Up until the 1790s there were only 25 retail shops in Cardiff. Most shopping at that time was made from market stalls.[3] The opening of the Royal Arcade in 1858, which was the first indoor arcade built in Cardiff, significantly increased the number of shops in Cardiff.
Cardiff's Victorian arcades have been attracting new shops and customers since emerging from the economic recession. Existing retailers have expanded which demonstrates resurgence of the capital's unique shopping malls, according to the landlords, Curzon, who is responsible for the High Street, Castle, Duke Street and Wyndham arcades. The area around the arcades will be affected by pedestrianisation of High Street in late 2010, to create the £2.5m Castle Quarter. This is expected to attract more shoppers and tourists to the Victorian arcades.[4]
The total length of Cardiff's city centre arcades is 797m (2,655ft).[5]
Central Market was designed by the county engineer William Harpur. 349 stalls were in the original layout. The market opened in 1891 and has entrances on St. Mary Street and Trinity Street in the Castle Quarter[6] Central Market is a Grade II* Listed building.
The market consists of two shopping levels, a ground floor and a balcony level which wraps around the market exterior walls on the interior . There is a large H. Samuel clock above the High Street entrance , which was presumably donated by the H. Samuel jewellery chain, which once had a store just outside the High Street entrance. Traders in the market offer a variety of fresh produce, cooked food, various delicacies and more durable goods. A trader of note is Ashton's the fishmongers,[7] who have traded in the market since 1866 at the Trinity Street entrance selling a wide range of fresh seafood.
Castle Arcade opened in 1887 and is a Grade II* Listed building. The Castle arcade, as the name suggests, runs from opposite Cardiff Castle to High Street, north of St Mary St, in the Castle Quarter. The arcade has a variety of small boutique shops as well as cafes and delicatessens, and fair-trade and organic shops.[5]
One of the longer of Cardiff's famous Victorian arcades, Castle Arcade is home to a variety of shops selling, among other things, crystals, air pistols, fancy dress, books and clothes. There are several shops on the gallery level.
Dominions Arcade
1921
Queen Street Crockherberton Lane
Duke Street Arcade
1902
Duke Street High Street Arcade
Duke Street Arcade opened in 1902 is a Grade II Listed building. Duke Street Arcade joins High Street arcade, and is just opposite Cardiff Castle, in the Castle Quarter. Duke Street Arcade is lined with stores including hairdressers, bridal shops and Welsh gift shops.[5]
High Street Arcade
1885
High Street St John Street
High Street Arcade opened in 1886 and is a Grade II Listed building. It has entrances on High Street and St John Street in the Castle Quarter. High Street arcade is known for its range of fashion stores which include designer clothes, individual fashions, jewellery and vintage clothes as well as one of the oldest surf and skateboarding shops in Wales, City Surf.[8] One will also find children's clothes and toys, gifts and a New York Deli in the arcade.[5]
Morgan Arcade opened in 1896 and is a Grade II Listed building. Morgan Arcade is the considered best preserved of Cardiff's arcades, with first-floor Venetian windows and original slender wooden storefronts. It has entrances on St. Mary Street and The Hayes. It has shops such as The Plan, which specialises in organic and Fair Trade food. Neals yard, next door, sells organic herbal skin care and body care products,[5] also Spillers Records, which claims to be the oldest Record Shop worldwide, dating from 1894.
The Royal Arcade is the oldest arcade in the city, having been built in 1858. It is a Grade II Listed building. Royal Arcade still has some of the original shopfronts at numbers 29, 30 and 32 St. Mary Street. Running from The Hayes through to St Mary Street, towards the south of the city centre, adjacent to the New St David's 2 development, independent shops are found such as Wally's Delicatessen, who have been in the arcade for 50 years, and those specialising in Welsh textiles, gifts and homeware.[5]
Wyndham Arcade
1887
St. Mary Street Mill Lane
Wyndham Arcade is a Grade II Listed building. It opened in 1887 and has entrances on St. Mary Street and Mill Lane, running parallel to Cardiff's Café Quarter. This Edwardian arcade is home to several restaurants including ASK.[5]
Queen Street, Hill's Street Working Street Queens Arcade
St. David's Centre opened to the public in January 1981, although it did not officially open until 24 March 1982. It is joined internally with Queens Arcade. The extension to St. David's Centre (St. David's 2) opened to the public on 22 October 2009. The architects for the project were Benoy and the constructors were Bovis Lend Lease. The development includes the Grand Arcade and Hayes Arcade.[9]
Queens Arcade opened on 28 April 1994, and was built on the former Allders department store and Queen Street Arcade site. The Arcade has two levels, and is unusual in that the levels are sloped, so that ground floor entrance on Queen Street becomes the upper floor at the Working Street entrance and the ground floor entrance at Working Street becomes the lower floor at the Queen Street entrance.
The Capitol Centre, which was previously known as the Capitol Exchange Centre, opened in 1990. The Capitol Centre is built on the site of the former Capitol Cinema and Theatre.
Featured a glass lift looking out over the Friary. This shopping centre still exists, and is shown on maps, but all shops are now entered directly from the street or via escalators, so the mall corridors are now inaccessible. The top floor, which used to be a foodhall, is now entirely occupied by one shop.[14]
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 372,089 in 2022 and forms a principal area officially known as the City and County of Cardiff. The city is the eleventh largest in the United Kingdom. Located in the southeast of Wales and in the Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan and in 1974–1996 of South Glamorgan. It belongs to the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for coal when mining began in the region helped its expansion. In 1905, it was ranked as a city and in 1955 proclaimed capital of Wales. Cardiff Built-up Area covers a larger area outside the county boundary, including the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth.
Roath is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. The area is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdown in the south to Roath Park in the north.
Llanishen is a district and community in the north of Cardiff, Wales. Its population as of the 2011 census was 17,417.
Cardiff city centre is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations – Central and Queen Street – to the south and east respectively. Cardiff became a city in 1905.
Ely is a district and community in Cardiff, Wales. It is to the north of Cowbridge Road West. Caerau defines the boundary to the south as does River Ely to the east and in part to the north.
St David's, previously known as St David's Shopping Centre, is one of the principal shopping centres in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is in The Hayes area of the southern city centre. Following the extension of St David's 2 in 2009, St David's is the third busiest shopping centre in the United Kingdom.
Capitol Centre is an indoor shopping centre in the city of Cardiff, Wales. Functioning as one of the city's retail malls, The building is built on the site of the former Capitol Theatre, and is situated at the eastern end of Queen Street near the Dumfries Place bus terminus and Cardiff Queen Street railway station.
Pentwyn is a district, community and electoral ward in the east of Cardiff, Wales, located northeast of the city centre. Llanedeyrn is immediately to the south, Cyncoed to the west, Pontprennau to the north and the Rhymney River forms the eastern border. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 15,634.
Cardiff Market, also known as Cardiff Central Market and as the Market Building, is a Victorian indoor market in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff city centre, capital city of Wales.
The Hayes is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Centred on the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised and is the location of the Hayes Island Snack Bar.
The history of Cardiff—a City and County Borough and the capital of Wales—spans at least 6,000 years. The area around Cardiff has been inhabited by modern humans since the Neolithic Period. Four Neolithic burial chambers stand within a radius of 10 mi (16 km) of Cardiff City Centre, with the St Lythans burial chamber the nearest, at about 4 mi (6.4 km) to the west. Bronze Age tumuli are at the summit of Garth Hill, within the county's northern boundary, and four Iron Age hillfort and enclosure sites have been identified within the City and County of Cardiff boundary, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 ha. Until the Roman conquest of Britain, Cardiff was part of the territory of an Iron Age Celtic British tribe called the Silures, which included the areas that would become known as Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. The Roman fort established by the River Taff, which gave its name to the city—Caerdydd, earlier Caerdyf, from caer (fort) and Taf—was built over an extensive settlement that had been established by the Silures in the 50s AD.
As the capital city of Wales, Cardiff is the main engine of growth in the Welsh economy; the city has been developing as a significant service centre and economic driver for the wider south east Wales economy. The city and the adjoining Vale of Glamorgan contribute a disproportionately high share of economic output in Wales. The Cardiff travel to work area has grown significantly since 1991; the 2001-based version includes much of the central South Wales Valleys in addition to the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Castle Arcade is a shopping arcade in Cardiff, South Wales.
Cardiff has many cultural sites varying from the historical Cardiff Castle and out of town Castell Coch to the more modern Wales Millennium Centre and Cardiff Bay. Cardiff was a finalist in the European Capital of Culture 2008.
Architecture in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, dates from Norman times to the present day. Its urban fabric is largely Victorian and later, reflecting Cardiff's rise to prosperity as a major coal port in the 19th century. No single building style is associated with Cardiff, but the city centre retains several 19th and early 20th century shopping arcades.
Castle Quarter is an independent retail destination area in the north of the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. Castle is also a community (parish) of Cardiff.
Cardiff Marriott Hotel is a four star Marriott hotel in the southern part of The Hayes in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is located in close proximity to Cardiff Central Library and St. David's Hall.
Caroline Street is a pedestrianised street running east–west in the lower part of Cardiff city centre, located between The Hayes and St. Mary's Street. Due to the density of fast food shops along the street, it is colloquially referred to as Chip Alley, or Chippy Lane.
Cardiff's town walls were a Medieval defensive wall enclosing much of the present day centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, which included Cardiff Castle. It measured 1280 paces or 1.280 miles in circumference and had an average thickness of between 6 feet and 8 ft (2.4 m) and a height of 10 ft (3.0 m).
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