What to do and see
Entrance to Cardiff Castle, nicely framed by my umbrella! It rains a lot in Wales!
Wales is known for the large number of castles it contains in a fairly small area. About 100 still exist today, either as partial ruins or more solid constructions, Cardiff Castle fits in the solid construction category of castle. Up until 1947, it was a privately owned castle by the Marquess of Bute. With the death of the of the 4th Marquess, his heir (the fifth Marquess!) was left with enormous death duties and so donated the castle and the park around it to the city of Cardiff.
The castle is interesting as it really has three distinct parts to it for visitors. There's the old Norman keep in the central part of the castle ground, this looks like the storybook castle image and dates back to the 11th century. This was built on the grounds of a 3rd century Roman fort and the Roman wall has been reconstructed in the grounds.
The second part which would be considered the most spectacular would be the Victorian era Castle Apartments.
And finally in the 20th century, the castle walls were used as bomb shelters for the local people during World War II.
View as you enter the castle grounds.
Directly infront of you as you enter the castle grounds are a set of stocks, perfect for that 'I visited a castle' photo! Also a dragon in the background that reinforces it's Wales! Both very popular with the visitors that were there the same day as I was. The Norman keep is in the background.
A reconstructed catapult, that does get fired as a demonstration!
The clocktower at the Castle Apartments.
The Clock tower was the first part of the rebuilding of the Castle Apartments that the 3rd Marquess of Bute commissioned. He didn't like the apartments as they were and as he was incredibly wealthy due to his involvement in the coal trade, he had the money to indulge himself in a fabulous reconstruction and refurbishment of the apartments. Work on the clock tower began in 1868 for his bachelor pad, it had a bedroom, a servant's room and winter and summer smoking rooms.
The incredibly ornate fireplace in the winter smoking room in the tower.
Outside the smoking room is this image in the ceiling, to discourage any women from entering!
The roof terrace, a mediterranean oasis in Wales. (?!)
The castle apartments, the rooms are just sumptuous.
I took a guided tour of the castle apartments and it was well worth it for the interesting information and details they gave about the apartments. Certain rooms were quite stunning. The 3rd Marquess had four children and the nursery was as ornate as the rest of the apartments!
The upper walls of the nursery was decorated with images from various fairytales, it was fun trying to work out which ones they were.
The Invisible man (?) I've forgotten the exact name of this fairytale but look carefully and there's an image of a man between the trees.
We were helpfully informed that anyone can hire the banquet hall for a function, it was 750 pounds an hour. Nice place for a quick wedding reception?!
The castle has an interesting 20th century history in that its walls were used as a bomb shelter for people who lived nearby in World War II. There are actually 2 layers of walls and the space in between was used as a shelter. A wooden ramp was built from the street outside to the wall and an entrance was made in the outer wall so that people could access the shelter. (Once the war was over the 4th Marquess insisted that the wall be repaired and the ramp removed)
Reconstructed entrance to the shelter between the castle walls.
People would either sit on the benches or bring their own mattresses and bedding and try and sleep on the beds in the shelters.
There was also a cafeteria set up where people could buy cups of tea and whatever small items were available.
The day I visited the castle there was a school group of children aged about 8 or 9 who were dressed (or attempted to dress, there was a lot of pink!) in the style of a child from World War II, their teachers had them make a gas mask box that they hung around their necks. I thought how lucky those children were to have such an immersive experience when learning about life during World War II.
Cardiff Castle is well worth visiting on a trip to Wales, unfortunately with the current Covid-19 situation, the castle apartments, the shelters and the Norman Keep are not open. But on the plus side, the Castle Public Square is open and it's free, there are tables and chairs available and the cafe is open.
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