At a glance
Free museum and art gallery in central Bangor — Roman finds from Segontium, Welsh folk life, natural history, and changing contemporary art exhibitions. Five minutes' walk from Bangor Cathedral. Tue–Sat 10:30–16:30. LL57 1DT.
About Storiel — Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery
Storiel is the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery, housed in a Victorian building in central Bangor. Free to enter and operated by Gwynedd Council, it is the principal regional museum for north-west Wales — covering the archaeology of the area from the Bronze Age through the Roman occupation at Segontium and into the medieval period, alongside collections of natural history, Welsh folk life, and fine and applied art.
The Roman collections are among the museum's most significant holdings. Segontium — the Roman auxiliary fort at Caernarfon, garrisoned from around AD 77 to the late 4th century — was the westernmost permanent Roman garrison in Wales, charged with keeping watch over the Irish Sea coast. The museum holds finds from the fort that complement the dedicated Segontium museum in Caernarfon: coins, pottery, military metalwork, and everyday objects that give texture to the garrison's long occupation.
The folk life collection documents rural and coastal Gwynedd across several centuries — farming tools, fishing equipment, slate industry artefacts, and domestic objects describing a way of life shaped by the mountains, quarries, and sea. Alongside the permanent collections, Storiel runs a changing exhibition programme with a strong focus on contemporary Welsh art. The museum is a 5-minute walk from Bangor Cathedral, whose foundation in around AD 525 predates Canterbury by more than 70 years.
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Frequently asked questions
Storiel (Welsh for "story" with a gallery suffix) is the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery, a free regional museum and gallery operated by Gwynedd Council. It occupies a Victorian building in central Bangor and houses collections covering the archaeology, natural history, folk life, and art of north-west Wales. The name reflects the museum's storytelling approach — using objects to tell the stories of the people and landscapes of Gwynedd across time.
Storiel holds part of the archaeological collection from Segontium, the Roman auxiliary fort at Caernarfon. Finds from the fort — garrisoned from around AD 77 to the late 4th century — include coins, pottery, metalwork, and personal items that illuminate daily life in a Roman military garrison on the western frontier of the empire. The main Segontium museum is in Caernarfon, but Storiel's collection complements it with wider context on Roman Wales.
Storiel runs a changing programme of contemporary art exhibitions alongside its permanent collections, with a particular emphasis on Welsh artists and themes connected to north-west Wales. The gallery space is used for solo exhibitions, group shows, and community-led projects. Check gwynedd.gov.uk/storiel for current and upcoming exhibitions before visiting. Entry to most exhibitions is included in the free admission.
The folk life collection documents everyday life in rural and coastal Gwynedd from the 18th century onward — farming implements, fishing equipment, domestic objects, and items relating to the slate industry. The collection builds a picture of the material culture of a region shaped by sheep farming, herring fishing, and slate quarrying, giving context to the landscapes visitors see today.
Bangor is a compact city and Storiel is well placed for a short tour. Bangor Cathedral — one of the oldest cathedral foundations in Britain, dating to around AD 525 — is a 5-minute walk. The Victorian pier on the Menai Strait is 15 minutes on foot. Penrhyn Castle (a neo-Norman mansion open to visitors) is 3 miles east. Caernarfon Castle and the Segontium museum are 8 miles south, making a natural half-day extension.