Tredegar Workmen's Hall was opened in 1861 as the Tredegar Temperance Hall. Intended as a building of 'entertainment, instruction and the propagation of temperance', the Hall provided a public meeting space and had been constructed at a cost of around £2,500. Some £1,500 was met by the workmen of Tredegar themselves. The Hall was taken over by a committee of workmen in 1890 and in 1911 the Tredegar Workmen's Institute was formed. Purchasing the building for £2,000 in 1911 and acquiring the freehold in 1916, the Institute became one of the leading workmen's institutions in South Wales. An extension was constructed in 1931 bringing the capacity of the billiards hall to seven tables and in 1936 internal reorgansation of the layout gave priority to the cinema (capacity 800) with a further extension providing sufficient space for the vast library and reading room. The Institute closed in 1982 and was finally demolished in the 1990s.

Daryl Leeworthy, RCAHMW, 26 September 2011.