Kidwelly Industrial Museum facts for kids
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Former tinplate works with preserved steam engine and a colliery headgear and winding engine
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| Location | Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
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| Type | Industry museum |
The Kidwelly Industrial Museum is a fantastic place to explore the past! It shows you how people used to make things like tinplate, dig for coal, and create bricks in the Kidwelly area. This museum is located right where the old Kidwelly Tinplate Works used to be, near the town of Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. The tinplate factory started way back in 1737 and closed its doors in 1941.
Contents
Discover Kidwelly's Industrial Past
The Kidwelly Industrial Museum helps you step back in time. It teaches you about the important industries that shaped this part of Wales. You can see real machines and buildings that were used long ago. It's a great way to understand how people worked and lived in the past.
What is Tinplate?
Tinplate is a special type of metal. It's basically a thin sheet of steel or iron that has been covered with a very thin layer of tin. Why tin? Because tin helps protect the metal underneath from rust. This made tinplate perfect for making things like food cans, buckets, and other containers. The Kidwelly Tinplate Works was a big factory where workers made these useful metal sheets.
The Story of Coal Mining
Coal mining was another huge industry in the Kidwelly area. Coal is a black rock found underground. It was incredibly important because it was used as fuel to heat homes, power factories, and even run steam engines. Miners worked hard deep underground to bring this valuable resource to the surface. The museum helps you imagine what it was like to be a coal miner.
Making Bricks for Buildings
Bricks are essential building blocks. They are made from clay and then heated in very hot ovens called kilns. The Kidwelly area also had brick-making factories. These bricks were used to build houses, factories, and many other structures. Learning about brick making shows you how important these simple blocks were for creating the towns and cities we see today.
Historic Buildings at the Museum
Many of the buildings at the Kidwelly Industrial Museum are very old and special. For example, the engine house from the old tinplate works is a "Grade II*" listed building. This means it's a very important historical building that needs to be protected. Other parts, like the factory chimney and some of the old workrooms, are also listed as "Grade II." These listings help make sure these amazing historical structures are preserved for future generations to learn from and enjoy.
