National Slate Museum gets £12m grant for redevelopment

Amgueddfa Cymru, or Museum Wales, has won funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, enabling the grade one-listed building’s redevelopment to proceed.

Under plans designed by Rural Office, the National Slate Museum in Llanberis will get dedicated exhibition spaces which will show Museum Wales’s national collection to a North Wales audience.

A learning centre, play area, shop, and café will be added to the museum, and improved accessibility will open up its exhibitions for more people.

Museum Wales was assisted by Asbri Planning in its application to Gwynedd County Council, while MPH Construction has been appointed to build the project.

The fund will help the restoration of the entire museum. Credit: via planning documents

The museum has ensured that the Welsh language will be “embedded at all stages” of the project.

National Lottery funding will also enable the site to continue to develop its role offering training and opportunities for people from all backgrounds to learn and develop endangered traditional heritage skills.

Jane Richardson, chief executive of Museum Wales, said the grant meant the body can “progress the redevelopment plans with certainty”.

She added: “Thanks to National Lottery players, we can now conserve the history of the National Slate Museum and move towards a more sustainable future, which will be more inclusive, more accessible, and which will inspire growth and learning.

“This will mean even more people can access and enjoy the global success story of North Wales slate.’

The museum was first opened to the public in 1972 after Dinorwig slate quarry nearby shut in 1969.

Architect Rural Office designed the redevelopment. Credit: via National Slate Museum

Andrew White, director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund for Wales, added: “This transformational £12m investment will firmly establish Amgueddfa Lechi as the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Slate Landscape, unlocking vital opportunities for communities across North Wales.

“It will safeguard the future of this Grade one-listed site, ensuring the powerful story of slate and the lives it shaped continues to inspire future generations.

“This project is a bold investment in Cymru’s globally significant industrial heritage – delivering skills, apprenticeships and employment, while strengthening both the regional economy and cultural landscape.”

Those interested in the application can view it using the reference number C24/0976/18/CR on Gwynedd County Council’s planning portal.