Loudoun Square (2016) geograph-4833452-by-Alan-Hughes

Loudoun Square is a residential square in

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, described as "the heart of the old

Tiger Bay Tiger Bay ( cy, Bae Teigr) was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. Following the building of the Cardiff Barrage, which dams the tidal rivers, Ely and Taff, to create a body of water, it is re ...

". The square is the location of two of Cardiff's few residential

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

s, as well as shops, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, church, health centre and community centre.

History

During the 1840s the Marquess of Bute created the residential area of

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', cy, Tre-biwt) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose t ...

, to house workers for the new

Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks ( cy, Dociau Caerdydd) is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coal, the Port ...

. After his death (in 1848), and the death in 1852 of the owner of a glassworks on the site, land was acquired between West Bute Street (to the east) and the

Glamorganshire Canal The Glamorganshire Canal in South Wales, UK, was begun in 1790. It ran along the valley of the River Taff from Merthyr Tydfil to the sea at Cardiff. The final section of canal was closed in 1951. History Construction started in 1790; being ...

(to the west) to create a large square of three-storey decorative houses.Evans, Dosworth, Barnett, ''Below the Bridge'', p. 23 It was shown as "Luton Square" on an 1855 map. The square was a "jewell" in "perhaps the poshest place in town" surrounding a green, tranquil park with its houses home to shipwrights, mariners, merchants, brokers and builders. The area became highly multicultural, "one of the most colourful and cosmopolitan communities on Earth". By the 1880s the wealthier residents had moved away to the new suburbs. While the nearby

Mount Stuart Square Mount Stuart Square is a residential and commercial square in Cardiff, Wales. It is located in the Butetown area of the city. Originally developed in the late 1800s as a residential location for nearby dock workers, it quickly became a centre f ...

became the site for an impressive new

Coal Exchange The Coal Exchange (also known as the Exchange Building) is an historic building in Cardiff, Wales. It is designed in Renaissance Revival style. Built in 1888 as the Coal and Shipping Exchange to be used as a market floor and office building for ...

building, Loudoun Square became increasingly overcrowded as residents took in tenants to help pay the high rents.Evans, Dosworth, Barnett, ''Below the Bridge'', pp. 43-44 The Loudoun Square area became known as "

", and the racial composition became even more diverse with the arrival of seafarers on the ships in the period before the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

1960s redevelopment

By the late 1940s the houses in Butetown were in extremely poor repair and the area was seen by the city authorities as a physical ''and'' moral slum.Evans, Dosworth, Barnett, ''Below the Bridge'', pp. 54-55 It was decided to demolish the existing houses and replace them with modern residential

s. Loudoun Square was the first area to be tackled and the nineteenth century housing was cleared in 1960. Residents of the Square were moved to new housing or decanted to Cardiff's suburban

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

s. Between 1960 and 1966 two 16-storey tower blocks, Loudoun House and Nelson House, were built on the centre of Loudoun Square.

Recent events

A new foyer, "hotel-style" concierge reception and garden area was created by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

for Loudoun House and Nelson House in 2001, described by a resident as "similar to the St David's Hotel". In Summer 2010 work started to replace and improve the facilities in the square, with a £13 million revamp led by Cardiff Community Housing Association. The new facilities would include a new shopping centre, community hub and a health centre, together with 13 new houses and 48 apartments to a

BREEAM BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...

accredited eco-standard. In 2023, a new station on the South Wales Metro is planned to open in the area, serving 3 Light Rapid Transit lines to Treherbert, Aberdare, & Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff City Centre & Cardiff Bay (With plans to extend to the Senedd and Cardiff Parkway).

Sources

References

External links

Aerial photo showing Loudoun Square (1927) bottom right
Gathering the Jewells website {{coord, 51.4699, -3.1706, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Butetown Squares in Cardiff