Over a warm and sunny Easter weekend, I visited Cardiff Castle along with many others who were out and making the most of the sunshine. This was my first visit to Cardiff Castle, and there are a few things to see here: the old medieval castle tower, the state rooms, the wall walk, and the air raid shelter. More information about each is included below with photographs of my visit.
Before we actually get into the castle, look at that amazing view of the castle from outside the old walls. The wall itself is a tourist attraction in its own right. It is known as the Animal Wall as a different species of animal sculpture is perched on top of the wall. The wall was constructed in the late 1800s by William Burges for the owner of the castle (and other homes in the area), Marquees of Bute. Burges did not live to see the sculptures, but all of the ones placed were approved by Bute. The wall itself was moved after World War I as the street outside had become very busy.
The animals have inspired some artistic works too, so they are quite famous! Here are the list of animals: pelican, anteater, raccoons, leopard, beaver, vulture, hyena, wolf, baboons, sea lion, bear, lioness, lynx, and lions.
Before going through the castle gate, I had a quick wander into the park - Bute Park - next to the castle.
Inside the park and close to the river is Blackfriar's priory - or rather, the remains of it. There are markings on the ground and small walls that mark out the blueprint of this medieval friary. It is thought to date from the mid-1200s and was of Dominican order.
Now, to the castle. A red dragon greeted me with views over the gatehouse and medieval castle keep perched on a hill in the middle of the courtyard. I headed to the castle's modern rooms first.
There was a little bit of a queue to enter as it was so busy, but I got to check out some of the rooms in the castle. However, I would suggest to do the castle as part of the guided tour because you seem to see more of the rooms than self-guided. There's only a handful of rooms open to visit if you're self-guided. The first little room was off to the side, and I'd describe it as a little nook.
The house was built in the mid-1400s by Richard Beauchamp, and it was altered in following years before being rebuilt by Marquess of Bute. Most of the interiors seen date from the mid-1800s. Bute wanted the interiors to be decorated in the medieval style.
One of the most lavish rooms is the room inspired by Morocco. It's a beautiful room with high ceilings, gilded in gold, and with a beautiful glow.
The Great Hall was also a lavishly-decorated room.
The dining room is a more intimate room used by the family. It has biblical scenes.
After entering the dining room, the next room is the Drawing Room. It mainly consisted of paintings and furnishings, but these were removed with the castle was given to Cardiff. Now, the room looks bare. So, I headed to the library room next. It was another beautiful room.
After completing the castle tour, I decided to go to the keep next. This is up a very street flight of stairs, and you have to wait for anyone coming the opposite way (down the stairs) first as it can only accommodate one direction at a time. It was a bit of a wait.
Look how steep that is...
Climbing up, I managed to get some photographs. The keep is surrounded by a moat.
Once at the top and inside the keep, there was a set of stairs to look over the keep. The keep is the oldest part of the castle and dates to the 1000s; the timber structure was replaced with the stone keep you see today in the 1130s. The building was actually never completed, but it housed other buildings inside.
On a clear day, you can see for miles. I could see Castle Coch in the distance, although it was a little hazey.
Looking into the castle, the modern rooms are on the right.
I had a wander around the walls where the clocktower is located. The guided tours get to visit the beautiful clock tower, but self-guided tours are not allowed to enter. It was built in the late-1800s.
After visiting the part of the walls near the clock tower, I headed toward the other side of the grounds where there are more walls and the air raid shelters, which are known as the Castle Wall Shelters. They were used as bomb shelters for civilians to go for safety.
The start of these tunnels included some World War II items, such as bed frames and posters and a little shop. There was some commentary about them, which was mainly just audio of planes, falling bombs, and sirens. The tunnels go on for awhile, and it does get a bit boring when turning the corner with the end of the commentary.
Once outside, we were at the gatehouse behind the keep.
I did backtrack a little bit on the walls above where the shelters were because I wanted to check out the walls.
After walking the walls, that was the end of the tour!
Overall, it was a nice day out to see Cardiff Castle, though it would have been a nicer experience to visit when it was not as busy, and it would have been nice to see the other rooms of the castle that we missed.
Leave a comment