Y Gaer (cultural hub)

Y Gaer stands in Brecon, Powys, on Glamorgan Street. The complex includes a museum, an art gallery and a library. It occupies a Grade II* listed building that once served as the shire hall for Brecknockshire. The original structure was designed by Thomas Henry Wyatt and David Brandon in the neoclassical style and completed in 1843. Its main frontage faces the corner of Bulwark and Danygaer Road with a tetrastyle portico of Doric columns. The words “Victoria Regina MDCCCXLII” appear above the portico, and the interior once housed the courtroom. The site has served as a court and council meeting place for over a century. After the Local Government Act 1888, it became the meeting place for Brecknockshire County Council. Court hearings continued here until 1971, and council meetings until the council’s abolition in 1974. The Brecknock Museum, founded in 1928, moved into the vacant shire hall in 1974. Its collection features a Roman tombstone found at the nearby fort, including that of a cavalryman named Candidus. Today the complex links the restored shire hall with a modern building that houses the art gallery and library. The refurbished shire hall retains its neoclassical portico and courtroom. Visitors can view Roman artefacts in the museum and explore changing exhibitions in the art gallery. The library provides modern facilities alongside the historic setting. The surroundings include Glamorgan Street in central Brecon, close to the town’s other civic buildings.