The restoration of Swtan was completed in September 1999. The surrounding land and site belongs to the National Trust. The rebuilding of the cottage was financed mainly by European funding through the Island agency Menter Môn. Trainees and craftsmen worked together under the supervision of the projects manager, Peter Muckle. The project was completed in 14 months. Most of the stone from the original building was still on site and merely required masons to reconstruct the walls. This they did using clay from a pit dug in the field. Lime and gravel with added straw and cement were also used as a binding. All other material, wood, thatch, windows and doors had to be acquired or made off site.

Once completed, the building was handed over to our local company Cyfeillion Swtan (Friends of Swtan). This company is a PLC of volinteer trustees which leases the cottage from the National Trust. The company runs the cottage as a Folk Museum and Heritage Centre and has been helped by donations of fixtures and farming equipment from local people.

The interior represents the period from 1900 – 1918. This has been done for four reasons:

1. Accurate surveys and records of social and working life in cottages such as this do not begin before the mid 19^th century.
2. The rate of social change in an isolated area such as this would be very slow and the way of life at the turn of the last century would differ little from the previous fifty years or so.
3. During this period (early 20^th century) a degree of improvement in living standards and in furniture and possessions make for a more interesting exhibition.
4. The cottage has been in the same family since 1851 and the present day members still recall accurately details of the cottage around this period. Mr Gwilym Jones, the last tenant until the roof collapsed in the early 1960’s, is currently a member of the Board of Trustees.

See more pictures in our RESTORATION GALLERY here...