Victorian School Room

Furnished to give a flavour of school life in 1900, this layout was common in both urban and rural schools across Carmarthenshire. Many local people remember sitting at desks just like these.

School life in 1900 was very different in many ways. Welsh was rarely taught as a subject and was never used as a medium of instruction. The first Welsh-medium state school in Wales was not established until 1947—in the town of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. Some schools still operated the 'Welsh Not' system, where children were given a plaque or a stick in turn if overheard speaking Welsh at school; the child holding the symbol at the end of the day would be punished.

Nowadays, Welsh is widely spoken and taught in schools. You are welcome to practise your skills on the chalkboards, or you can dress up as a teacher and start your own lesson!