460 
NATORE 
[JuLy 4, 1912 
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WALES. 
[EN bright sunshine and in the midst of a brilliant 
assembly, his Majesty laid the foundation-stone 
of the National Museum of Wales on Wednesday, 
June 26. All sides of Welsh life and activity were 
represented—peers and peeresses, members of Parlia- 
ment, county and municipal aldermen and councillors, 
magistrates, college principals and professors, Druids 
and bards in their distinctive robes, and representatives 
of Welsh music, art, and literature. Home and 
foreign museums were represented by Sir Cecil Har- 
court Smith, of the Victoria and Albert Museum; 
Mr. C. E. Fagan, of the British Museum (Natural 
History); Dr. F. A. Lucas, of the American Museum 
of Natural History; Dr. C. William Beebe, of the 
New Yorlx Zoological Gardens; Mr. Kermode, of the 
Museum of Victoria, British Columbia, and many 
others. 
The loyal address which was presented to his 
Majesty made grateful mention of the fact that the 
King had deposited in the museum the unique silver- 
gilt chalice and paten, of thirteenth-century work- 
manship, which were found at Dolgelly some twenty 
may be roughly described as having the form of a rect- 
angle 440 ft. long by 250 ft. wide, enclosing a quad- 
rangle 307 ft. by 134 ft. in the centre. The entrance is 
in the middle of one of the shorter sides, and faces south 
and somewhat east; it leads into an octagonal court 
under a dome nearly too ft. high. From this dome 
galleries branch out east and west, and occupy the 
whole of the southern block; from the eastern gallery 
opens the refreshment-room, from the western the 
children’s room. The north side on the first floor is 
occupied by the sculpture and picture galleries, both 
lighted from above. The two long sides are separated 
by a longitudinal partition wall into two portions 
corresponding to the division of the contents of the 
museum into two parts—the exhibition collections and 
the reserve or study collections. The exhibition gal- 
leries look out upon the central quadrangle, and con- 
sist of only two storeys. This arrangement enables 
the show galleries to be made of an adequate height, 
18 ft. on the ground floor and 20 ft. on the first floor 
measured to the cornice of the room. The outer por- 
tion, containing the study collections, had to be kept 
down to a lower level to correspond with the height 
of the adjacent City Hall. It consists, however, of 
-— 
Fuji. 1.—National Museum of Wales. 
years ago. This reference was taken up by the King 
in his reply in the following passage :—‘‘ The collec- 
tions in the museum will serve as a record of develop- 
ments in every branch of intellectual and industrial 
activity, and will illustrate the practical aspects of 
Welsh life. I am glad to have been able to commit 
to the charge of the museum the Dolgelly chalice and 
paten. I hope that the treasures which are to be 
stored here will be constantly enriched, and that many 
others will emulate the generosity and public spirit 
of the donor of the Caergwrle cup.’’ This last is a 
valuable Celtic relic of wood, oval in form, and inlaid 
on the exterior with thin gold in various devices; 
it has been handed by the owner, Sir Foster Cunliffe, 
Bart., of Acton Park, Wrexham, to the Ancient 
Monuments Commission, with a view to its transfer- 
ence to the National Museum of Wales. 
Before leaving the museum site to visit the adjacent 
University College of South Wales and Monmouth- 
shire, their Majesties inspected with great interest a 
model of the museum buildings on a scale of a 
quarter of an inch to one foot, made by Mr. J. Lam- 
bert, which had been erected in the reception pavilion. 
The museum building (Fig. 1), which has been de- 
signed by Messrs. Smith and Brewer, of Gray’s Inn, 
NO. 2227, VOL. 89| 
Perspective view from the south-west. 
| three storeys, and their contents will correspond as 
nearly as may be with those of the show galleries 
adjoining them. Doors, placed at certain intervals, 
admit of easy passage from the show collections to 
the study collections and vice versd. 
Within the quadrangle are two low buildings; the 
| southerly one is to be devoted to an exhibition of 
Welsh natural history; the more northerly to Welsh 
| history. In each will be a central space, and around 
it a series of alcoves, lighted from above. Each of 
these will have a suitable painted background, repre- 
| senting a scene in some part of Wales—moorland, 
forest, woodland, meadow, marsh, and shore—whilst 
in the foreground will be the plants and animals 
characteristic of such a locality. In the historic 
pavilion groups illustrating different periods of Welsh 
history will be installed. 
The administrative rooms are placed in the south 
block on the second floor, and consist of a council- 
room, library, and the director’s offices; they are 
approached by passenger lifts. On the east side is 
placed the lecture theatre, with two entrances, two 
extra exits, and two pass-ways from the museum 
galleries; it has also its own cloak-rooms, &c. A 
service court, for the unloading of goods, with a cart- 
