Cardiff's City Hall stands in what has been acclaimed one of the finest civic centres in Europe.
The magnificent Edwardian City
Hall is the finest building of this superb ensemble, but is actually
the fifth to have served as the centre of local Government .
Little is known of Cardiff’s original 'Gild Hall', but the second
Town Hall stood in the middle of St Mary’s Street until it was
replaced on
the same site in the mid- eighteenth century .
The fourth Town Hall, on the western side of St Mary's Street, was
built in 1853 and remained in use until the present City Hall opened
in 1904.
The Civic buildings stand in Cathays Park, once the site of a short lived Georgian mansion (1812-25), built for the 1st Marquess of Bute. The Bute family sold the 59 acres to the town in 1898, for £159,000. Plans were drawn up for the new buildings, and the new Town Hall
The Civic buildings stand in Cathays Park, once the site of a short lived Georgian mansion (1812-25), built for the 1st Marquess of Bute. The Bute family sold the 59 acres to the town in 1898, for £159,000. Plans were drawn up for the new buildings, and the new Town Hall
(Cardiff was not yet a City) was to form its focal point.
The design is inspired by English and French Renaissance architecture, but has in addition all the presence and confidence of the Edwardian period, when Cardiff’s prosperity from the coal industry was at its height.
City Hall is dominated by the 194 foot high clock tower, and the dome is surmounted by a Welsh dragon, sculpted by HC Fehr.
The design is inspired by English and French Renaissance architecture, but has in addition all the presence and confidence of the Edwardian period, when Cardiff’s prosperity from the coal industry was at its height.
City Hall is dominated by the 194 foot high clock tower, and the dome is surmounted by a Welsh dragon, sculpted by HC Fehr.
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