Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle hides a Roman fort, a Norman keep and a Victorian fairy-tale palace, all in the middle of a modern city centre.
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Quick Facts
- Location
- Castle Street, central Cardiff
- Roman origins
- First fort built around AD 55, rebuilt in stone in the later Roman period
- Norman motte and keep
- Motte raised around 1081; stone shell keep added in the 12th century
- Victorian makeover
- From the 1860s, led by architect William Burges for the 3rd Marquess of Bute
- Given to the city
- 1947, by the 5th Marquess of Bute
- Wartime role
- Tunnels in the walls sheltered around 1,800 people during the Second World War
- Famous features
- Norman keep, Clock Tower, Animal Wall, Arab Room
- Notable prisoner
- Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, held here until his death in 1134
A castle with a Roman fort buried inside it
Walk through the grounds and you are standing in a fort that predates the Normans by a thousand years. The Romans built their first timber fort here around AD 55, on a convenient spot beside the River Taff. It was rebuilt more than once, and in the later Roman period it got serious stone walls. Those walls were lost for centuries. When they were rediscovered in the late 19th century, the Bute family rebuilt sections on top of the surviving Roman foundations. The result is a Roman-style wall, with its distinctive banded stonework, that is part ancient and part Victorian reconstruction. Look for the change in the stone and you can see where the Romans stopped and the 19th century began.
The Norman mound that kept a king's son
After the Normans arrived, they raised a huge earth mound inside the old Roman enclosure, around 1081. A timber stronghold went on top, later replaced by the polygonal stone keep that still crowns the mound. The keep had one famous prisoner. Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy and eldest son of William the Conqueror, lost the struggle for the English crown to his younger brother Henry I. Henry locked him up, and Robert was held at Cardiff until he died in 1134. The castle was not always peaceful in later centuries either. Owain Glyndŵr's forces attacked Cardiff in 1404, and the town suffered badly in the rebellion.
The Marquess who built a fantasy
The castle's most startling chapters came in the 19th century. The 3rd Marquess of Bute, John Crichton-Stuart, had a fortune built on Cardiff's booming coal trade and docks. He was one of the wealthiest men in Britain, and he had a taste for medieval romance. He hired the architect William Burges, and the pair began remaking the castle from the 1860s. Burges did not tidy up the Middle Ages. He reinvented them, with towers, turrets, painted ceilings and carved beasts. The tall Clock Tower is the most obvious result. Inside, rooms such as the Arab Room, with its gilded ceiling, and the richly decorated banqueting hall show just how far the fantasy went. Burges died in 1881, but work carried on with his team.
Why there are animals on the wall
Along the castle's boundary runs the Animal Wall, one of Cardiff's best-loved sights. Stone beasts perch along the top, including a lion, a pelican and a bear. The original carving was by Thomas Nicholls, who worked with Burges. It is a Victorian joke, a bit of whimsy built to be enjoyed. Nothing about it is medieval, however much the castle around it might encourage you to think so. The wall is also a clue to the whole site. Burges and Bute wanted theatre as much as accuracy.
Shelter in the walls
The castle has a more sober side. During the Second World War, tunnels built into the thick castle walls served as air-raid shelters, protecting around 1,800 people in the city centre. That practical use of an ancient defensive structure feels fitting. A site first built to protect soldiers was still protecting civilians nearly two thousand years later.
What to look for when you visit
Start at the Norman keep and climb the mound for the view over the grounds and the city. Then look for the Roman wall and the point where Victorian rebuilding takes over. On the guided house tour, pay attention to the ceilings and the carved details. Burges's rooms reward looking up. The castle was given to the people of Cardiff in 1947 by the 5th Marquess of Bute. Today it sits beside Bute Park, so you can walk out of a Roman fort and straight into a riverside park.
Notable people
- William Burges
- John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
- Robert Curthose
- Owain Glyndŵr
- Thomas Nicholls
Test yourself
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