Newtown Textile Museum is now open for the summer season with an exhibition about the town’s entrepreneur Pryce Jones and fun activities for children amongst the new attractions.
‘The Pryce Jones: Mail-order Genius’ permanent exhibition tells the story of Newtown’s most famous son alongside the usual displays about the town’s flannel industry, including handlooms, spinning wheels and other implements used to make flannel.
Museum curator John Evans explained: “Since lockdown in 2020, we have seen a growing interest by visitors in the role of Newtown in the early development of mail order and we have featured in a dozen TV programmes.
“This method of shopping by post was pioneered by Pryce Jones from his state-of-the-art distribution centre, the Royal Welsh Warehouse.
“Utilising the two most important communications advances of the Victorian era – the universal postal system and the railway – Pryce Jones transformed his humble draper’s business into a global enterprise.
“In the process he revived Newtown’s flagging fortunes as a manufacturing centre and converted Welsh flannel from a hum-drum work-a-day fabric to a ‘must have’ commodity beloved of royalty.”
The museum, situated in Commercial Street, has also developed new activities for children and the young at heart, thanks to a grant from the Family Friendly Museum Support Programme run by Kids in Museums and supported by the Welsh Government.
Children can now enjoy a history trail guided by the museum’s mascot, Sian the Sheep, ‘Explorer Bags’, a family reading hub and a dressing up area where visitors can take selfies in an authentic Victorian setting.
The museum recently featured in an episode in the series ‘Cartrefi Cymru’ (‘Welsh Homes’) on S4C and is due to appear on the ITV Wales ‘Vanished Wales’ series later this year.
New product lines sourced from local craftspeople and producers are now stocked in the museum shop, which has proved very successful in recent years.
The museum, which welcomes group visits from schools, adult groups and tourism accommodation providers, is open every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 12 noon to 4pm. For more information, visit https://newtowntextilemuseum.co.uk/ .
The museum is a member of Mid Wales Tourism (MWT Cymru), an independent organisation representing more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Eryri (Snowdonia).
