St Fagans: The painstaking job to restore the Vulcan Hotel a Cardiff landmark

One of Cardiff's oldest pubs is starting a new chapter of its history at St Fagans National Museum of History.

The Vulcan Hotel has been rebuilt brick-by-brick at the museum in an effort to save its heritage.

Scaffolding has now been removed from the structure and staff say they are set to begin restoring the interior of the building this year.

The pub which was originally situated on Adam Street in Cardiff, was built in 1853 to serve the Irish community of what was then called 'New Town.'

There were attempts to keep it open, but they proved unsuccessful.

However it was in 2012 that the building found itself a future when St Fagan's stepped in to dismantle it and restore it to its former glory at the museum.

That work did not begin until 2020 and full completion is expected by 2024, when it will be back open as a working pub for punters to visit.

When it is open, The Vulcan will look like it did in 1915, which was an important year for the pub.

At this time, it had just undergone a major refurbishment that saw its distinctive green and brown tiles added to the frontage, as well as a redesign of its interior.

During the Vulcan's long history, it saw major changes as Cardiff grew to become an industrial powerhouse and then the nation’s capital.

Previous owners of the pub include Vera and Bernard Joliffe and landlady Liz Smart. Liz left the Vulcan in 2010, after 18 years.

At the time, she was reported to say: "I believe the Vulcan, like Star Trek, will live on forever. Beam me up!"

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