Transformed house to honour Bevan

Architect Sophie Teague holds an Aneurin Bevan statuette outside Bedwellty House

Plans have been unveiled to transform a former ironmaster's mansion in Blaenau Gwent into a centre honouring "local heroes" and its industrial past.

£5m is being spent upgrading the Grade-11 listed Bedwellty House and park and consultation has begun.

Architect Sophie Teague said it was hoped to celebrate its links with MP Aneurin Bevan, founder of the NHS, who had used the house when a councillor.

Blaenau Gwent Council said it was an important step forward for tourism.

The house at Tredegar was built in 1818 for Samuel Homfrey, the ironmaster at Tredegar Iron Company.

But was gifted to the town at the start of the 20th Century and has been used by the town council ever since.

Bevan, already a union activist and who worked intermittently as a miner, was elected as a member of the town council in 1922, a first step on the political ladder.

The regeneration the house and its 26-acre park is due to be completed by 2010, and funding has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other bodies.

Events are being arranged to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS

The aim is to make the house a key destination in the Heads of the Valleys area, which has recently received £12m from the assembly government to promote tourism.

South Wales architects Austin-Smith:Lord are creating the designs for Bedwellty House.

Ms Teague said; "We want to celebrate Aneurin Bevan and other Tredegar heroes like Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock, as well as the community of ordinary working people."

She said Bevan based some of his ideas for the National Health Service after World War II on the example of the cottage hospital in his home town.

The house will reflect Bevan's life and his political career which began there with the town council, she added.

Among the items on show would be the model of the life-size statue of Bevan in Cardiff's Queen Street.

More than £5m will be spent on improvements at Bedwellty House

"Aspects of his life will be interwoven into the house. There will be an audio visual experience as well as artefacts from Bevan's life.

"The aim will to be to show how great an orator he was and what an outstanding politician he became."

She said the regenerated Bedwellty House would, above all, reflect the life of the town, demonstrating the journey the area has made from traditional industries to the modern age.

Once finished it is expected the house will become a focal point for visitors and locals, said Ms Teague, and the plans include a coffee shop on the site of the former Orchid House nearby.

Project leader Dave Watkins from Blaenau Gwent Council said the house's regeneration was an important part of the plan to transform tourism across the Heads of the Valleys.

He said consultation is already underway and people living across Blaenau Gwent will be asked to participate in questionnaires about the development in May.