Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association Blog

Re-visiting the National Roman Legion Museum - with thoughts about socks, buttons, hair pins, home insurance and revenge.    National Roman Legion Museum was handed over to the care of National Museum Wales in 1930 because the Monmouthshire Antiquarian Association could no longer maintain the upkeep on the building but the MAA have retained a close relationship. R ecently we have seen the Museum pass through difficult times.  It was closed last year for work to be carried out on the roof and then had to close in March for the national lockdown due to Covid 19. Recently due to a local lockdown it has closed again. I have visited twice since the reopening and have visited countless times in my life but I am always amazed by what I see.  This time I looked more closely at some of the exhibits and have recorded my thoughts and taken pictures. Interestingly the exhibits had to be removed for the roof to be mended and had to be put back exactly as they were, due to funding commitments, but t

                                    Musket balls and misconceptions by Ray Stroud Artist unknown ©  Newport Museum and Art Gallery          Many youngsters through the years have found it difficult to resist the temptation of squeezing their fingers into the holes in the pillars of the Westgate Hotel.    We had all, probably, been regaled with stories of the Chartist attack on the Westgate, and of the musket balls that had penetrated the building during the battle.    But were these tales based on truth or myth?   In recent years, many in Newport have adopted the ‘myth’ position, arguing that they had been drilled into the pillars at a later date, possibly to attach gates or some other structure.    But does that theory line up with the historical evidence? The holes found in the pillars as they look today.  © Ray Stroud         The portico, which today sadly stands concealed behind sheets of chipboard, is the only remaining feature of a building that was constructed in 1709.    Intere