History of Bedwas Workmen's Hall

The focal point of many towns and villages across the valleys in the early 20th century was the local miners' institute. Bedwas Workmen’s Hall, which opened in 1923, was built with penny a week donations from local miners plus a grant from the owner of the local colliery, Sir Samuel Instone. It housed a public hall, library, cinema, dance hall and billiards hall.

Bedwas Workmen's Hall came into BTM Community Council ownership in September 1979 and since 1991 has been managed by a committee comprised of local community members and a handful of local councillors. The Management Committee are the Directors of the Bedwas Workmen's Hall Company and trustees of the Bedwas Workmen's Hall Charity (Charity No:1006294).

Bedwas Workmen's Hall is a three-storey Grade II listed building that continues to serve the local community offering a venue for a number of local groups including drama and dance schools and craft groups.

Hall Memories

To celebrate and mark the Hall's centenary in 2023 we are putting together a memory book that show's the Hall's history through the eyes of the local community. If you have any special memories of your time at the hall, whether it's the first time you visited, an event or show you attended, or even if you met the love of your life there, we would love to hear your stories.

Perhaps you have some photographs of the hall you could share with us of events you attended, or of the actual hall itself back in its prime. Any photo's you may have, we are happy to copy them and return the originals.

If you happen to have any memrabilia of past events such as posters, programs or anything else, we would really appreciate seeing them, and like the photos, we are happy to copy them and return the originals. If you have anything at all for us, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.