Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales.
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19 Facts About Cardiff Castle
2.
Cardiff Castle was repeatedly involved in the conflicts between the Anglo-Normans and the Welsh, being attacked several times in the 12th century, and stormed in 1404 during the revolt of Owain Glyndwr.
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3.
Cardiff Castle escaped potential destruction by Parliament after the war and was instead garrisoned, probably to protect against a possible Scottish invasion.
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4.
The Bute lands and commercial interests around Cardiff were sold off or nationalised until, by the time of the Second World War, little was left except the castle.
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5.
Future site of Cardiff Castle was first used by the Romans as a defensive location for many years.
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6.
Mills were essential to local communities during this period, and the castle mill was located outside the west side of the castle, fed by the River Taff; under local feudal law, the residents of Cardiff were required to use this mill to grind their own grain.
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7.
Anglo-Saxon peasants settled the region around Cardiff Castle, bringing with them English customs, although Welsh lords continued to rule the more remote districts almost independently until the 14th century.
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8.
Cardiff Castle built a new tower alongside the Black Tower in 1430, restoring the gateway, and extended the motte defences.
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9.
Cardiff Castle constructed a substantial new domestic range in the south-west of the site between 1425 and 1439, with a central octagonal tower 75-foot high, sporting defensive machicolations, and featuring four smaller polygonal turrets facing the inner bailey.
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10.
Cardiff Castle remained in the hands of Richard's son, Henry and Henry's daughter, Anne until 1449.
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11.
Cardiff Castle was then owned by Philip Herbert, a moderate Parliamentarian, and the castle was initially held by a pro-Royalist garrison.
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12.
Cardiff Castle married twice, latterly to Thomas, Viscount Windsor, and on her death in 1733 the castle passed to their son, Herbert.
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13.
The governance of the then town of Cardiff was finally reformed by an Act of Parliament in 1835, introducing a town council and a mayor, severing the link with the castle constable.
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14.
Cardiff Castle was then less than a year old, and as he grew up he came to despise the existing castle, believing that it represented a mediocre, half-hearted example of the Gothic style.
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15.
Cardiff Castle had grown hugely in the previous century, its population increasing from 1,870 in 1800 to around 250,000 in 1900, but the coal trade began to diminish after 1918 and industry suffered during the depression of the 1920s.
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16.
John only inherited a part of the Butes' Glamorgan estates, and in the first decades of the 20th century he sold off much of the remaining assets around Cardiff Castle, including the coal mines, docks and railway companies, with the bulk of the land interests being finally sold off or nationalised in 1938.
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17.
Cardiff Castle sold the very last of the Bute lands in Cardiff and gave the castle and the surrounding park to the city on behalf of the people of Cardiff; the family flag was taken down from the castle as part of the official hand-over ceremony.
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18.
Cardiff Castle is run as a tourist attraction, and is one of the most popular sites in the city.
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19.
Cardiff Castle has been used for a range of cultural and social events.
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