About the Kidwelly Tinplate Works
Our Story
Kidwelly Tinplate Works was one of Britain's first tinplate works and is now the oldest tinplate works to be found anywhere in Europe. Because it survives, the old works has a special place in the story of Britain's Industrial Revolution. Nearly half of the world’s tinplate was manufactured in Wales in the 19th century, much of it in Carmarthenshire.
The site was bought by Llanelli Borough Council in 1974 and later leased to Kidwelly Heritage Centre and Tinplate Museum Trust. They operated the site as a museum from 1988 to 2017, after restoring some original features of the works and bringing in buildings from other, closed industrial works in the area.
Care of the site has now returned to Carmarthenshire County Council and CofGâr. The museum is closed to the public for the time being while we work on reimagining and restoring the site to as a centre of learning, play, and sustainability for the future.
Our story – the next chapter
The CofGâr family and its expanded team came into being in 2023. During 2022-23, while work to build CofGâr took place, expansive surveys of the Kidwelly Tinplate Works were completed to provide a snapshot of the condition of the listed museum properties and scheduled structures.
Other works carried out at the same time included a collections review and preliminary ecological assessment. From these, a draft options appraisal was prepared, which considered the implications for society, historic preservation, and the economy and environment.
In November 2024, the Carmarthenshire County Council Cabinet unanimously resolved on the selection of the option to reopen the museum as a reimagined version, offering a 21st century vision that enhances and utilises all that the site offers.
Since then, CofGâr have been developing a better understanding of the significance of the site, which will guide future planning. A key first step was being awarded funding from the Welsh Government Anti-Racist Wales Culture Fund in 2025. Almost £18,000 of funding was awarded for a project to research the global colonial histories of the tinplate industry in south-west Wales, in partnership with Swansea University.
The research was completed in early 2026 and the findings were presented at an event hosted at the John Burns Centre in Kidwelly. Honouring the Past, Shaping the Future explored the relationships between the people who funded and managed tinplate works in south-west Wales; the people who consumed and used tinplate; and colonialism and slavery.
The event was also an opportunity to begin a community conversation about reopening the Kidwelly Tinplate Works as a museum. People from the surrounding communities of Kidwelly, Mynyddygarreg, and others were invited to consider how a renewed museum might help and contribute to their communities. All ideas and views were recorded and will help to shape the next steps of this long-term project. Further community conversations and events will be held in the future to guide progress towards reopening.
Why makes Kidwelly Tinplate Works special?
The site preserves what was one of Britain's first tinplate works and is now the oldest tinplate works to be found anywhere in Europe. Because it survives, the old works has a special place in the story of Britain's Industrial Revolution. Nearly half of the world’s tinplate was manufactured in Wales in the 19th century, much of it in Carmarthenshire.