Images from the Peniarth 28, The Laws of Hywel Dda manuscript
“What if I had a ‘Bazooka’ rocket launcher to blow a hole in the wall, surely then I’d be able to get into the cell and steal it?” was one of the more adventurous ideas suggested as we tried to emphasize the measures involved in safeguarding the treasures held at The National Library of Wales. No matter how much you try to impress a young audience with the high levels of security employed at the Library, some are bound to take it as a challenge to test their imagination – and the children of Year 6 in Madras Primary School, Penley were no different.
The pupils were taking part in workshops held at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham, which were delivered by the Library’s Education Service in partnership with Wrexham Museum. During our fortnight there we welcomed over five hundred children to the workshops from primary schools in the surrounding area and Year 7 of Ysgol Morgan Llwyd, to study Wales during the Middle Ages and to take a closer look at life under the Laws of Hywel Dda.
The main attraction was a replica of Peniarth 28, the 13th century manuscript that contains the earliest surviving written version of the Laws of Hywel Dda, dating back to c.945, and it was whilst discussing the fact that the original is locked away in a strong cell deep inside the Library building, that the inquisitive comment mentioned above was made.
One of the main objectives of the Library’s outreach programme is to highlight materials in the national collection that relate directly to the area we are working in – to show that the Library is relevant to the whole of Wales. We also aim to increase awareness of the Library’s resources and the fact that you’ll discover much more than just books at The National Library of Wales. In Wrexham the materials we used in our activities included an 1873 O.S. map of Wrexham, photographs by Geoff Charles (born in Brymbo), Mark Hughes’s autobiography (born in Ruabon), portrait of Owain Glyndwr (strong links with the Wrexham area), extracts of the 1891 census for Wrexham Regis, and film footage of an international football match between Wales and Ireland held at the Racecourse ground in 1906.
Therefore, as well as learning about the Laws of Hywel Dda and the history of Wales in the Middle Ages, the children also learned about their area, its history and its people… and of course, the same applies to all parts of Wales. The information is all here under one roof at The National Library of Wales; it’s free and accessible to all – no payment or rocket launchers required.
The education workshops at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd are part of a wider outreach programme delivered by NLW in the Wrexham area in October and November.