Another chapter as Institute toasts a century of social life
The iconic Oakdale Workmen’s Institute celebrates its 100th birthday this year. Here, Tom Houghton looks back at the history of the building constructed in 1917 to serve as a focus for social, educational and cultural life within a newly established coal
ALMOST exactly 101 years ago today, on July 3, 1916, the work of building Oakdale Workmen’s Institute began when a ceremony was held to lay the first foundation stones.
It was built with funds raised mainly by workers to serve as a focal point for all aspects of life for the newly established coal-mining community built around Oakdale Colliery. Opened in 1910, the colliery was a subsidiary of the Tredegar Iron Company, which at its peak in 1938 employed more than 2,000.
Most of the homes in the village were built in 1913 – all for workers at the colliery. It was constructed as a garden village, part of the Edwardian Garden City movement in Britain, with this village set in a horseshoe shape.
The majority of homes had front and back gardens, hot and cold running water, electric lights and bathrooms – quite unlike many other valley towns and villages at the time.
During the 1916 ceremony to lay the stones, two foundation stones were laid, one on either side of the main entrance door. The stone on the left was laid by Harry Blount on behalf of Oakdale Colliery’s workmen, and the stone on the right by Alfred S Tallis, representing Tredegar Iron Company, the colliery’s owners.
Mr Blount was one of the original members of the Oakdale Workmen’s Institute Committee, formed in 1913.
Their meeting-place in the early years was in the Huts – old barracks which once accommodated workers of the Oakdale Colliery shafts.
In the committee minutes, it notes that on January 6, 1914, Mr Blount proposed they should “proceed with the new institute at once”. At the same meeting Arthur Webb was appointed as architect and within a month his sketch plan had been accepted.
Mr Tallis, managing director of Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, was involved with the Institute from the start, with the promise of a financial loan for building work. He was also the main promoter of the idea of a model village at Oakdale for the company’s workforce, with modern housing built in a rural area, away from the colliery. The work of building the new village began in 1909 and the first street, Syr Dafydd Avenue, was completed in 1913 and designed by Mr Webb, Tallis’ brother-in-law.
The minutes briefly mention arrangements for the opening ceremony, held on July 3, 1916: there was to be a cold lunch at the Oakdale Hotel with the full committee attending, and the Oakdale Colliery Band were to play around the village half an hour before to advertise the event.
The ceremony itself was at 5pm and Sir Charles Edwards MP was asked to attend and to speak.
Once open, the building soon became a focal point of the community, containing a library, a billiards room and a meeting hall.
The major issue at the time was, like in most parts of the UK, food rationing, which became increasingly common as shortages worsened and German submarines targeted British merchant vessels.
Being a port city, Cardiff, and the rest of south Wales also faced the problem of caring for wounded soldiers as casualties arrived in huge numbers.
Those serious issues meant focal points like the Institute became increasingly important for community togetherness and morale.
In terms of events at the Institute before, during and after the First World War, some of the major happenings have been recorded by principal curator Mared Wyn McAleavey:
March 1916: The acceptance of Mr Richard Jones’ tender for building the New Institute for £4,853, As well as that, the path light and bookcases are completed, and enquiries made for a second billiards table. £10 spent on books for circulating library.
April 1916: Mr Rake is asked his advice on the fixing of blinds to meet the black-out regulations of First World War.
May 1916: The decision is made to have two commemoration stones for the New Institute – one to represent the company, the other the workmen.
March 1917: The Institute is getting ready for completion, and a request to Mr Miles, of Bristol, to find out how many chairs will be available by April.
February 1918: An application to use the committee room to distribute council potatoes (as part of government-sponsored allotments during the war) is refused. A decision is made to hold the Second Annual Eisteddfod with Mr R Riley as secretary.
April 1918: A proposal to stop dancing is defeated, with the final decision to be made at a Special General Meeting before next dancing season.
May 1918: A decision is made to close the refreshment room until after the war.
January 1919: An application is granted for the use of the Hall for a Victory Ball following the success of the Allies.
March 1919: A statement from Mr S Davies, the company’s accountant, shows the Institute owes £395 17s 4d, with interest due on March 31.
An extension was built in 1927, and films began to be shown there. But the cinema ceased to function in the 1970s, and the building closed in 1987.
It was then taken down in 1987, two years before Oakdale Colliery closed. The two foundation stones can still be seen either side of the Institute’s main door, now at St Fagans National Museum of History, where it re-opened in 1995.
It’s visited by around 500,000 people each year, also functioning as a wedding venue.
For information about its centenary celebrations, visit: www.facebook.com/Oakdale100.