Menai Heritage

Menai Heritage stands in the Canolfan Thomas Telford Centre in Menai Bridge on Anglesey. The centre began as a National school in 1854, designed by local architect Henry Kennedy. Later extensions added a cloakroom in 1896 and a front porch in 1909. After the school closed in 1923 it served as a church hall until 2007. In that year the Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust bought the building and turned it into a community centre. The trust also opened the Bridges Exhibition inside, a fully accredited museum. The exhibition tells the story of the two great bridges that cross the Menai Strait. Thomas Telford’s Menai Suspension Bridge, opened in 1826, was the world’s first modern suspension bridge. The Britannia Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, followed in 1850. Both structures transformed travel between Anglesey and the mainland. The museum also shows local history and natural history of the strait and its surroundings. Visitors find displays about the bridges’ engineering and their impact on the area. Rooms in the old school building hold photographs, maps and artefacts from the 19th century. The exhibition room itself is bright and modern, with models and interactive panels. Outside, the centre sits beside St Mary’s Church and a short walk leads to the Menai Suspension Bridge. The strait’s tides and wildlife are also part of the story told here.