Croeso / Welcome!

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Y Dolydd is a Community Enterprise for Arts, Education, Environment and Heritage.  It’s housed in the Llanfyllin Union Workhouse: the only one in Wales open to the public.

The Workhouse is owned by the Llanfyllin Dolydd Building Preservation Trust (Charity No. 1091097).  The Trust is a community group with membership open to all.  Its elected Trustees manage the project as volunteers.

The Trust bought Y Dolydd and six acres of land with the help of the Architectural Heritage Fund in 2004.  It stood abandoned and derelict.  The priority was to arrest the decay and get the building back into use.  Restoration has been gradual: much has been achieved and more remains to be done.

Y Dolydd is a handsome stone building, listed Grade II*.  It’s Britain’s finest example of a workhouse built under the New Poor Law of 1834.  It stands in the glorious countryside of Mid-Wales, close to the market town of Llanfyllin on the road leading to Lake Vyrnwy.  

Visitors can walk round the site and view the Workhouse History Centre, a small, self-guided museum telling the story of the people who lived and worked here for over a century.  There’s a film and visitor trail and the Centre is open daily: donations appreciated.   Schools and other groups are welcome by appointment.

Facilities at Y Dolydd include:

• 18 workshops let to artists, small enterprises or community groups
• A venue with kitchen and café-bar, available for functions
• A 24-bed bunkhouse catering especially for groups
• A gallery and exhibition space
• A second-hand bookshop
• Outdoor space including four courtyards, extensive parking, a garden and fields used for music events, horse shows, rallies and ecological activities.

The Trust is part way through a major project to restore the Master’s House, forming the central hub of the building.  Some other areas still need repair.  When visiting, please remember this is work in progress.

Please consider supporting the Trust by a donation, as a volunteer, or by joining as a member.  The minimum subscription is just a pound a month and you can join by downloading a form from this website.  Volunteers can help with maintaining the building or site, organising events or joining in historical research.    

Y Dolydd, shows how a small community can take on a large historic building of national importance and find it new and viable uses.

Workhouse History Group is carrying out research into the history of the building and of the Llanfyllin Poor Law Union.  It has collaborated with The National Archives to catalogue the extensive, untapped collection of material held at Kew and has digitised the minutes of the Llanfyllin guardians in Powys Archives.This led in 2016 to the opening of the Workhouse History Centre, Wales’s only workhouse museum funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and now open daily free of charge.

Refurbishment of the building is in progress, with much of the work carried out by volunteers using recycled materials wherever possible.  A Conservation Management Plan has been drawn up, and all work is designed to accord with established conservation principles and with the building’s listed status.

The restoration of this historic building presents a huge challenge and we cannot do it without the help of our supporters. We are currently seeking to raise £10K for our Master’s House Roof Appeal and you can help by sponsoring a slate. Or become a member for only £1 a month!!! Download the form from this website, fill it in and send it to us at:

Membership, Workhouse, Y Dolydd, Llanfyllin, SY22 5LD

Thank you! Small yet regular donations from our supporters are essential for the project

Llanfyllin Workhouse is set in a beautiful rural location, only 1/4 mile from the small rural town of Llanfyllin itself and has the added benefit of being within easy access of the M54 and M6 motorways. Visitors can extend their visit and stay in our bunk house accommodation. See the events section for the latest up coming events See our Press and Newsletter archive for latest information about the project.

All profits to the Workhouse Trust (LDBPT)
 

All profits to the Workhouse Trust (LDBPT)