11 High Street, also known as Mrs Pratchett's sweet shop, is a two-storey residential building in
Llandaff
Llandaff (; ; 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 the Bisho ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. It was Catherine Morgan's Confectioner and Tobacconist shop in the early 20th century. It was converted into a
Chinese restaurant
A Chinese restaurant is a restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese style, due to the history of the Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, though other Chinese regional cuisine, regional cuisin ...
known as The Great Wall around 2009. It is currently in use as a self-catering
holiday let
A vacation rental is the renting out of a furnished apartment, house, or professionally managed resort-condominium complex on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. The term ''vacation rental'' is mainly used in the US. Othe ...
.
The building is not a
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
, unlike others in High Street, such as
St Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus.
The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...
,
St Cross,
6 High Street and
19 High Street.
The building is best known for where ''The Great Mouse Plot of 1924'' occurred,
where
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...
and four other school-boys played a prank on the sweet shop owner,
by putting a dead mouse in a
gobstopper
A gobstopper, also known as a jawbreaker in Canada and the United States, is a type of hard candy, boiled sweet. It is usually round, and usually ranges from across; though gobstoppers billed as having a diameter as large as have been marketed ...
jar. At the time of the prank the shop was owned by Catherine Morgan, although in his book ''
Boy: Tales of Childhood'' her
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
is Mrs Pratchett, and the shop was "Mrs Pratchett's sweet shop". The sweet shop inspired Dahl's stories such as ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The story was origina ...
'', ''
The Twits
''The Twits'' is a 1980 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was first published by Jonathan Cape. The story features The Twits (Mr. and Mrs. Twit), a spiteful, lazy, unkempt couple who continuously play nasty practical jokes on ...
'' and ''
Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Mathilda (gastropod), ''Mathilda'' (gastropod), a genus of gastropods in the family Mathildidae
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1 ...
''.
In September 2009, the building received a
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
, which was unveiled by Dahl's widow, Felicity, and his son Theo.
History
In the early 20th century, High Street was a dirt road, with dilapidated thatched cottages on one side of the street and hoardings on the other.
11 High Street is thought by
Airbnb
Airbnb, Inc. ( , an abbreviation of its original name, "Air Bed and Breakfast") is an American company operating an online marketplace for short-and-long-term homestays, experiences and services in various countries and regions. It acts as a ...
to have been built in the 19th century.
Around 1900, Catherine Morgan established a sweet shop on the ground floor, known as Catherine Morgan Confectioner and Tobacconist.
Morgan ran the shop for 37 years along with her two elderly
spinster
Spinster or old maid is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term origin ...
daughters Kate and Sarah.
In 1939 she died, aged 84, in the flat above the sweet shop, where she had lived for 64 years.
The old sweet shop is now better known as Mrs Pratchett's sweet shop.
The sweet shop is where the young Roald Dahl would buy
sweets
Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar can ...
on his way to and from
Llandaff Cathedral School where he attended from 1923 to 1925.
It provided Dahl with inspiration for some of his books including ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'', ''The Twits'' and ''Matilda''.
The owner of the building is now Mrs Han Lau, who had turned it into a
Chinese restaurant
A Chinese restaurant is a restaurant that serves Chinese cuisine. Most of them are in the Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese style, due to the history of the Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, though other Chinese regional cuisine, regional cuisin ...
called The Great Wall around 2009. Mrs Lau then converted it into a self-catering
holiday let
A vacation rental is the renting out of a furnished apartment, house, or professionally managed resort-condominium complex on a temporary basis to tourists as an alternative to a hotel. The term ''vacation rental'' is mainly used in the US. Othe ...
in 2017.
The Great Mouse Plot of 1924

Dahl would often visit the sweet shop at 11 High Street, where he would spend his
pocket money
''Pocket Money'' is a 1972 American buddy-comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, from a screenplay written by Terrence Malick and based on the 1970 novel ''Jim Kane'' by J. P. S. Brown. The film stars Paul Newman and Lee Marvin and takes ...
on
gobstopper
A gobstopper, also known as a jawbreaker in Canada and the United States, is a type of hard candy, boiled sweet. It is usually round, and usually ranges from across; though gobstoppers billed as having a diameter as large as have been marketed ...
s,
toffee
Toffee is an English confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses (creating inverted sugar) along with butter, and occasionally flour. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches the hard crack stage of . While being prepar ...
s and other sweets.
In his 1984 autobiography, ''
Boy: Tales of Childhood'', and his book ''The Great Mouse Plot'', Dahl describes the shop as "the very centre of our lives. To us, it was what a bar is to a drunk, or a church to a Bishop".
Dahl wrote in ''Boy: Tales of Childhood'' that the owner of the sweet shop was "a mean and loathsome old woman named Mrs Pratchett" (a pseudonym for Catherine Morgan).
Dahl wrote: "By far the most loathsome thing about Mrs Pratchett was the filth that clung around her. Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk."
As a seven-year-old,
Dahl, along with four other boys,
decided to put a dead mouse in a gobstopper jar to terrify "Mrs Pratchett".
The next morning the boys walked past the sweet shop only to find it closed, with the gobstopper jar smashed over the floor.
The prank worked, but she had her revenge when she told their school's headmaster of what they had done and they were swiftly
caned.
The incident is cited as an inspiration for Dahl's stories such as ''
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka.
The story was origina ...
'', ''
The Twits
''The Twits'' is a 1980 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. It was first published by Jonathan Cape. The story features The Twits (Mr. and Mrs. Twit), a spiteful, lazy, unkempt couple who continuously play nasty practical jokes on ...
'' and ''
Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Mathilda (gastropod), ''Mathilda'' (gastropod), a genus of gastropods in the family Mathildidae
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1 ...
''.
The Roald Dahl blue plaque

It had not been clear where 'Mrs Pratchett's sweet shop was located. The Llandaff Society had thought it could have been 11 High Street, 38 Bridge Street,
2 High Street, a site on Cardiff Road, 48 High Street, or the
HSBC bank HSBC Bank may refer to any one of the following principal local banks or divisions of the HSBC Group:
Asia-Pacific
* HSBC (Hong Kong)
** PayMe, its local payment service
* HSBC Bank (China)
* HSBC Bank Australia
* HSBC Bank India
* HSBC Bank Malays ...
on Cardiff Road where Dahl spent his pocket money on sweets.
It took a visit from
Lissy, Dahl's second wife, to determine the exact location of the sweet shop.
The blue plaque was the first publicly-viewable commemorative plaque to recognise Dahl's life in Llandaff.
The plaque was unveiled by Dahl's son Theo, on the afternoon of Wednesday 9 September 2009.
Children from local schools were also invited to the ceremony.
The sweet shop was located just a short distance from Llandaff Cathedral School, where Dahl attended between 1923 and 1925.
References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline
Roald Dahl
High Street, Llandaff
Blue plaques