LLANIDLOES museum is set to have fewer exhibits when it finally reopens – with a printing press, a safe and a mangle among items set to be culled from the collection under a Powys council plan.

An appraisal of stock at the museum, along with three other museums in the county, has found some items have an “uncertain provenance” while others are in a “poor condition”.

Llanidloes museum, housed in the Town Hall since 1995, has been closed since last year in a cost-cutting move, while work is undertaken to re-open it as part of a combined library and museum on the same site.

A report by Catherine Richards, the council’s principal lead for museums and archives, said that while there is “a strong presumption against the disposal of any artefacts”, “each museum may carry out a responsible, curatorial-motivated disposal as part of their long-term collections policy.”

“The museums accept that one of the key functions is to acquire artefacts and to keep them for posterity,” the report said.

“In recent years staff have followed a strict collecting policy, however, historically a number of items, often with uncertain provenance and sometimes in extremely poor condition have been taken into the collection.

“The main driver for the collection review was to reappraise items and to assess their suitability for long-term preservation. There are no financially motivated reasons for disposal of any items.”

The new combined museum and library is set to reopen on 6 March, Powys council said.

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