Cardiff
 Castles |
Although Cardiff's history reaches back some 2000 years, it is essentially a young city, only officially receiving the status of Welsh capital in 1955. Before the 19 th century Cardiff or Caerdydd was little more than a backwater village, but the opening of the docks in 1839, for the exportation of iron and coal, rapidly increased its prosperity, thereby providing the bedrock of wealth that transformed the city in the intervening years. Now the administrative and commercial heart of Wales, its broad streets, elegant buildings and abundance of parklands have transfigured the tired, decayed old town into a delightful cosmopolitan city of unexpected beauty, grace and style.
The Romans built a fort beside the River Taff in AD76 from which they were able to prosecute their invasion into South Wales and have control over the indigenous tribes of the hinterland. In about AD300 they extended its fortifications to counter Gaelic pirates raiding from across the Irish Sea.
The city's Welsh name of Caerdydd , meaning ‘city of Dydd' may well refer to a past Roman governor, Aulus Didius. Legend has it that Sir Lancelot sailed from Cardiff after King Arthur had banished him from his court. After the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the early 5 th century, the fort was almost certainly deserted for long periods until after the Norman invasion in the mid 11 th century. Then, William the Conqueror offered his victorious knights whatever land they could win in Wales if they would subdue the local tribes. A Norman lord, Robert Fitzhaman, led an expedition to conquer and settle in what is now Glamorgan. In 1093, he made his base on the site of the former Roman fort, constructing a timber fortification upon a huge moated hillock, part of which can still be seen in a corner of the present Cardiff Castle grounds. A medieval town gradually evolved round the fort, now boasting a 12 th century stone keep; it became sufficiently important by 1581 to warrant its first royal charter, presented by Elizabeth I. Unfortunately, during this period the town was the haunt of pirates, who were permitted to thrive by unscrupulous local officials. Their sorties against merchant shipping in the Bristol Channel proved both tiresome and disruptive to the English ports on the other side of the channel. In the 17 th century the town held out for Charles I, but was eventually overwhelmed by the Parliamentarians, and afterwards withdrew into itself, becoming a small, peaceful country community of farmers and fishermen.
At the dawn of the 19 th century Cardiff was little more than a rural township and could not be compared in importance to Merthyr Tydfil, 25 miles to the north and the largest town in Wales. However, it was Merthyr's role as the centre of the main iron and coal producing area in Britain that led indirectly to Cardiff's own future prosperity and expansion, when Merthyr grew big enough to require an export outlet Cardiff's destiny was sealed. The catalyst that sparked Cardiff into action was the Bute family, who had acquired much of the city through marriage in 1776. It was the energy and far-sightedness of the 2 nd Marquis of Bute that finally launched Cardiff into the industrial age, grasping the opportunity for creating a city based on entrepot trade, similar to Liverpool. Its prosperity began with the opening of Bute West Dock in 1839 and this, together with other newly opened docks, was soon linked by rail to pit heads and ironworks inland. The docks were rapidly built by bringing in labour from far and wide to undertake the construction work.
The quayside to the east of the River Taff swarmed with seamen from all parts of the world, drinking in taverns with exotic sounding names like The Bucket of Blood and The House of Blazes. This area of the city took the name Tiger Bay and was renowned as one of the toughest seaports in the world, with a high concentration of coloured immigrants, mostly from the Lascars in the early years. As a result, unlike the great industrial citadels of England's north country, Cardiff developed a far more cosmopolitan population long before most other cities, and despite Tiger Bay becoming a ghetto integration with the white population occurred without any great upheavals. Many of the overseas seamen married and settled in the area, as did the immigrants, often Irish Catholics, who came to build the docks and railways in the 19 th century.
The Butes themselves are a leading Catholic family, unusual in a country where the ruling classes tended to be Anglican. Scottish in origin, the Bute family came to Cardiff in the 17 th century, the 3 rd Marquis becoming a Catholic in the 19 th century. Signs of the Butes can be seen all over Cardiff to this day, especially in the docklands, which they virtually created and are now in the throes of a huge redevelopment programme. Apart from Bute Street, Bute Docks & Bute Park, the bland sounding Butetown is colourful Tiger Bay renamed and rebranded to suit its new image as a modern city suburb with an up-to-date waterfront. The transformation of old Tiger Bay is a reflection of the major multi-million pound development scheme taking place throughout Cardiff docklands, which is turning Cardiff into an exciting city for the 21 st century. This rejuvenated waterfront area will also provide a home for the spectacular new Welsh Assembly building. This is another factor in helping Cardiff to come of age as a real capital city, the opening of the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay, the centre of devolved power in the country. Although the Assembly's powers are fairly limited, it has successfully shifted the focus away from London on certain key Welsh issues, thereby greatly adding to Cardiff's sense of importance at home and abroad.
When in 1955 Queen Elizabeth II made Cardiff the official capital of Wales, she was honouring 150 years of growth and endeavour that had transformed a small rural township on the estuary of the River Taff into the elegant, modern heart of a country. Cardiff's spacious Civic Centre in Cathays Park is an architectural masterpiece - white stone buildings of classical design are set in wide, tree-lined avenues and green parklands. Built from 1897 onwards on land presented to the city by the Marquis of Bute, it contains some of Cardiff's most handsome buildings, including the City Hall, the stately Law Courts and the National Museum & Gallery. The overall effect of this collection of buildings is quite stunning and regarded as one of the world's most accomplished examples of civic architecture.
The Civic Centre's southern flank comprises the Law Courts, City Hall and the National Museum of Wales. The Law Courts, completed in 1906 have a recessed façade and an eight-column portico topped by two cupolas. More ornate is the City Hall, constructed in 1905 of Portland Stone in Renaissance style, it is dominated by its 194ft campanile-type clock tower and dome crowned by a fierce dragon, the emblem of Wales. The interior of the City Hall is noted for its spectacular Marble Hall, with its columns of Sienna marble, housing statues of such Welsh luminaries as Owain Glyndwr, the country's last national leader in 1400 and Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII of England. The Assembly Hall has an impressively decorated ceiling and contains many fine portraits.
Next door to City Hall is the National Museum & Gallery, covering a wide variety of themes - science, history, archaeology and art. Built in the same striking white Portland Stone as the rest of Cathays Park, the museum has an imposing pillored façade and 90ft high dome. Fifteen art galleries dominate the eastern side of the building, while the west is devoted to science and natural history. This latter wing comes to high-tech life in an ‘Evolution of Wales' exhibition employing interactive display units. Being a Welsh museum and gallery native artists are not surprisingly well represented, among them Richard Wilson and Augustus John. However, the jewel in the gallery is the hugely impressive collection of French Impressionists, the largest collection outside of France. Cezanne, Daumier, Manet, Millet, Monet, Marisit, Renoir, Pissaro and Van Gogh are all represented. The striking sculpture collection includes several Rodins, including a copy of The Kiss.
Close by the Civic Centre is Cardiff Castle, the centrepiece of the city, set in 400 acres of parkland. With Roman walls, a Norman keep and exuberant 19 th century state apartments, this unique three-in-one historic site began life as a Roman fort, evolved into a medieval castle and was transformed into a lavish mansion by the 3 rd Marquis of Bute in the 19 th century.
Originally a Roman fort built in AD76, it was one of a chain across South Wales, built on a strategic river site to hold in check the fiercely independent Welsh tribes such as the Silures. The Romans rebuilt the structure in the 3 rd century with walls 10ft thick to guard the harbour and coastal margins against marauding Irish pirates. A 270 feet portion of Roman wall remains in the castle grounds. The Normans rebuilt and enlarged the fort after decades of neglect, and a keep, which still dominates the grounds, was added in the 12 th century. After the Civil War, 1642-9, another long period of neglect set in, resulting in the castle suffering badly from decay. This slide into ruin was arrested in the 19 th century when the 3 rd Marquis of Bute appointed the imaginative William Burges to undertake a major restoration in 1865 - it was completed by 1872.
A Victorian architect who specialised in tiling, Burges created lavishly decorative interiors, employing Gothic, Arab and classical Greek styles. The Entrance Hall has a Welsh oak table and statues of English monarchs who have possessed the castle. An Arab Room, in mock-Moorish style, represents a harem and has a gilded ceiling and chimneypiece of white alabaster inset with lapis lazuli. The Banqueting Hall has a gold-embellished timber vaulted ceiling and murals, while The Chaucer Room depicts the Canterbury Tales on its stained-glass windows. Finally, the extraordinary Winter Smoking Room, located in the castle clock tower, contains walls shimmering with brilliant tiles and murals. The castle also houses the Welsh Regimental Museum and the Ist The Queen's Dragoon Guards Museum, while the castle grounds, known as Bute Park, now a public park, covers some 2700 acres and stretches for 2 miles
In the rejuvenated dockland area is the Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre, used to showcase developments on the waterfront employing high-tech displays. Here too, is the Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum housed in five former dock buildings. Inside are noisy working industrial engines, ancient trams, cars and steam trains. Techniquest is also located in Cardiff Bay, a fascinating hands-on science centre with a large selection of exhibits and activities, together with a planetarium. Cardiff city centre is enhanced by the wonderful church of St John the Baptist, dating from 1453 with a tower added in 1473. Its principal interest is an indirect connection - the tower was erected by Lady Ann Nevill, wife of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who became Richard III.
Located 6 miles north of Cardiff are the fairytale spires of Castell Coch or Red Castle, a rich mixture of Victorian Gothic fantasy, peering through the top of a wooded gorge. Built on the site of a 13 th century castle by the 3 rd Marquis of Bute and the eccentric architect William Burges, the Red Castle was created in the 19 th century in rose-coloured stone as a companion piece to Cardiff Castle. The attention to medieval-style details is impressive, while the interior is truly opulent.
St Fagans, lying four miles west of Cardiff, is home to the Welsh Folk Museum where old buildings from all over Wales have been brought and reassembled stone by stone. A 15 th century farmhouse and an 18 th century wool-mill are included; much else of the museum is devoted to folklore.