Cardiff Castle
| Cardiff Castle | |
|---|---|
.jpg) The medieval motte and mansion of Cardiff Castle |
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| Alternative name (s): | Castell Caerdydd |
| Creation time : | 1081 |
| Castle type : | moth |
| Place: | Cardiff |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 28 '56 " N , 3 ° 10' 52" W |
Cardiff Castle ( Welsh : Castell Caerdydd ) is a medieval castle and Gothic Revival manor house in the style of Victorian architecture in Cardiff , Wales . The facility, classified as a Grade I cultural monument and protected as a Scheduled Monument , is located within the walls of a Roman fort east of the River Taff at the southeast corner of Bute Park in the center of the Welsh capital.
history
The castle offers a broad cross-section of Welsh military architectural history. The Normans built a moth over the remains of four superimposed forts from Roman times , which was later expanded into a stone castle. In the late Middle Ages, the castle was expanded into a homely property, which was further expanded in the 16th and 18th centuries. Finally, in the late 19th century, the property was converted into an exceptionally magnificent mansion in the historicism style.
The forts from Roman times
Between 55 and 66, at the same time as the legionary camp at Usk was built, a Roman fort was built on a ford across the River Taff. The camp was a rectangular earth and wood fortification that was much larger than the current castle. Presumably it served as a base during the campaigns against the Silurians and was abandoned between 80 and 90. Only a few years later, however, towards the end of the 1st century, a smaller warehouse with earth and wood fortifications was built. It was in the middle of the northern half of the first camp and was also only used for a short time. A third camp was established at the beginning of the 2nd century. It was largely built on the remains of the second camp, only the north side was offset to the south. This camp with its earth and wood fortifications probably existed until it was replaced by a new fort with stone fortifications in the 3rd century. This fourth fort was built around 276-285. It was south of the predecessor, but was still smaller than the first camp and was in use for about 100 years.
The Norman castle
In 1081 , William the Conqueror had a moth built with wooden fortifications within the walls of the former Roman camp that were probably still in existence . The original castle consisted of a wooden fortification on the motte and an outer bailey, for the fortification of which part of the still existing Roman fortifications was used. In the castle he also set up a royal mint , with the money of which the Welsh prince Rhys ap Tewdwr could pay his annual tribute of 40 pounds to him from 1081 . Like the Roman camps, the castle secured the ford over the River Taff and was easily accessible both by land and by sea. In the 1090s it served Robert Fitzhamon as the starting point for the conquest of the Welsh kingdom of Morgannwg and finally from 1093 as the center and administrative center of the new Norman rule of Glamorgan . From 1102 a borough was created south of the castle , from which the city of Cardiff developed. Robert Fitzhamon's son-in-law and heir Robert of Gloucester replaced the wooden moth tower with a stone shell keep in the first half of the 12th century . From 1126 until his death in 1134, Robert Curthose , the brother of King Henry I , was imprisoned in the castle. In 1158 the Welsh chief Ifor Bach invaded the castle unnoticed by the guards at night, kidnapped the son and successor of Robert of Gloucester, William FitzRobert , his wife and son, and only released them after making concessions to the Welsh people. On his return from Ireland, King Henry II stayed at the castle in 1172.
The medieval castle
After the death of William FitzRobert, a Welsh uprising broke out in Glamorgan that burned down the city of Cardiff and was not put down until July 1184. Cardiff therefore fell under royal administration and then by marriage to the king's son John, who later became King John Ohneland . After his death, Gilbert de Clare was able to enforce his inheritance claims in 1217. During the minority of his son and heir Richard , the castle was administered on behalf of the king by Peter de Rivallis , against whom Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke , rose in 1233 . Marshal, along with his Welsh allies, captured Cardiff Castle in October 1233 but was ultimately defeated in 1234. Gilbert de Clare , Richard's son and heir, had the fortifications of the keep expanded in the second half of the 13th century and built the Black Tower at the south entrance of the castle, plus a massive dividing wall between this tower and the keep, creating a spacious outer bailey originated. In the east, a large earth wall was raised over the Roman wall, creating another outer courtyard.
However, with the construction of its new Caerphilly Castle just 10 km to the north, Cardiff Castle lost its military importance. After the conquest of Wales, King Edward I stayed at the castle during his tour of Wales from December 15th to 16th, 1284. In February 1316, a royal army under the command of John Giffard rallied at the castle, which put down the Llywelyn Bren rebellion in March . In 1317 the castle fell as heir to Hugh le Despenser , the favorite of King Edward II. Against his increasing power, the Marcher Lords rose in May 1321 , their united, overpowering army conquered Cardiff Castle on May 9 during the so-called Despenser War . However, the rebellion failed in 1322 and Cardiff again fell to Despenser. Despenser and Edward II came to the castle on October 26, 1326 on their flight from Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella , where they tried to raise an army against their adversaries. On October 28, they fled to Caerphilly Castle and were finally captured on November 16. After a few changes of ownership, Cardiff Castle finally came back into the possession of Despenser's descendants. The last Baron Despenser, Thomas le Despenser , was executed for rebellion in 1400. After his death, his widow Constance of York gave birth to his daughter and heir, Isabel, in Cardiff Castle in July 1400 . Cardiff Castle remained in their possession until Constance's death in 1416. From August 1403 the castle was besieged by Owain Glyndŵr during the rebellion and was only liberated in October by a relief army under the Earl of Devon . In another attack, the rebels presumably captured the castle in 1404 and held it until 1406. With the second marriage of Constance's daughter Isabel in 1423, the castle fell to Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick , who had the Octagon Tower and a new comfortable residential building built on the west side of the castle between 1429 and 1439 . In the outer courtyard, the rectangular Shire Hall and residential houses for the knights of the castle garrison were built in the 15th century . In 1474 the castle was inherited by Richard of Gloucester, who later became King Richard III. From 1477 to 1485 his henchman James Tyrell , accused of murdering Richard's nephew in the Tower , was constable of the castle and sheriff of Glamorgan.
From the castle to the chateau
At the beginning of the 16th century, the castle fell to Charles Somerset , the later Earl of Worcester. In 1551 King Edward VI. the castle then to William Herbert , who was raised to Baron Herbert of Cardiff and shortly thereafter to Earl of Pembroke. Under his son Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , the western residential buildings were expanded and expanded, which the Herbert Tower still reminds of. The 4th Earl of Pembroke was a supporter of Parliament during the English Civil War , but at the beginning of the fighting the castle was occupied by royalist troops under Anthony Mansel in 1642 . King Charles I stayed at the castle twice in July and August 1645. On September 17, 1645, however, the royal castle commander Richard Bassett had to hand over the castle to the parliamentary troops. In February 1646 the castle was besieged by supporters of the king under Edward Carne . A small parliamentary fleet under Vice-Admiral John Crowther supplied the crew with supplies before a relief army under Major-General Rowland Laugharne forced the besiegers to surrender and ultimately defeated them decisively north of Cardiff. After that, the castle remained a base for parliamentary troops. After the end of the Civil War, unlike many other Welsh castles, it was not razed but was badly damaged by the fighting. The Herbert family had preferred Wilton House in Wiltshire as their place of residence since the late 16th century . Under the 7th Earl of Pembroke in 1679, the Catholic monks John Lloyd and Philip Evans were imprisoned in the Black Tower , who were eventually executed as treason.
Renovation and expansion in the late 18th century
By marriage in 1766 the castle fell to John Stuart , who later became the 1st Marquess of Bute. He began to renovate the castle, which had been neglected and partly dilapidated since the late 16th century. The gate tower of the keep, the dividing wall in the castle courtyard and part of the development in the castle courtyard were demolished, the entire castle courtyard was redesigned according to plans by Lancelot Brown , who also laid out the adjacent Bute Park . Based on designs by Henry Holland , the Marquess had the west wing redesigned and expanded with a southern extension in the neo-Gothic style. However, after the sudden death of his son in 1794, Stuart had the work stopped. His grandson and heir John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute , had the west wing completed by Robert Smirke by 1818, but did not undertake any further extensions. During the minority of the 4th Marquess of Bute, his mother Sophia Bute, the widow of the 3rd Marquess, often lived in the castle until her death in 1859.
The Victorian mansion
When John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute commissioned the architect William Burges to examine the condition of the castle, a close collaboration began between the client and the architect, in the course of which the residential buildings on the west side, the western ones, began Apartments that were converted into a neo-Gothic fairytale castle from 1873. The execution of the work was carried out by leading artists and artisans of the time. Burges had the residential buildings extensively redesigned. Holland's castle-like east facade was partially retained, but the interior was completely rebuilt. The late medieval towers were rebuilt and raised, and the building was extended to the south with an annex. When Burge died in 1881, the expansion was largely completed and was finally continued by Burge's assistant William Frame .
Further expansion and transition to the state
After masonry from Roman times that had been preserved under the medieval earth wall in the east was discovered in 1889, the remains of the Roman walls were uncovered between 1891 and 1923 and rebuilt. After the death of the 3rd Marquess in 1900, his son and heir, the 4th Marquess, continued the work. As the successor to William Frame, Henry Sesom-Hiley became the leading architect in 1905, before the south and west gates of the walls were built under John P. Grant from 1920 and 1921. Construction work was completed in 1927 with the construction of a new entrance hall to the Western Apartments. The manor house served as the residence of the Bute family until the 1930s. After the nationalization of coal mining, the 5th Marquess of Bute handed over the lavishly maintained castle to the city of Cardiff for the symbolic purchase price of £ 1 in 1947. The castle initially served as the National College of Music and Drama before it has been open to the public as a museum since 1974. In addition to the keep and the state rooms of the manor house, air raid shelters from the time of World War II and the Cardiff Castle Museum of the Welsh Soldier , a museum about the history of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards and the Royal Welsh, can also be visited. On September 4, 2014, during the NATO summit in Newport, the banquet with over 60 heads of state and government took place in the dining room of Cardiff Castle.
investment
Outer walls
Castle and chateau are located within the walled area of the fourth Roman fort. The current walls of the castle follow the walls of the fourth Roman fort, which encompass an area 185 by 200 m and 3.7 hectares. The Roman masonry is clearly visible, especially on the south side, and the north and east walls were restored from 1889. The residential buildings on the west side and the medieval curtain wall on the western half of the south side were built on the Roman foundations. The Roman wall was up to 3 m thick and up to 5.2 m high and was presumably protected by 18 five-sided towers protruding from the front of the wall, of which those on the west and north walls were restored. The north gate with two flanking towers was freely rebuilt in the 19th century based on Roman models.
The main entrance to the castle is the south gate framed by two towers, the western tower of which is the medieval Black Tower. It was restored in the 19th century. The southern wall adjacent to the tower was reconstructed from 1873 in the style of a medieval curtain wall with a wooden battlement with a slate roof and loopholes. Burges designed another part of the wall as an Animal Wall with numerous imaginative animal sculptures.
Norman moth
The Norman moth is located in the northwest quarter of the former Roman camp. It consists of a large, steep castle hill surrounded by a moat that was reconstructed in the 19th century. A bridge built around 1590 leads over the moat, and a stone staircase leads to the castle hill, bounded on both sides by the ruins of a mighty wall. The octagonal Shell Keep at the summit is made of smooth, light-colored masonry topped by a battlement. The projecting gate tower originally dates from the 14th century, after being destroyed it was rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century. In the Middle Ages, residential buildings were built on the inside of the walls, but almost no remains have survived.
Courtyard
The wide courtyard is divided into two irregular halves by a low, formerly mighty dividing wall. It used to be built on with numerous buildings, of which only the foundations have been preserved. Only small remains of the buildings of the Roman camps were found, they were probably mostly made of wood and half-timbered.
Western apartments
On the west side is the magnificent mansion, the oldest parts of which date from the 15th century and have been rebuilt and expanded several times. During the restoration and expansion in the 19th and 20th centuries, Burges and his successors took the medieval substance into account according to the standards of the time. Some of the remains of the medieval buildings were excavated and carefully restored, while the new buildings stand out clearly from the medieval structure.
The tallest of the five differently designed towers of the manor house is the 40 m high clock tower on the southwest corner, completed in 1875, which, however, has no historical predecessors. The other towers are the 15th century Beauchamp Tower with its elaborate roof construction as well as the Herbert, Guest and Bute Towers. While the southern part of the mansion dates from the second half of the 19th century, the northern part with its castle-like, but regular facade in neo-Gothic style dates from the late 18th century.
Interior decoration
Of the state rooms of the manor house, 17 rooms in different styles were designed by Burges. The decoration of the rooms with carvings, marble, wall paintings and furniture is extremely imaginative and elaborate in the style of historicism, including
- the Winter Smoking Room in the clock tower with a magnificent ribbed vault,
- the Summer Smoking Room with a painted dome,
- the large dining room with a wooden vault,
- the Arab Room used as a lounge in an oriental style with a gold-plated ceiling vault designed according to the Moorish model,
- the library with wooden shelves, but with marble shelves for better temperature control,
- the Chaucer Room with stained glass depicting the Canterbury Tales ,
- the Lord Bute's bedroom with its mirrored ceiling and elaborately paneled walls,
- on the top floor an atrium- like roof garden with painted walls and a fountain.
The castle as a film location
Cardiff Castle has been used as a filming location several times, including episodes of the Doctor Who , Sherlock , Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures series .
literature
- Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan , Vol. III - Part I: The early castles. RCAHMW, 1991, ISBN 978-0-11-300035-7 , pp. 162-208
- Elisabeth Whittle: Glamorgan and Gwent . HMSO, London 1992. ISBN 0-11-701221-1 , pp. 68-70 and 90-92
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ British Listed Buildings: Cardiff Castle, Cardiff. Retrieved August 26, 2014 .
- ^ Elisabeth Whittle: Glamorgan and Gwent . HMSO, London 1992. ISBN 0-11-701221-1 , p. 70
- ^ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan , Vol. III - Part I: The early castles. RCAHMW, 1991, ISBN 978-0-11-300035-7 , p. 164
- ^ Welsh Biography Online: Ifor Bach. Retrieved December 3, 2013 .
- ↑ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan: III - Part 1b: Medieval Secular Monuments, the Later Castles from 1217 to the present , Her Maj. Stat. Office, London 2000, ISBN 978-1-871184-22-8 , p. 8
- ↑ Cardiff Castle: Nato 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2017 .
- ^ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan , Vol. III - Part I: The early castles. RCAHMW, 1991, ISBN 978-0-11-300035-7 , p. 172
- ^ Cardiff Castle: Film Location Tours. Retrieved August 26, 2014 .