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Destinations » Europe » United Kingdom » Dinas a Sir Caerdydd » Cardiff » City Guide: Historical Background

Cardiff, United Kingdom » Historical Background

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Taking its name from the river Taff on which it stands (Caer Taff means fortress on the Taff,) Cardiff is Europe's youngest capital city, only being officially recognised as the capital of Wales in 1955. But the history of the city goes back several thousand years. According to John Davies' A History of Wales, people were living in Wales over 250,000 years ago. Evidence of habitation can certainly be traced back to 600 BC, with the arrival of Celts from Europe, but it was the Romans who put Cardiff itself on the map by building a fort here in 75 AD. Remains of a Roman wall are still visible beneath Cardiff Castle. The first written mention of Cardiff dates back to 465 AD in the Annates Cambriae (The Welsh Annals). The first Viking attack on the Welsh coast is recorded in 850 AD and then the Normans took over in the 12th century, building Cardiff Castle on the same site. William the Conqueror himself visited Cardiff during 1081.

During the following centuries, Cardiff remained quite a small entity relying, like much of the rest of South Wales, on the coal and iron industries. But small by no means signified peaceful. There were frequent clashes with the English rulers as well as raids at the hands of the Saxons, Irish and Norse. In 1542 Thomas Capper was burned at the stake in the city for heresy, becoming the first Christian Welsh martyr. In the same year, the second Act of Union came into force, reorganising the structure of Wales, introducing a coherent justice system, but at the same time making English the official language of Wales and barring Welsh speakers from holding public office. This sowed the seeds of a conflict that has lasted until the present day.

Cardiff came briefly to the fore again when Welsh involvement in the English Civil War came to a head with the Battle of St Fagans on May 8, 1648. Occasional re-enactments are still held at the Museum of Welsh Life that now stands on the site. The city really came into its own, however, in the 19th century, with the construction of a canal, and the opening of the Taff Vale Railway in 1841. This linked Cardiff with Merthyr Tydfil—the largest iron producing area in the world—such that goods could be transported in less than an hour. This revolutionised the export of Welsh coal and catapulted Cardiff to the forefront of the industry. The opening of the East Dock in 1859 by the Marquess of Bute reflected Cardiff's flourishing trade status and population expansion.

The Bute family were prominent at this time. Among the wealthiest landowners in Britain, they owned estates in Scotland and Wales, along with Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch (built for the third Marquess of Bute, John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, as a summer residence in 1875 and never occupied), large parts of the city centre and most of Cardiff docks. Under the influence of this new wealth, Cardiff continued to grow in size until it was officially made a city in 1905 by Edward VII. By then, it was the world's major exporter of coal, shipping up to ten million tons in a year. Indeed, the world's first 1,000,000 pounds deal was struck in the Coal Exchange, now a concert venue in Cardiff Bay.

With the decline of the coal industry, the city became an administrative centre. The Bute family gifted their Cardiff holdings to the city council—with certain height restrictions placed on future building developments, which explains why the civic centre area of the city retains much of its old character. The 20th century saw the building of the City Hall, the National Museum of Wales and the Welsh Office, and then in 1955, it was made the official capital of Wales.

Despite the collapse of many of the industries upon which it has traditionally relied, the end of the 20th century proved to be an exciting period for Wales. In 1999, Cardiff became the home of the independent Welsh Assembly—a body with many powers, made up of Welsh people to govern Welsh people. The Welsh language is seeing a rise in popularity as it is given equal status alongside English. And the city continues to grow.

For more information on Cardiff, visit the National Museum for an exhibition on the history of Wales from the beginning of time to the present day. The Cardiff Bay Visitor Centre has a scale model of the redevelopment of the docks as well as lots of information about the area.

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