Porthcawl Museum

This museum is located in the Old Police Station at the very heart of the community, a building that would have been used for over a hundred years as the centre of law and order here.The Porthcawl Museum and Historical Society was founded in October 1972. Over the years, through donations and loans, the Museum has amassed in excess of 8,000 items. These include: a documented history of the town and surrounding areas, a wide range of artifacts covering household items, commerce, education, politics, social history and entertainment. Other items include military history and memorabilia from the last century, ceramics, rare local documents, thousands of local photographs, and archaeological items including the Blundell Collection. ?The second largest costume collection of an Independent museum in Wales, is contained in the upstairs storerooms whilst special items from the Samtampa and Stalheim disasters and the Porthcawl Railway are a significant part of the collection.

Significantly, as established by Major Harry Judge, the Commanding Officer, before his death, Porthcawl Museum is the only museum that holds the memorabilia of the 49th Reconnaissance Regiment, formed in Porthcawl in 1942. Visitors from Utrecht visit every year to pay their respects to the regiment that helped liberate their town. It is the intention of the museum committee, to display all the items in May 2015, to mark the 70th Anniversary of V. E. Day.