The museum is housed in a former chapel, on London Road, beside the A5, across to Corwen Manor (the old workhouse) and next door to the Nisa foodstore.
When the railway reached Corwen in 1865, it brought with it many workers from outside Wales, whose Christian faith was non-conformist. As there were no English language chapels in the town, they worshipped in temporary buildings until £800 could be raised to build this chapel in 1879. It is built from Ruabon brick, which also arrived by railway, (It was known locally as Capel Coch, “Red Chapel”, due to the colour of the bricks). The foundation stone was laid by Mr Thomas Barnes JP, Chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Barnes had been MP for Bolton and was a cotton manufacturer who lived at Weston Rhyn near Chirk.
In use for 85 years as a chapel, the building was rescued after closure and converted for community use in 1993, funded by the Welsh Office. Initially the building was a ‘tele-cottage’ used for internet access before this became widespread. It then had a number of uses before being taken on by the Edeyrnion Heritage and Cultural Society as a museum in 2015.
