A PROJECT which allows people to read about the history of Wales on their smartphones has revealed that the Old Town Hall in Usk was home to anti-slavery campaigns in the 18th century.

HistoryPoints has teamed up with the National Library of Wales – which holds the document which recorded the anti-slavery meeting – to complete the project.

Scanning the QR code at the Old Town Hall in Twyn Square takes you to the HistoryPoints webpage which breaks down the long history of the building into a few key points.

“On 10 March 1792 residents of Monmouthshire attended meeting in the town hall on the abolition of the slave trade,” it reads.

“Attendees were: ‘Impress'd with a lively concern for the unparalleled Miseries of our Fellow Creatures, the Africans, and with a just Abhorrence of the Cause of their Miseries – The Slave Trade.’ The meeting resulted in an anti-slavery petition.

“Many other communities presented similar petitions to Parliament in the decades which followed, until Britain abolished slavery in 1833. A meeting in Usk in April 1833 resulted in another petition, which described slavery as ‘utterly repugnant’.”

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Rhodri Clark, editor of HistoryPoints – which since 2012 has rolled out 1,700 QR codes for buildings and monuments across Wales – explained: “It is an exciting thing to come across, and we were very pleased when we heard about the hall’s connection to anti-slavery campaigns.

“Slavery throughout history is very much on the agenda at the moment, and we’d like to think getting the word out about the code will put the town hall on the map a bit more.”

The Royal British Legion, which has occupied the Old Town Hall since 1930, is hoping to raise funds to repaint and maintain the historic building.

British Legion member and town councillor Glenn Roderick, pictured, said: “It’s not something I was aware of and it’s very interesting. I hope it brings more people to Usk.

“It’s an important discovery as we try to get more people to use the building and invest in it, which we’ve been trying to do now for some time.

“The building clearly has a rich history, and it’s important we maintain it for future generations.”

To read about the history of the building visit https://historypoints.org/index.php?page=old-town-hall-usk.