Milford Haven Heritage and Maritime Museum

Here at Milford Haven, we’re building a future upon our history and creating a vibrant waterfront destination to welcome the world. Fashion boutiques and fine dining, high-octane watersports and culture are anchored alongside international maritime trade and our salt soaked heritage at Milford Waterfront.

Royal Armouries, Fort Nelson

Explore 19 acres of ramparts, outer fortifications, secret underground tunnels, and ammunition bunkers at this fully restored Victorian fort.

Fort Nelson sits on top of Portsdown Hill, near Fareham in Hampshire. It is 10 minutes drive from Fareham, and 17 miles east of Southampton.

Royal Armouries, Tower of London

Explore royal arms and armour in the iconic White Tower within the Tower of London.

For nearly 1,000 years this iconic Norman keep, built by William the Conquerer, has stood by the banks of the river Thames; a symbol of royal power, a royal residence, and home to their organisations of state.

Today the White Tower is a flagship museum showcasing the Royal Armouries’ glittering collection of arms, armour and historical artefacts.

Admission to the Royal Armouries in the White Tower is free, but a ticket must be purchased for entry to the Tower of London.

British Motor Museum

The British Motor Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of historic British Cars; it boasts nearly 300 cars in its collection which span the classic, vintage and veteran eras. Situated in the small village of Gaydon, Warwickshire, just off junction 12 of the M40. The Museum building is a spectacular piece of architecture with an art deco design, whilst the Collections Centre building is a modern contrast. Together they stand proudly in a beautifully landscaped setting of 65 acres, which rolls out onto the Warwickshire countryside. THE MUSEUM STORY The Museum opened in 1993 as the amalgamation of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust’s preserved car collection. The Trust decided that the car collection and artefacts were outgrowing its then two locations, Studley in Warwickshire and a museum in Syon Park in London. A dedicated purpose-built residence was needed to give the collection pride of place and open for public viewing. It was the Trust’s mission to keep the memory of the British motor industry alive and to tell its story to all, starting from the beginning of the 20th Century to present day. So a building was designed that not only housed the cars and its extensive motoring archive, but also had educational and conference facilities thus ensuring its sustainability. The Heritage Motor Centre, as it was first known, opened in May 1993.

Milford House Museum

Milford House is an architectural and technological wonder. The former seat of the Mc Crum family one of Ireland’s premier linen manufacturing dynasties, the proprietors of the world famous firm of Mc Crum, Watson & Mercer Ltd. They created the model village of Milford. The house was later home to the Manor House School.

Milford House is famous as the most technologically advanced house in nineteenth century Ireland – the first in Ireland to be lit hydroelectricity. The house is world famous as the birthplace and home of William Mc Crum (1865-1932) who invented the penalty kick rule in football in Milford village in 1890!

The creation of Robert Garmany Mc Crum (1827-1915), self made industrialist, engineer, and benefactor. It sums up the characteristics of one of Ireland’s greatest genius and mightiest industrialists who revolutionized the world of linen manufacturing. The house sums up his power, vigor, boldness and originality. It is not a house to wonder at but to enjoy. An extraordinary family home that symbolizes the temperament of R.G Mc Crum, his career and the greatest achievements of the Victorian age.

It was built between 1864 and 1915 and was undoubtedly designed by R. G Mc Crum. He continued improving the house throughout is life. As with business his determination never wavered despite his age.

On his death in 1915 the house was valued at £3,250 and the contents were worth £2,500. The house passed to his son William. Following the Wall Street crash of 1929, the decline in the linen industry combined with his gambling debts there was a seven day auction during which the contents were dispersed. William left Milford and upon death in 1932 the property passed to his sister Mrs. Harriette Miller of Drumsill House.

In 1936 the house was leased to the Manor House School and became a Country House residential school for girls. In 1940 with great reluctance and having been persuaded by her sons Mrs. Miller sold Milford House and forty acres of the estate and parkland to the Manor House School for £3,000- a sum which Mrs. Wilson the founder of the school considered a lot of money at that time. The house remained a school for twenty nine years until it closed in December 1965.

In 1966 the Manor House School sold the house and forty acres of estate and parkland to the Northern Ireland Hospital Authorities for £22,500 and an additional £3,000 for furnishings. It then became the Manor House Special Care Hospital. The hospital closed in 1988.

In 1996 property was acquired by Armagh City and District Council for £250,000. In 2000 the Friends of Manor House was established by Stephen Mc Manus when he was fifteen years old to work with Armagh Council to secure the future of Milford House. The property was sold to the current owners in March 2002. Both Milford House and its fountain (which was stolen in 1996) have been on the BHARNI (Built Heritage at Risk Register Northern Ireland) Register since 1999. The house is listed under the title of its last use Manor House. The house is enduring ongoing horrific vandalism and theft and it is now rapidly deteriorating at an alarming rate.

In November 2010 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society declared Milford House as one of the top twelve listed buildings at most serious risk in Northern Ireland; as part of the ‘Dirty Dozen historic buildings at most serious risk in Ulster. The Milford Buildings Preservation Trust continues to work tirelessly to try and protect Milford House, its parkland and gardens for the benefit of the nation.

Penrhyn Castle

This 19th-century neo-Norman castle sits between Snowdonia and the Menai Strait. It’s crammed with fascinating items, such as a one-ton slate bed made for Queen Victoria, elaborate carvings, plasterwork and mock-Norman furniture. In addition, it has an outstanding collection of paintings.The restored kitchens are a delight and the stable block houses a fascinating industrial railway museum.The 24.3 hectares (60 acres) of grounds include parkland, an exotic tree and shrub collection as well as a Victorian walled garden.

Wall Roman Site and Museum (Letocetum Site and Museum)

Wall in Staffordshire was an important staging post on Watling Street, the Roman military road to north Wales. The road network was crucial to the Romans’ control over their empire. At staging posts like Wall weary Roman officials, soldiers and imperial messengers could find lodging for the night and change their horses.

At Wall today you can still see the remains of an inn for travellers and the public baths, with its sequence of cold, warm and hot rooms. The museum provides a fascinating insight into life here and displays many excavated finds.

The site is managed and maintained by English Heritage, and owned by the National Trust.

Wroxeter Roman Site and Museum

Discover urban-living 2,000 years ago at Viriconium (Wroxeter) – once the fourth largest city in Roman Britain. Wander the remains of the bathhouse and explore a reconstructed town house from a city which was almost as large as Pompeii. Discover the daily lives of the people who lived here with the audio tour and through their objects – found here and on display in the museum. 

The Royal Observer Corps Museum

The Royal Observer Corps formed in the south of England in 1925. Its task was to track and report all aircraft flying over the UK and coastal shipments so that Home Defences could be warned of any potential attack. The ROC was initially manned by volunteers who came from the immediate neighbourhood. They were later recruited by the police as Special Constables prior to WWII.

St Agnes Parish Museum

St Agnes and the outlying villages and hamlets of Mount Hawke, Porthtowan, Mithian, Trevellas and Blackwater have a long and interesting history. There is evidence from flint tools that seven thousand years ago people lived in the area; the Bronze Age residents left us barrows, and the Bolster bank earthwork provides archaeologists with an Iron Age or Dark Ages mystery.

From the Middle Ages the church at St Agnes provided a focus for a cluster of dwellings and in the nineteenth century Methodism inspired the building of numerous chapels in the parish.

Small fields with ancient stone hedges reflect the enclosure of land from surrounding moorland. The moorland itself is pockmarked with surface mining for tin and copper. This enterprise reached its height in the mid-nineteenth century with ever-deeper workings and skilfully constructed mine buildings – many still standing.

From the harbour at Trevaunance Cove ships took copper ore to be smelted in Swansea, returning with coal. Until its demise in 1917 the harbour was also used by mackerel and pilchard boats.

Today, the parish relies predominantly on tourism – not surprising in such a beautiful area.