About Carmarthenshire Museum

Historic black-and-white photograph of a large country house set within landscaped grounds. The building features multiple chimneys, sash windows, and pitched roofs, partially framed by bare tree branches in the foreground. — The Bishop's Palace, early 20th Century

Our Story

Carmarthenshire Museum was founded as the county museum in 1908 by the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society. Settling in Quay Street, Carmarthen, the museum focused mostly on archaeology and the crafts and history of West Wales. The director of the National Museum of Wales in the 1920s called the collection "remarkable… second only to the National Museum."

The museum was transferred to Carmarthenshire County Council in 1940 after the death of George Eyre Evans, the most active of its founders. A new home was found in the 1970s, when the former Palace of the Bishops of St David’s in the nearby village of Abergwili was purchased, where the museum has grown and developed ever since. These days, the Bishop’s Park that surrounds the museum is managed by a charity, Parc yr Esgob Trust. CofGâr and the Trust work in partnership to operate the site, supported by Stacey’s Kitchen, who run the onsite café.