Cardiff

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For other uses, see Cardiff (disambiguation).

City and County of Cardiff

Dinas a Sir Caerdydd

Clockwise from top: Cardiff Bay, the Senedd, Cardiff University and the Millennium Stadium

Nickname(s): City of Arcades[1]

Motto: Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn

(The red dragon will lead the way)

City and County of Cardiff

and (inset) within Wales

Coordinates: 51°29′07″N 3°11′12″WCoordinates: 51°29′07″N 3°11′12″W

Sovereign state         United Kingdom

Constituent country Wales

Region            South Wales

Ceremonial county   South Glamorgan

Historic county          Glamorgan

Government

 - Cardiff Council Leader       Rodney Berman

 - Welsh Assembly   

List[show]

 - UK Parliament       

List[show]

 - European Parliament        Wales

Area

 - City  2.6 sq mi (6.652 km2)

 - Urban          54.1 sq mi (140 km2)

Population (2001*; otherwise 2009 est.)

 - City  336,200

 - Density       11,375.2/sq mi (4,392/km2)

 - Urban          327,706*

841,500 (Larger Urban Zone)

 - Metro          1,445,500

Ethnicity[2]

 - White          91.57%

 - Mixed          1.99%

 - Asian           3.96%

 - Black            1.28%

 - Chinese/other       1.20%

Time zone      GMT (UTC0)

 - Summer (DST)        BST (UTC+1)

Post codes     CF3, CF5, CF10, CF11, CF14, CF15, CF23, CF24

Area code(s)  029

Vehicle area codes   CA, CB, CC, CD, CE, CF, CG, CH, CJ, CK, CL, CM, CN, CO

Police Force   South Wales Police

Fire Service    South Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Ambulance Serivce   Welsh Ambulance Service

Website         http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/

Cardiff (i /ˈkɑrdɪf/; Welsh: Caerdydd (info) Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkɑːɨrdɨð]) is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the population of the unitary authority area is 336,200,[3] while the wider metropolitan area has a population of over 1.4 million, almost half of the total Welsh population.[4] Cardiff is a significant tourism centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010.[5]

The city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities.[6] The Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside of the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys, Penarth and Radyr. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.

Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed capital of Wales in 1955. Since the 1990s Cardiff has seen significant development with a new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay which contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Current developments include the continuation of the redevelopment of the Cardiff Bay and City Centre areas with projects such as the International Sports Village, a BBC drama village,[7] and a new business district in the city centre.[8] Cardiff is the largest media centre in the U.K. outside of London.

Sporting venues in the city include the Millennium Stadium (the national stadium for the Wales national rugby union team and the Wales national football team), SWALEC Stadium (the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club), Cardiff City Stadium (the home of Cardiff City football team and Cardiff Blues rugby union team), Cardiff International Sports Stadium (the home of Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club) and Cardiff Arms Park (the home of Cardiff Rugby Club). The city is also HQ of the Wales Rally GB and was awarded with the European City Of Sport in 2009 due to its role in hosting major international sporting events. It has been announced that Cardiff will once again be the European City of Sport in 2014.[9] The Millennium Stadium will also host 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the games' opening event and the men's bronze medal match.[10]

Contents [hide]

1 Etymology

2 History

2.1 Origins

2.2 Norman occupation to the Middle Ages

2.3 County town of Glamorganshire

2.4 Building of the docks

2.5 City and capital city status

3 Government

4 Geography

4.1 Cityscape

4.2 Climate

4.3 Temperature

4.4 Sunshine hours

4.5 Rainfall

5 Demography

5.1 Language

5.1.1 Language schools

5.2 Religion

6 Economy

6.1 Shopping

7 Landmarks and attractions

8 Culture and recreation

8.1 Music and performing arts

8.2 Recreation

9 Media

10 Sport

11 Notable people

12 Transport

12.1 Road

12.2 Rail

12.3 Bus

12.4 Air

12.5 Cycle

13 Education

14 Health

15 International relations

16 Telecommunications

17 See also

18 References

19 External links

[edit]Etymology

The front wall of Cardiff Castle, showing part of the original Roman fort from which the city may have derived its name.

Caerdydd (the Welsh name of the city), and its anglicised form Cardiff, derive from post-Roman Brythonic words meaning "the fort on the Taff". The fort refers to that established by the Romans. "Dydd" or "Diff" are both modifications of "Taff", the river on which Cardiff Castle stands, with the T mutating to D in Welsh. According to Professor Hywel Wyn Owen, a leading modern authority on toponymy, the Welsh pronunciation of "Caerdyff" as "Caerdydd" shows the colloquial alternation of Welsh "-f" and "-dd".[11]

The antiquarian William Camden (1551–1623) suggested that the name Cardiff may derive from the name "Caer-Didi" ("the Fort of Didius"), given in honour of Aulus Didius Gallus, governor of a nearby province at the time when the Roman fort was established. Although some websites repeat this theory as fact, it is disputed by modern scholars on linguistic grounds, with Professor Gwynedd Pierce of Cardiff University recently describing it as "rubbish".[12]

[edit]History

Main articles: History of Cardiff and Timeline of Cardiff history

[edit]Origins

Tribes of Wales at the time of the Roman invasion. The modern English border is also shown.

Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Cardiff—the St Lythans burial chamber, near Wenvoe (about four miles (6.4 km) west, south west of Cardiff City Centre), the Tinkinswood burial chamber, near St Nicholas (about six miles (10 km) west of Cardiff City Centre), the Cae'rarfau Chambered Tomb, Creigiau (about six miles (10 km) north west of Cardiff City Centre) and the Gwern y Cleppa Long Barrow, near Coedkernew, Newport (about eight and a quarter miles (13.5 km) north east of Cardiff City Centre)—shows that Neolithic people had settled in the area by at least around 6,000 BP (Before Present), about 1,500 years before either Stonehenge or the Great Pyramid of Giza was completed.[13][14][15][16][17] A group of five Bronze Age tumuli is at the summit of The Garth (Welsh: Mynydd y Garth), within the county's northern boundary.[18] Four Iron Age hillfort and enclosure sites have been identified within Cardiff's present-day county boundaries, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 hectares (51,000 m2).[19][20][21][22]

Until the Roman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of the Silures – a Celtic British tribe that flourished in the Iron Age – whose territory included the areas that would become known as Breconshire, Monmouthshire and Glamorgan.[23] The 3.2-hectare (8-acre) fort established by the Romans near the mouth of the River Taff in 75 CE (Common Era), in what would become the north western boundary of the centre of Cardiff, was built over an extensive settlement that had been established by the Silures in the 50s CE.[24] The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated with Isca Augusta (Caerleon) that acted as border defences. The fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued, however by this time a civilian settlement, or vicus, was established. It was likely made up of traders who made a living from the fort, ex-soldiers and their families. A Roman villa has been discovered at Ely.[25] Contemporary with the Saxon Shore Forts of the 3rd and 4th centuries, a stone fortress was established at Cardiff. Similar to the shore forts, the fortress was built to protect Britannia from raiders.[26] Coins from the reign of Gratian indicate that Cardiff was inhabited until at least the 4th century; the fort was abandoned towards the end of the 4th century, as the last Roman legions left the province of Britannia with Magnus Maximus.[27][28]

Little is known about the fort and civilian settlement in the period between the Roman departure from Britain and the Norman Conquest. Historian William Rees suggests that the settlement probably shrank in size and may even have been abandoned. In the absence of Roman rule, Wales was divided into small kingdoms; early on, Meurig ap Tewdrig emerged as the local king in Glywysing (which later became Glamorgan). The area passed through his family until the advent of the Normans in the 11th century.[29]

[edit]Norman occupation to the Middle Ages

View of Caerdiffe Castle (sic)

In 1081 William I, King of England, began work on the castle keep within the walls of the old Roman fort.[30] Cardiff Castle has been at the heart of the city ever since.[31] The castle was substantially altered and extended during the Victorian period by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, and the architect William Burges. Original Roman work can, however, still be distinguished in the wall facings.

A small town grew up in the shadow of the castle, made up primarily of settlers from England.[32] Cardiff had a population of between 1,500 and 2,000 in the Middle Ages, a relatively normal size for a Welsh town in this period.[33] By the end of the 13th century, Cardiff was the only town in Wales with a population exceeding 2,000, but it was relatively small compared with most notable towns in the Kingdom of England.[34]

In the early 12th century a wooden palisade was erected around the city to protect it. Cardiff was a busy port in the Middle Ages, and was declared a Staple port in 1327.[35]

Henry II travelled through Cardiff on his journey to Ireland and had a premonition against the holding of Sunday markets at St Piran's Chapel, which stood in the middle of the road between the castle entrance and Westgate.[citation needed]

In 1404 Owain Glyndŵr burned Cardiff and took Cardiff Castle.[35] As the town was still very small, most of the buildings were made of wood and the town was destroyed. However, the town was soon rebuilt and began to flourish once again.[33]

[edit]County town of Glamorganshire

In 1536, the Act of Union between England and Wales led to the creation of the shire of Glamorgan, and Cardiff was made the county town. It also became part of Kibbor hundred.[citation needed] Around this same time the Herbert family became the most powerful family in the area.[32] In 1538, Henry VIII closed the Dominican and Franciscan friaries in Cardiff, the remains of which were used as building materials.[33] A writer around this period described Cardiff: "The River Taff runs under the walls of his honours castle and from the north part of the town to the south part where there is a fair quay and a safe harbour for shipping."[33]

John Speed's map of Cardiff from 1610

Cardiff had become a Free Borough in 1542.[35] In 1573, it was made a head port for collection of customs duties, and in 1581, Elizabeth I granted Cardiff its first royal charter.[32] Pembrokeshire historian George Owen described Cardiff in 1602 as "the fayrest towne in Wales yett not the welthiest.",[32] and the town gained a second Royal Charter in 1608.[36] Disastrous flooding led to a change in the course of the River Taff and the ruining of St Mary's Parish Church, which was replaced by its chapel of ease, St John the Baptist.[citation needed] During the Second English Civil War, St Fagans just to the west of the town, played host to the Battle of St Fagans. The battle, between a Royalist rebellion and a New Model Army detachment, was a decisive victory for the Parliamentarians and allowed Oliver Cromwell to conquer Wales.[35] It is the last major battle to occur in Wales, with about 200 (mostly Royalist) soldiers killed.[32]

In the ensuing century Cardiff was at peace. In 1766, John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute married into the Herbert family and was later created Baron Cardiff,[32] and in 1778 he began renovations on Cardiff Castle.[37] In the 1790s a racecourse, printing press, bank and coffee house all opened, and Cardiff gained a stagecoach service to London. Despite these improvements, Cardiff's position in the Welsh urban hierarchy had declined over the 18th century. Iolo Morgannwg called it "an obscure and inconsiderable place", and the 1801 census found the population to be only 1,870, making Cardiff only the 25th largest town in Wales, well behind Merthyr and Swansea.[38]