City Hall ( cy, Neuadd y ddinas) is a
civic
Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things:
General
*Civics, the science of comparative government
*Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community
*Civic center, a comm ...
building in
Cathays Park
Cathays Park ( cy, Parc Cathays) or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It i ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the
Cathays Park
Cathays Park ( cy, Parc Cathays) or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It i ...
civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of
Portland stone, it is an important early example of the
Edwardian Baroque style. It is a Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
History
![Town Hall, Cardiff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Town_Hall%2C_Cardiff.jpeg)
The complex was commissioned to replace
Cardiff's fourth town hall on the western side of St Mary's Street which had been completed in 1853. Following a design competition, the firm of
Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards was selected to design Cardiff's fifth town hall and adjacent
law courts
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
in the
Edwardian Baroque style.
[ The contractor, E. Turner and Sons, used the world's first all-electrically operated building site, including eight 5-ton cranes to lift the stone blocks. The total building cost was £129,708 (with the concurrently-built Law Courts next door costing £96,583).] As Cardiff received its city charter in 1905 while construction was underway, the current building is known as City Hall. The new building was officially opened by Lord Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
on 29 October 1906.
Exterior architecture
Clock tower
The distinctive clock tower is in height and has a gilded dial on each of its four faces. The clock mechanism includes an hour bell and four quarter bells which are each inscribed with mottoes in English or Welsh.[Cardiff Council ''City Hall Cardiff: Visitor Information Guide'' Second edition, 2006]
Fountains and pool
In front of the entrance portico is a rectangular pool with fountains. The fountains were created to mark the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in July 1969.
Memorials
On the southern side of the building are two memorials: the memorial on the right is dedicated to victims of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
while the one on the left is dedicated to the Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
soldiers, airmen and sailors who gave their lives during that war.
Interior rooms, functions and art collections
Marble Hall
The first floor landing of City Hall is decorated with statues in Pentelicon marble of famous figures from Welsh history. These were funded by a gift from David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda; the personages to be commemorated were decided by a competition in the '' Western Mail''. The Marble Hall with completed statues was unveiled by David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
, then Secretary of State for War, on 27 October 1916.[, pp. 21–6]
The figures portrayed are as follows:
* Boudica (1st-century queen of the Iceni
The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...
) by James Havard Thomas
James Havard Thomas (22 December 1854 – 6 June 1921) was a Bristol-born sculptor active in London and Capri. He became the first Chair of Sculpture at the Slade School of Art in London. He was known for his painstakingly precise sculptures resu ...
* Saint David (6th-century patron saint of Wales) by Sir William Goscombe John
Sir William Goscombe John (21 February 1860 – 15 December 1952) was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms of ...
* Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubart ...
(king and codifier of Welsh law
Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 20 ...
, 10th century) by F. W. Pomeroy
* Gerald of Wales
Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...
(scholar and writer in the 12th and 13th centuries) by Henry Poole
* Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf (Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last ruling Prince of Wales) by Henry Albert Pegram
* Dafydd ap Gwilym
Dafydd ap Gwilym ( 1315/1320 – 1350/1370) is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages.
Life
R. Geraint Gruffydd suggests 1315- 1350 as the poet's dates; others place him a little ...
(Welsh poet of the 14th century) by W. W. Wagstaff
William Wheatley Wagstaff (; 1880-1962) was a British sculptor, who was active in China from 1920 to 1946.
Biography
Wagstaff was a student of the Royal Academy Schools from 30 July 1907 to July 1910.
He joined the firm of 'Arts and Crafts' in ...
* Owain Glyndŵr (Welsh patriot and warrior of the 14th and 15th centuries) by Alfred Turner
* Henry VII (founder of the Tudor dynasty, 15th and 16th centuries) by Ernest Gillick
Ernest George Gillick (19 November 1874 – 25 September 1951) was a British sculptor.
Life
Gillick was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on 19 November 1874, the son of a tailor. The family moved to Nottingham, where Gillick was apprenticed as a d ...
* Bishop William Morgan (translated the Bible into Welsh in the 16th century) by Thomas John Clapperton
* William Williams, Pantycelyn (revivalist and hymn writer, 18th century) by Leonard Stanford Merrifield
Leonard Stanford Merrifield (1880 – 25 April 1943) was a British sculptor, notable for the public monuments he created in Cornwall and in Northern Ireland.
Biography
Merrifield was born at Wyck Rissington in Gloucestershire and initially trai ...
* Sir Thomas Picton
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible t ...
(general at Waterloo, 18th and 19th centuries) by T. Mewburn Crook
In July 2020, Cardiff City Council voted to remove the marble statue of Sir Thomas Picton, on account of his links to slavery.
Assembly Room
This room has hosted royalty, international statesmen and diplomats, and can seat 500 diners simultaneously. It is used for miscellaneous ceremonies, conferences and events during the year. It is decorated with mouldings picked out in gold leaf, of mermaids and other sea creatures. Three large bronze chandeliers are contemporary to the original architects' design.
Council Chamber
This is located above the main entrance portico and directly below the main dome of the building. Hanging from the dome is a bronze chandelier designed by Edwin Alfred Rickards. The arrangement is unusual in that the seating is set in a circular pattern whereas normally British council chambers have semicircular seating. The chamber was designed to host Cardiff's Council meetings (which have subsequently been relocated to Atlantic Wharf). The dome of City Hall is supported by four massive pillars of Italian marble with bronze Ionic capitals. The chamber is paneled throughout in oak. The plaster work is by G.P. Bankart and the stained glass window depicts a personification of the City of Cardiff, by Alfred Garth Jones
Alfred Garth Jones (1872–1955) was an English artist and illustrator who worked mainly in woodcut, pen and ink line art drawing and watercolour.
Early life
Alfred Jones was born in Hulme, Manchester in 1872, the son of Thomas Jones (b1844) ...
dated 1905.
In popular culture
The cover of the Catatonia
Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...
single " Mulder and Scully" has a UFO above the building similar to the movie poster for '' Independence Day''.
See also
*Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff
There are around 1,000 listed buildings in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. A listed building is one considered to be of special architectural, historical or cultural significance, which is protected from being demolished, extended or alter ...
*List of tallest buildings in Cardiff
This is a list of the tallest buildings in Cardiff that are in height and above in the capital of Wales. They include buildings ranging from the ornate civic centre to the historic Cardiff Castle and Llandaff Cathedral.
The city's growth is ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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The history of the Marble Hall
{{Authority control
Politics of Cardiff
Landmarks in Cardiff
Cathays Park
Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff
Grade I listed government buildings
Cardiff City Hall
City Hall ( cy, Neuadd y ddinas) is a civic building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the Cathays Park civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of ...
Government buildings completed in 1906
Edwardian architecture
Government buildings with domes
1906 establishments in Wales