page_title: Pierhead Building
section_title: Re-opening
hierarchical_section_title: Pierhead Building / Re-opening
caption_attribution_description: Pierhead re-opening in 2010, Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay, Wales.
context_page_description: The Pierhead Building is a Grade I listed building in Cardiff Bay, Wales. One of Cardiff's most familiar landmarks, it was built in 1897 as the headquarters for the Bute Dock Company.
  The Pierhead Building is part of the estate of Senedd Cymru, which also includes the Senedd building and Tŷ Hywel. The clock on the building is unofficially known as the "Baby Big Ben" or the "Big Ben of Wales".
context_section_description: The building was re-opened in May 2010 as "The Assembly at the Pierhead", a visitor and education centre for the National Assembly for Wales. The exhibition provided visitors with information on the Assembly. 
  On 1 March 2010 the building re-opened again to the public as a Welsh history museum and exhibition. It contains a number of films and exhibits exploring Welsh history as well as spaces for use as venues for public debate and Senedd-sponsored events, where people can express their views about what takes place in the nearby Senedd building itself. 
  Artefacts on display include the original binnacle (the stand housing the ship's compass) from Robert Falcon Scott's ship the Terra Nova, and the Pennal Letter sent by Owain Glyndŵr, Prince of Wales, to Charles VI of France in 1406. Another feature is an audio-visual display of Welsh heroes who have made significant contributions to Wales's cultural and political identity, such as the former prime minister David Lloyd George, the fashion designer Laura Ashley and the late rugby player and broadcaster Ray Gravell.
  Films and exhibits explore the history of Cardiff Bay from the Neolithic era onwards and show how iron ore and coal exports made Cardiff one of the busiest ports in the world. They describe the impact of the coming of railways from 1841, which meant that goods could be transported as far in an hour as they would have been in a month using the canal system. They also illustrate how, following the crisis of a steep drop in demand for coal in the 1920s, and its decline as a port for container ships from the 1950s, Cardiff Bay entered a difficult period, ending with its regeneration at the century's close.
caption: The 2010 re-opening of the Pierhead Building by Dafydd Elis-Thomas, then the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly
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