Golden Cross, Cardiff

Last updated

Golden Cross
Golden Cross, Cardiff - 4479872 - geograph.org.uk.jpg
The Golden Cross in 2014
Golden Cross, Cardiff
Location in Cardiff
General information
TypePublic house
Location Cardiff, Wales
Address283 Hayes Bridge Road, Cardiff, CF10 1GH
Coordinates 51°28′37″N3°10′28″W / 51.47705°N 3.17444°W / 51.47705; -3.17444
Completed1903
Designations
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameGolden Cross Public House
Designated1975-05-19
Reference no. 13647

The Golden Cross is a Grade II listed public house at the junction of Customhouse Street and Hayes Bridge Road in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The current building dates from 1903 and is noted for its distinctive ceramic tiling. [1] [2]

Contents

History

A pub has existed on the site since 1849, originally named the Shields and Newcastle Tavern. It was renamed the Castle Inn in 1855 and assumed its present name in 1863. [1] The Cardiff historian Brian Lee has said the Golden Cross "developed a reputation as the smartest brothel in town" in the 19th century. Around 1903/4 it was rebuilt in its current form for Brains Brewery. [2]

The Golden Cross is alleged to be the site of a fight involving a young Rocky Marciano, who was stationed in Wales during his time in the United States Army during World War 2. [1] Before the war, the fascist leader Oswald Mosley attempted to hold a meeting at the pub but violent opposition forced him to return to London. [1]

The pub was given listed status by Cadw in May 1975, [2] but despite this it was threatened with demolition in 1979 as part of a road-widening scheme. However it was reprieved after a campaign led by the South Wales Echo . [3] [1] In 2010 it was listed by CAMRA as one of their 10 most unspoilt pubs by the CAMRA Pub Heritage Group and is listed on CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. [4]

The Golden Cross has become a popular gay friendly pub, with regular drag acts and entertainment. It was voted in 2004 as the best gay pub in the UK. [5] The pub remains a tied house of the Brains Brewery.

Architecture

Tiled panel showing Cardiff's Old Town Hall and the statue of Lord Bute Interior of the Golden Cross, Cardiff (4).jpg
Tiled panel showing Cardiff's Old Town Hall and the statue of Lord Bute

CAMRA's Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors describes the Golden Cross as "the most spectacularly decorated of any in Wales". [3]

The bar tiles, featuring distinctive corner grotesques, were designed by Craven Dunnill of Shropshire. [3] The interior has several decorative pictorial panels of tiles that depict Cardiff Castle, Brains Brewery in 1890, and Cardiff's Old Town hall with a statue of Lord Bute from St Mary's Street in 1863. [6] [7]

The Golden Cross has one of fourteen remaining ceramic bar counters in the United Kingdom. The other ceramic counter in Wales is located at the in Waterloo Hotel in the Newport district of Pillgwenlly. [8] Dunnill replicated the design with grotesques at the Mountain Daisy pub in Sunderland, and the Gunmakers Arms Birmingham. An almost identical tiled frieze design is at the White Swan pub in Birmingham. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign for Real Ale</span> British consumer organisation

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 150,000 members, it is the largest single-issue consumer group in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Beer Consumers Union (EBCU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caernarfon</span> Town in Gwynedd, Wales

Caernarfon is a royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852. It lies along the A487 road, on the eastern shore of the Menai Strait, opposite the island of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is 8.6 miles (13.8 km) to the north-east, while Snowdonia (Eryri) fringes Caernarfon to the east and south-east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brains Brewery</span> Brewery in Cardiff, Wales

Brains is a regional brewery based in Cardiff, Wales. It was founded in 1882 by Samuel Arthur Brain. At its peak, the company controlled more than 250 pubs in South Wales, Mid Wales and the West Country but the brewer sold most of its pub estate in 2022. The company took over Crown Buckley Brewery in Llanelli in 1997 and Hancock's Brewery in 1999. In 2000, Brains moved to the former Hancock's Brewery just south of Cardiff Central railway station. The Old Brewery, in Cardiff city centre, has been developed into a modern bar and restaurant complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beer in Wales</span> Overview of the beer industry in Wales

Beer in Wales can be traced to the 6th century. Since the 2000s, there has been a growing microbrewery industry in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craven Dunnill</span>

Craven Dunnill & Co. Ltd. was formed on 9 February 1872, by Yorkshire businessman Henry Powell Dunnill (1821–95), at Jackfield, Shropshire, England. The firm was to become one of Britain's leading producers of ceramic tiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Augustine's Church, Penarth</span> Church in Wales

St Augustine's Church is a Grade I-listed Gothic Revival nineteenth-century parish church in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Vulcan, Cardiff</span> Public house in Cardiff, Wales

The Vulcan Hotel is a historic hotel and public house, that was located in Adamsdown suburb of Cardiff, South Wales. Scheduled for demolition in 2009, after a long public campaign to preserve what had become one of Cardiff's oldest working public houses, in 2012 it was donated to the National History Museum at St Fagans, where it is being reconstructed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Head, Tooting</span> Pub in Tooting, London

The King's Head is a Grade II listed public house at 84 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting, London SW17 7PB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bell Inn, Aldworth</span> Public house in England, UK

The Bell Inn is a pub at the village of Aldworth, in the English county of West Berkshire. It won CAMRA's National Pub of the Year in 1990, and received the accolade again for 2019. It is a Grade II listed building and is the only pub in Berkshire with a Grade II listed interior. It is also on the Campaign for Real Ale's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burlingtons Bar</span> Bar room under a public house in Lancashire, England

Burlingtons Bar is under the Town House public house in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Horse, Preston</span> Public house in Lancashire, England

The Black Horse is a Grade II listed public house at 166 Friargate, Preston, Lancashire, England PR1 2EJ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albion Ale House</span> Historic site in Conwy, Wales

The Albion Ale House or The Albion is a Grade II listed public house in Conwy, North Wales. Built in 1921, it is a three-room pub with Art Nouveau decor that underwent major renovation in 2012. The Albion is jointly operated by four North Wales breweries and real ales from these breweries and other beers are served through eight hand pumps. The Albion Ale House was named the 2013 Wales Pub of the Year by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), and named one of the world's best bars by The Guardian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Lion, Handsworth</span> Public house in Birmingham, England

The Red Lion is a disused public house on Soho Road, in the Handsworth district of Birmingham, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Brides-super-Ely</span> Human settlement in Wales

St. Brides-super-Ely is a village and district of the community of Peterston-super-Ely, within the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is located near the western border of the Welsh Capital City of Cardiff, to the west of the A4232, and north of the River Ely.

Vaendre Hall is a large detached house in the Cardiff suburb of St Mellons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ty Gwyn, Lisvane</span> House in Lisvane, Cardiff, Wales

Ty Gwyn is a large detached house in the Cardiff suburb of Lisvane. It is set in 5 acres of grounds and is 10,000sq ft in size.

Wydham Park is an uncompleted planned village in Peterston-super-Ely in the Vale of Glamorgan. It was the first garden suburb in Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Beehive Inn</span> Landmark former pub in Bradford, England

The New Beehive Inn is a former pub in Bradford, England. It was built by Bradford Corporation in 1901 to replace an existing public house of the same name that they had purchased in 1889 and demolished to widen a road. The corporation intended to run the pub itself but instead let it out and sold it in 1926. It has since been run by a number of brewery companies and individuals. The pub contained many features dating to its construction and a significant refurbishment in 1936 and was described by the Campaign for Real Ale as "one of the country's very best historic pub interiors".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Ball, York</span>

The Golden Ball is a pub in the Bishophill area of central York, in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bath Hotel, Sheffield</span>

The Bath Hotel is a pub in Broomhall district of Sheffield, in England.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Brian Lee: Golden memories of Cardiff's Golden Cross pub". Wales Online. 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cof Cymru – National Historic Assets of Wales – Full Report for Listed Buildings – Golden Cross Public House". Cadw – Cof Cymru.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "CAMRA Pub Heritage: Golden Cross". CAMRA Pub Heritage: Historic Pub Interiors. CAMRA . Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Gemma McKenna (5 August 2010). "CAMRA lists top ten heritage pubs". Morning Advertiser. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "The Golden Cross". Cardiffpubs.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Mike Pearson (2 March 2015). Marking Time: Performance, Archaeology and the City. University of Exeter Press. p. 99. ISBN   978-0-85989-971-0.
  7. ↑ Brian E. Davies (15 May 2011). Wales A Walk Through Time - Flat Holm to Brecon. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 48. ISBN   978-1-4456-2617-8.
  8. ↑ "CAMRA Pub Heritage: Waterloo Hotel & Bistro Restaurant". CAMRA Pub Heritage: Historic Pub Interiors. CAMRA. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.