Monmouth Museum

Monmouth Museum began in 1924 as the Nelson Museum in a former gymnasium on Glendower Street. It moved to the Market Hall in 1969 after the building was restored following a fire six years earlier. Plans now place the collection in Shire Hall by 2027 after a five-year project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Market Hall building will become commercial space once the move is complete. Lady Georgiana Llangattock donated the Nelson artefacts in 1923 after gathering them during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Nelson collection includes his officers’ fighting sword and surrendered enemy blades from Trafalgar. Visitors can see letters written by Nelson to his wife and Emma Hamilton, along with commemorative silverware and models of the battle. A glass eye once claimed to be Nelson’s is actually a surgeon’s teaching model. The museum also holds the only known original Monmouth Cap from the 16th century and items linked to Charles Rolls and his family. The archive covers local history and archaeology alongside Nelson’s legacy. The new museum will sit in Shire Hall in Agincourt Square once the renovation is finished. The Market Hall in Priory Street once housed the displays before the fire and later refurbishment. Glendower Street’s Nelson Rooms mark the site of the original gymnasium gift from Lady Llangattock. The collection’s relocation aims to create a single accessible space for both Nelson artefacts and Monmouth’s history.