History is about us -The past opens the door to understanding the present, says Helen Morgan of Abergavenny Local History Society
Llanthony, a former Augustinian priory is reputedly built on the site of a ruined chapel dedicated to St David, a Celtic saint.
Image: Marianne Last
Why do people join a history society? One reason is that they are interested in how the area where they live was shaped by previous generations. In South-East Wales, this means the Celtic tribes and the legacy left by the Silures, Roman and Normans, as well as religious and cultural influences, says Dai Morgan, who co-organises the lecture programme for Abergavenny Local History Society. A small group recently completed a research programme into the history of Abergavenny castle between 1815 and the 1950s, and is helping to update the Street Survey. But on the whole, the society’s members tend to be interested in learning from the variety of visiting experts. “We host eight lectures a year covering a spectrum of ancient and modern, social and industrial. This month’s talk is on the 3rd Monmouthshire battalion in the Great War. In September the season starts with Dr Amelia Pannett’s talk on the Tudor remains recently discovered in Bute Park,” says Dai.
Come the summer, we head out of town to visit stately homes, cathedrals, churches, battlefields and sites of industrial archaeological significance. Some trips are fully booked but a places are still available for the National Botanic Gardens and Kidwelly Castle on May 17, the Three Castles tour on June 19 and a weekend trip in July to visit Cambridge, Sutton Hoo and Layer Marney Tower near Colchester.
For details visit: www.abergavennylocalhistorysociety.org.uk
