After being transferred ten miles, brick by brick, a well-known bar will reopen, complete with its 107-year-old urinals and original wallpaper.
Before it was shut down more than 10 years ago, the Vulcan Hotel was a beloved classic working class bar.
Rhys Ifans of Notting Hill and James Dean Bradfield of Manic Street Preachers both supported the effort to rescue the Cardiff bar after it provided decades of service to dock workers and steelworkers.
It is now being reconstructed in its original condition after Brains Brewing Company decided to give it to a museum ten miles distant.
When St. Fagans National Museum of History reopens the following year, the well-liked bar that was constructed to service Cardiff’s East Bute port will once again draw pints.
The interior and exterior of the museum were deconstructed so that each component could be stored until being reassembled.
The structure will reopen in 2024 with the original men’s restrooms from when it was renovated in 1915.
The bar is loaded with history, according to Dafydd Wiliam, head curator of historic structures at St. Fagans.
“Pubs are really significant cultural centers,” he remarked. They serve as hubs for communal life. We’ve always wished the museum had a bar.
We had the good fortune to speak with a lady who was born at The Vulcan in 1915.
She described to us the building’s appearance as a kid, the kind of clients it served, and specifics about the neighborhood in which it was located.
In 1915, Cardiff was a very prosperous coal port, according to Mr. Wiliam. Cardiff shipped the most coal ever the year before, in 1914, at almost 20 million tonnes.
“The First World War was going on at the time. The bar thus has a lot to tell about this historical era, about Cardiff as a city, and about the neighborhood in and around the building at this time.
Some of the external tiles of the bar couldn’t be repaired, although the Shropshire-based original maker is still in operation.
And in a lucky coincidence, the makers still possess the wooden molds that were used to make the original tiles.
“The original wallpaper was hidden beneath the plasterboard while we were removing a dividing wall. It had a coarse texture and was heavily tarred.
The original men’s restrooms from 1915 have also been preserved. They are now being repaired so they can return and fulfill their obligations.
More than 40 ancient structures from all around Wales may be found at St Fagans, which is a member of the National Museums of Wales.
From the pre-Roman period to the twentieth century, every building has been deconstructed, relocated, and then rebuilt on the museum grounds.
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