Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights
Robert Owen Museum
MUSEUM
( 01686-622510;
www.robert-owen-museum.org.uk
; The Cross; 11am-3pm Tue, Thu & Sat May-Aug)
If you're not aware of Robert Owen's legacy, you're best to start here. The displays on
Owen's life are broken up with mementoes and pictures; it's quite text-heavy but it makes
fascinating reading. Owen was the son of a saddler who became a successful cotton-mill
owner. His then-radical reforms included reducing working hours from 14 to 16 hours per
day to 10 to 12, setting a minimum working age of 10 and funding schools for his em-
ployees' children, which included music and dancing alongside academic instruction.
He's considered a founding father of the co-operative and the trade union movements. At
the corner of Gas and Short Bridge Sts a statue and garden herald him as a 'pioneer, social
reformer and philanthropist'.
The museum is in the town-council building and also serves as the de facto tourist of-
fice.
St Mary's Old Parish Church
(Old Church St)
Owen's well-tended grave is in the grounds of St Mary's Old Parish Church.
Dating from at least 1253, the church was allowed to fall into ruin after a bigger church
was built in 1856 and it's now a public garden, thanks to the local co-operative union.
There's also a memorial here to Thomas Powell, a disciple of Owen who became a
Chartist leader, part of the movement demanding a vote for all men, not just the rich.
RUIN
Oriel Davies
( 01686-625041;
www.orieldavies.org
; The Park; 10am-5pm Mon-Sat)
One of Wales' leading
contemporary spaces hosting often edgy national and international exhibitions, Oriel
Davies is the largest visual-arts venue in the region and offers a range of talks, courses
and workshops. Its sunny, glassed-in
cafe
(open 10am to 4pm) is the best place for a light
meal, such as homemade soup, quiche or baked potatoes. In summer you can eat over-
looking the leafy riverside
park
that contains a mound that is all that remains of New-
town's 13th-century
castle
and a Gorsedd (Druidic)
stone circle
dating from the Royal Nation-
al Eisteddfod of 1965.
GALLERY
Textile Museum
MUSEUM
