Works’ former employee, Ben Boenisch. Mr Boenisch, a stalwart of the Wrexham & District Arts Association in the 1970s and 1980s, worked as the catering manager at Brymbo. The occasional dangers of the Electric Melting Shop and the rolling mill were nothing compared to Mr Boenisch’s wartime career: fighting the Wehrmacht following the German and Soviet invasion of his homeland, Poland, in 1939; escaping across war-torn Europe initially to France and then to Britain; before fighting with the Royal Artillery in Burma.

The ‘People and Places’ display case is located in the centre of the main gallery at Wrexham Museum.

Brymbo: Foundries, Furnaces and Faith | Brymbo: Ffowndris, Ffwrneisi a Ffydd

Make & Take

This is the make and take events page

Messy Museum

This is the Messy Museum listing

Victorians Day

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