Case Study - Big Pit: National Mining Museum of Wales

Programme: Heritage Grants
Applicant: National Museums and Galleries of Wales and Big Pit (Blaenafon) Trust Ltd
Grant awarded: £5,832,015
Project length: Jan 2000 –Jan 2005

Big Pit - printable (MS Word, 268KB)

Summary

Big Pit Mining Museum, with its underground workings, buildings, machinery and extensive collections, is the best surviving example of the mining industry in Wales.

Originally run by the Big Pit (Blaenafon) Trust, the Museum became part of National Museums and Galleries of Wales when the grant was awarded.

The project focussed on developing the visitor experience and understanding of the mining industry in Wales and its impact on people and place. It involved the conservation and adaptation of 19 listed (Grade II and II*) buildings; engineering work to the historic underground workings to allow long-term access; the provision of fully-equipped facilities for learning; and interpretation and displays to explain the mining process and to develop visitors’ understanding of the coal archive and collections.

The aims of the project

To conserve, adapt and interpret 19 listed Grade II and Grade II* buildings
To carry out engineering works to secure long term access to the underground historic workings, and interpretative works to improve public understanding of how they were used
To construct modern, functional buildings for a conservation workshop, an accessible store, and a study centre, and to provide learning facilities for educational groups
To develop exhibitions and display areas to display and interpret the combined Big Pit and National Museum coal collections

Benefits for heritage

Integrating Big Pit into the National Museums and Galleries of Wales (NMGW) enabled the coal mining collections of both organisations to be combined to form the most important coal mining collection in Wales
This new national collection is now and conserved in the new facilities by conservation technicians employed for the capital project and now retained by NMGW
The collection, which continues to grow through a community collections programme, is now presented in the most appropriate setting; a coal mine in a mining community
The Big Pit mining complex, significant for its completeness as a colliery, has been preserved and given a long term future as a key element of the World Heritage Site

Benefits for people

The proportion of the national coal collection on display and accessible to visitors, in an authentic setting, has increased significantly
The project had a positive impact on the perceptions of local people about the colliery, its heritage and their place within it. The collection of oral histories continues beyond the project end, and a regular themed publication is produced to share experiences, views and memories of mining in the area
The number of visitors in formal educational groups increased to 59,135 in 2010 and a further 9,627 visitors participated in informal learning sessions
Big Pit employs 65 local people, around 50% coming from Blaenafon itself, and 100% from the Valleys area of South Wales

Lessons learnt

High risk elements of the works were tackled early in the programme, leading to greater financial confidence as the works progressed
The Project Director was authorised to make all the necessary financial decisions, while the in-house core project team was kept small, with professional expertise brought in as required, to make the decision making process shorter and quicker
The museum focuses on the people who were affected by the mining industry in Wales, with quotations and examples from the oral history programme, the voices of the miners themselves, influencing the texts on display
The underground tour is the first part of the visit so that the visitors can bring what they learned there to bring the stories they read in the exhibition to life

Long term benefits

Although regeneration was not a stated aim of the project, the project has had a lasting impact on the wider economic and social well-being of the area by encouraging more visitors and increasing local employment opportunities

The budget

Main Project Costs	£	Funding	£
Building work	3,758,310	Cash from organisation	408,000
Engineering work	517,100	Other grants	1,399,000
Interpretative fit-out	1,236,000	HLF grant (67%)	5,278,000
Professional fees	947,500	Total costs	7,085,372

School party on the underground Big pit tour at the museum

Sector

Industry, Maritime and Transport

Activity

Learning