Melville Centre forthe Arts

The Melville Centre for the Arts occupies the former grammar school on Pen-y-Pound in Abergavenny, a Grade II listed building dating from 1898. Run as a community interest company rather than by the council, it works as a live arts venue rather than a museum. At its centre is the Melville Theatre, a 70-seat black-box studio used for drama, music, comedy and film, alongside classrooms, meeting rooms and a licensed bar and cafe available for hire. The programme mixes touring performances with productions and classes from local groups, and the company offers reduced rates to registered charities using the space. As a going concern staging performance and community arts, it fills the gap between Abergavenny's larger commercial rooms and its village halls, giving smaller companies and workshops a permanent home in the town centre.