Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

to the north-east of the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, capital of

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 ...

. There is no

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. I ...

for the area which is mostly covered by the

Plasnewydd Plasnewydd (meaning ''New Manor'' or ''New Place'' in English) is an electoral ward (and formerly the name of a community) of Cardiff, Wales. It falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff Central. It is bounded by the electoral wa ...

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

, and stretches from Adamsdown in the south to Roath Park in the north.

Description

Albany Road post office - 1974950 - geograph

Its main shopping streets are Albany Road, City Road, and Wellfield Road. The area is characterised by its several tree-lined avenues and

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

terraced streets. Roath houses a very diverse population including a large number of students, being very close to the main university campuses, a large ethnic minority population and many young professionals. Parts of Roath are among the most affluent districts of Cardiff, although subdivision of the large Victorian properties is starting to occur in the areas at the south end of the district. Its close proximity to the city centre, its number of local amenities, churches, shops and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s and

public house 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 wa ...

s and the famous Roath Park make it a popular area to live.

History

''Y Rhath'' (Rahat, Raath 13th c.) is likely a development of the

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

word for ramparts, cognate with the Irish word '' ráth'' (earthwork, fortification), the latinised form of this word (''Ratae'') appears elsewhere in Roman Britain (such as Ratae Corieltauvorum). This may suggest a pre-existing

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

settlement, likely on the site of the old manor house which was surrounded by earthworks and a ditch for centuries. Alternatively, it could derive from the name given to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

settlement in Cardiff, ''Ratostabius''. Roath Court is a nineteenth-century villa on the site of the medieval manor house of Roath. Since 1952 it has been a funeral home. Its Georgian portico, designed by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

in 1766 for

Bowood House Bowood is a Grade I listed Georgian country house in Wiltshire, England, that has been owned for more than 250 years by the Fitzmaurice family. The house, with interiors by Robert Adam, stands in extensive grounds which include a garden designe ...

, Wiltshire, was moved there in 1956. St Margaret's Church, Roath

Roath contains the Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch, built in 1870 on the site of an earlier Norman chapel and the new

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church. Designed by

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...

architect

John Prichard John Prichard (6 May 1817 – 13 October 1886) was a Welsh architect in the neo-Gothic style. As diocesan architect of Llandaff, he was involved in the building or restoration of many churches in south Wales. Personal history John Prichard wa ...

on a Greek Cross plan, the latter was financed totally by the third Marquess of Bute, in spite of his conversion to Catholicism in 1868. Inside is an opulent mausoleum housing tombs of nine members of the Bute family, including the first marquess and his two wives. The tower of St Margaret's was finally completed in 1926. Roath once had a railway station on the South Wales Main Line, but this closed in 1917. Prior to the 2010s the community was known as

, though was renamed as Roath, being a name that was more widely recognised.

Notable buildings and amenities

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, Engineering Building *

Roath Library Roath Library is a Grade II listed building on Newport Road, Cardiff, on the border of the Roath and Adamsdown Adamsdown ( cy, Waunadda or ) is an inner city area and community in the south of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Adamsdown i ...

* St Margaret's Church (and the Bute Mausoleum) *Mackintosh Sports Institute (formerly Plasnewydd) * The Mansion House, Richmond Road, used as the mayor's residence for much of the 20th century. * The Gate Arts Centre, Keppoch Street *James Summers Funeral Home, Roath Court * Shah Jalal Mosque, Crwys Road (formerly Capel Crwys) * Trinity Methodist Church *Albany Primary School *Roath Park Primary * St. Martin's Church, Albany Road *Hodges' Residence and the Dewmisters Crib * St. Edward's Church, Blenheim Road * Roath Park * St. Peters RFC * Plasnewydd Community Hall * Saint Peter's RC Primary School

Festivals and events

Since 2009 the annual Made in Roath arts festival has taken place in October. The event showcases art, music, performance and literature in a variety of venues including peoples' homes. Between 2013 and 2016, local organisers Wayne Courtney and

Nathan Wyburn Nathan Wyburn (born 24 October 1989)Griffiths, Niall"First Person: Ebbw Vale artist Nathan Wyburn" ''South Wales Argus'', 10 August 2016. Retrieved on 25 January 2020. is a Welsh variety act artist and media personality who has created celebrity ...

have hosted the 'Roath Bake Off' festival in St Andrews United Reformed Church, Roath. In December 2018, the duo announced that the event would be revived for 2019 as part of the campaign to raise funds for the church it is held in.

Notable people

William Cope, 1st Baron Cope William Cope, 1st Baron Cope, (18 August 1870 – 15 July 1946), known as Sir William Cope, Bt, between 1928 and 1945, was a Welsh Conservative Party politician, who was also notable as an international rugby union player for Wales. He was M ...

, politician and international rugby player * Lionel Fanthorpe *

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

writer and poet *

Boyd Clack Boyd Daniel Clack (born 7 March 1951) is a Canadian-born Welsh writer, actor, and musician. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Welsh parents. At a young age, he emigrated with his family to Wales, where he grew up in Tonyrefa ...

Writer, actor and playwright *

Brian Hibbard Brian Hibbard (26 November 1946 – 17 June 2012) was a Welsh actor and singer from Ebbw Vale, Wales, best remembered as the lead vocalist in the original The Flying Pickets. Early life and career Hibbard was born into a working class family in ...

Musician * William Erbery (1604-1654), curate of St Woolos, Newport between 1630 and 1633 then Vicar of St Mary's Church in Cardiff before being forced to leave his post due to his Puritanism. He established the first nonconformist congregation in Cardiff *

Maureen Rees Maureen Rees (born 25 February 1942) is a British television personality from Cardiff, Wales, who was Britain's first reality-television star. She became prominent in the late 1990s after her appearances in two series of the BBC One docuserie ...

, British reality TV star (b. 1942) *

John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey, (26 October 1866 – 6 February 1948) was a British lawyer, judge, Labour politician and Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, famous for many of his judgments in the House of Lords. He gave his name to ...

– Labour politician and

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...

. Grew up in Castle Road (now City Road).

References

External links

RoathCardiff.net
Community news and information about Roath in Cardiff
Geograph.co.uk
photos of Roath and surrounding area
Roathcardiff.com
History and photos of Roath
Madeinroath.com
Arts festival and community project in Roath
roathlocalhistorysociety.org
Local history society focussing on the Ecclesiastical Parish of Roath {{coord, 51, 29, 28, N, 3, 09, 38, W, type:city(2000)_region:GB, display=title Communities in Cardiff Districts of Cardiff