£149,700 lottery grant for project to turn Hedd Wyn's home into museum

Plans to develop the home of the iconic First World War Welsh poet, Hedd Wyn, have been given the go ahead.

Yr Ysgwrn, the Grade II listed farmhouse, will be developed into a museum and interpretation centre.

It comes after a £149,700 development grant was awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Hedd Wyn - born Ellis Humphrey Evans - was killed in action during the First World War and was posthumously awarded the 1917 National Eisteddfod Chair for his poem Yr Arwr (The Hero).

The development project will ensure the farmhouse is preserved, along with the farmland, writing collections and stories of Hedd Wyn.

The Snowdonia National Park Authority propose repairing and adapting the barn and pig sty near the farmhouse to create an exhibition room. It's hoped oral history projects, exhibitions, poetry and rural skills workshops can take place in this area.

"What we want is not just the history, but opportunities" says Jennifer Stewart, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Wales.

"Opportunities for young people to learn skills, so they'll get opportunities to learn about guiding and how to take care of collections, and how to make this available digitally."