Caerau () is a

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

in the west of

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 ...

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

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 ...

. Often considered part of Wenvoe by gully, Heol Trelai is the main road or avenue, lined with large trees. Dominated mostly by private housing, it has the Western Leisure Centre,

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...

s, schools and churches.

History

Caerau, named after the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

word for 'Forts', sits at the base of a hill slope on the edge of Cardiff. In 2012, Caerau Hillfort underwent a dig by archaeological television programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4, Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television produce ...

''. The research showed that the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

site consists of a substantial hilltop surrounded by multi-vallate earthworks (rings of banks and ditches) that have been cut through at the southeastern extent by a major road. It also uncovered that Caerau was likely a tribal capital for the Silures, who were powerful local people who strongly resisted Roman incursions into their land. The dig unearthed pottery and armoury that dated back to 1,000 B.C. In 1894, a Roman villa was discovered on the Racecourse and excavations were carried out in 1922. The results showed several outbuildings and bathing facilities used to exist there. The former village of Caerau officially became part of Cardiff in 1922. Many homes and schools were built on the old Ely Racecourse, although enough of it was preserved to become Trelai Park. The historic

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

is now in an advanced state of ruin.

Amenities

Caerau features numerous shopping parades. Two large supermarkets (

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

and

Farmfoods Farmfoods Limited is a Scottish frozen food and grocery supermarket chain based in Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is owned by Eric Herd, and has over three hundred shops in the United Kingdom, of which more than a hundred are in Scotland. Farmfood ...

) are located just off Cowbridge Road West on nearby Treseder Way. The area also has a large

Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...

store and a small Lloyds Pharmacy on Careau Lane. Other amenities include a laundrette, pet supply store and multiple newspaper and convenience stores. Caerau Rugby Football Club won the Mallet Cup in 2000 and 2007, and Caerau Football Club was formed in 1955.

Education

Primary Schools: * Millbank Primary School * Pencaerau Primary School * Trelai Primary School * Ysgol Gymraeg Nant Caerau Secondary Schools: * Cardiff West Community High School * Mary Immaculate High School

Transport

The district is on Cardiff Bus's

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

route, with high frequency electric buses operating on routes 17 ( Ely / Canton / Wood Street) and 18 (Canton/Wood Street) through Caerau and 13 (/Drope/Ely) also run along Cowbridge Road West (

A48 A48 may refer to: * A48 motorway (France), a road connecting the A43 and Grenoble * A48 road (Great Britain), a road connecting Gloucester, England and Carmarthen, Wales * Autovía A-48, a motorway under construction connecting Cadiz and Algecira ...

), along the very northern edge of Caerau, which is the main road for the area, linking it to Culverhouse Cross to the west and Ely, Canton and the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

to the east.

Politics

Caerau is both an

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 t ...

, and a

of the City of Cardiff. 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. ...

for the area. The

of Caerau falls within the

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Cardiff West. It is bounded by Ely to the northwest; Canton to the northeast; and the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( ), locally referred to as ''The Vale'', is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South East Wales, south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf t ...

to the south. Caerau has been represented by Labour councillors Peter Bradbury and Elaine Simmons since May 2012. Prior to this, the ward had been represented by Liberal Democrat councillors, including previous Lord Mayor Jacqui Gasson who'd served the ward for 24 years.Cardiff council elections: The story in each ward
, ''YourCardiff'' (Wales Online), 3 May 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.

Notable people

* Noel Sullivan, member of early 2000s pop group

Hear'Say Hear'Say were a British pop group. They were created through the ITV (TV network), ITV reality TV show ''Popstars (British TV series), Popstars'' in February 2001, the first UK series of the international ''Popstars'' Media franchise, franch ...

. *

Jason Mohammad Jason Mohammad (born 17 September 1973) is a Welsh radio and television presenter currently working for the BBC. He is the host of '' Final Score'' on BBC One on Saturday afternoons. Personal life Mohammad was born and brought up in Cardiff to ...

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

newsreader. * Nicky Piper, (born 5 May 1966)

Super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

and

light heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

boxer. His career was at its peak in the 1990s. *

Henry Morgan Sir Henry Morgan (; – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, plantation owner, and, later, the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and shipping ports o ...

, 16th century pirate * David Cotterill, Welsh Footballer. * Steve Robinson, World champion boxer

References

External links

www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Caerau and surrounding area
{{Authority control Communities in Cardiff