page_title: Architecture of Cardiff
section_title: 19th-century architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Architecture of Cardiff / 19th-century architecture
caption_attribution_description: A view of the town hall at Cardiff with many figures in the foreground dressed in smart costumes.
context_page_description: Architecture in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, dates from Norman times to the present day. Its urban fabric is largely Victorian and later, reflecting Cardiff's rise to prosperity as a major coal port in the 19th century. No single building style is associated with Cardiff, but the city centre retains several 19th and early 20th century shopping arcades.
  The city is noted for its fantasy castles, Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, both by the Victorian architect William Burges. The well-preserved early 20th century Civic Centre, surrounding Cathays Park, was described as one of the best examples of civic planning in Britain.
  The city contains a number of notable modern buildings and engineering projects. These include the Millennium Stadium in the city centre and several examples in the major urban regeneration project of Cardiff Bay, for example the Wales Millennium Centre and the Senedd.
  The western suburb of St Fagans contains an open-air museum of Welsh vernacular architecture, the St Fagans National History Museum.
context_section_description: With the arrival of the railways and a rapidly expanding coal export industry, Cardiff changed beyond recognition during the mid nineteenth century. It became the largest town in Wales in 1875. From the 1840s new residential streets were built in Butetown and Temperance Town (completed 1864).
  Much of the land on which Cardiff was built was owned by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute. Much of Cardiff and many of its buildings were designed by the marquess's architect, Alexander Roos.
  New churches and chapels were created, including a new Romanesque St Mary's Church on Bute Street. Noted local architect John Prichard designed St Margaret's Church, Roath and St John's Church, Canton, also refurbishing Llandaff Cathedral. The (surviving) Tabernacl chapel in The Hayes is described as the "finest classical chapel of the period". Important architects from outside Wales arrived, designing St David's Roman Catholic church (1887) in Charles Street, amongst others.
  In 1853 a new "graceless but vigorous" colonnaded Town Hall and Corn Exchange (Cardiff's fourth town hall) replaced the old Guildhall in High Street. Horace Jones of London had been the winners of the design competition, controversially, because the cost limit was £8,000, while Jones scheme was estimated at £11,690. The building was extended in 1876 but was eventually replaced in the early 20th century.
  New shops, bank buildings and hotels appeared, including the Royal Hotel (1866), Great Western Hotel (1876) and Park Hotel (1885). Cardiff's "fascinating and delightful" Victorian shopping arcades were built: High Street Arcade (1885), Wyndham Arcade (1886), Castle Arcade (1887) and Morgan Arcade (1896).
  Important new public buildings were created, including the Central Library, Cardiff Royal Infirmary, St David's Hospital, the Theatre Royal (later renamed the Prince of Wales Theatre), Grand Theatre (Westgate Street) and the University College of South Wales.
  Impressive new buildings were constructed in Butetown to serve the dockland economy. These included the Coal Exchange (1883–86) in Mount Stuart Square and the imposing French-Gothic Pierhead Building (1896) at the docks entrance.
  Cardiff Castle was restored and redesigned between 1868 and 1890. The private apartments of the third Marquis of Bute in Cardiff Castle, commissioned from the architect William Burges, are an acknowledged masterpiece of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Burges's other buildings in Cardiff are Castell Coch, a 13th-century castle rebuilt (with some artistic licence) as a residence for Bute, and Park House which influenced domestic architecture in Cardiff and was a prototype for Burges's own house in London, The Tower House.
caption: Horace Jones's Town Hall on St Mary Street
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