Maesteg Town Hall is now closed for an ambitious and much-needed redevelopment. Costing over £8m, this project represents one of the single biggest investments ever made in the area.

Maesteg Town Hall has been the cultural heartbeat of the Llynfi Valley for almost 140 years. C.R.M. Talbot, the second longest serving MP in the nineteenth century, laid the foundation stone in October 1880. He donated £500 – the equivalent of over £59,000 in 2019 – towards the building fund. The miners of the valley levied a day’s wages towards the cost of completion. Maesteg Town Hall opened its doors for the first time in 1881. It was remodelled just before World War One and was Grade II listed in the 1980s. 

Occupying a prominent location in the town centre, Maesteg Town Hall is a significant landmark. Its grand auditorium hosts a rang e of drama, dance, comedy, music performances and children’s events. Since 2015, A wen Cultural Trust has proudly operated the Hall and introduced a successful professional programme, which has been welcomed and supports by the community. Maesteg Town Hall is also a popular venue for weddings, conferences an d civic functions, and is regularly used by a number of local theatre g roups, choirs and operatic societies. In 2018, Maesteg Town Hall held over 110 events, with a total of over 27,000 visitors.

Maesteg Town Hall is also the permanent home of six painting s by the prominent Welsh artist, Christopher Williams. Williams was born in 1873 and brought up in Commercial Street, Maesteg by his father, the local g rocer Evan. Described by the Prime Minister David Lloyd George as “one of t he most gifted artists Wales has produced”, Williams died in 1934, on th e day that two of his paintings ‘Paolo and Francesca’ and ‘The Artist’s Father’ were formally presented to the Town Hall by his son Gwyn.

Despite repair and maintenance programmes throughout its 140 years, Maesteg Town Hall has suffered from decades of deterioration to its fab ric and built heritage. Studies carried out by structural eng ineers showed that, without immediate intervention, the building was at serious risk of closure. A wen Cultural Trust, together with its partners at Bridg end County Borough Council sensed the need to find a way to secure the building for generations to come.

A transformational redevelopment will not only secure the Hall’ s future, but by enhancing its offer, could amplify its benefit two or three times over. After several years of planning, the project has secured fundin g from Welsh Government’s Building for the Future Prog ramme, Communities Facilities Programme, Valleys Task Force and the European Reg ional Development Fund, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Maesteg Town Council and the Davies Trust to deliver a venue that will continue to inspire, eng age, educate and entertain. Please continue to follow our journey as we make this amazing r redevelopment project a reality.