The Royal Arcade is a shopping arcade in Cardiff, South Wales.
The Royal Arcade is the oldest arcade in Cardiff, being built in 1858, it is a Grade II listed building. In 1861, a free library was set up by voluntary subscription above the St Mary Street entrance to the Royal Arcade in Cardiff. [1] Before the end of the 19th century the Cardiff School of art was using rooms above the arcade with students such as J. M. Staniforth and Goscombe John attending. [2] Running east–west from The Hayes to St Mary's Street, parallel but to the south of the Morgan Arcade, it also runs under David Morgan's department store. After Morgans bought the Royal Arcade, the family formed a holding company called the Cardiff Arcade Company, which owned and operated both the Royal and the Morgan arcades.
After the agreed closure of David Morgan's, the property assets inside the various holdings companies were sold in late 2004 for £25 million to property firm Helical Bar. David Morgan Limited, Deymel Investments Limited and the Cardiff Arcade Company Limited are now all in liquidation. [3]
Between 2007 and 2008 the whole site was refurbished by Helical Bar, with the arcades restored. The companies spent £30M on restoring both the Morgan and Royal arcades, with some first-floor Venetian windows and original wooden storefronts still surviving. [4]
Today the Royal Arcade still has some of the original shopfronts at numbers 29, 30 and 32 on St. Mary Street. Running direct opposite from the new St. David's 2 development and close to Cardiff Central Library, a variety of independent shops are still to be found such as Wally's Delicatessen, who have been in the arcade for 60 years, and those specialising in Welsh textiles, gifts and homeware.
Cardiff is the capital and largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of 362,310 in 2021 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.
Spillers Records, established in 1894, is recognised as the oldest record shop in the world, despite having gone through various stages of ownership and locations. It is located in Cardiff, Wales. In addition to selling music, it is the city's main location for buying tickets for alternative music concerts.
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.
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.
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.
Howells was a large department store located on St Mary Street in Cardiff, Wales, established by James Howell in 1865. It was acquired by the House of Fraser group in 1972 and re-branded as House of Fraser in 2010.
David Morgan was an independent department store in Cardiff that ceased operating in January 2005 after 125 years of trading. It opened on 31 October 1879 and closed its doors for the final time on Saturday 30 January 2005.
The Cardiff Centenary Walk is a tourist walkway through Cardiff city centre in Wales. Established as part of Cardiff's centennial celebrations to mark 100 years of city status in 2005, it has 41 points of interest, either Cardiff landmarks or significant historic sites. The route is marked by waymarkers on the pavement, which also direct pedestrians to the next waymarker. The whole walk is 3.6 kilometres (2.2 mi) long running around Cardiff in a clockwise direction, starting and finishing at the Cardiff Visitor Centre at the Old Library.
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.
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.
Joseph Morewood Staniforth was a Welsh editorial cartoonist best known for his work in the Western Mail, Evening Express and Sunday weekly the News of the World. Staniforth has been described as "...the most important visual commentator on Welsh affairs ever to work in the country."
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.
St Mary Street and High Street are major commercial streets in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff city centre, Wales, which form a major thoroughfare running south from the gatehouse of Cardiff Castle. High Street begins at the junction of Castle Street on the A4161 and ends at the junction of Church Street and Quay Street, from where St Mary Street begins until the roundabout at Callaghan Square on the A4160.
Cardiff Central Library is the main library in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. It offers a public library service and is open six days a week. Four buildings have been named as such, with the newest building opening on 14 March 2009 and officially being opened a few months later on 18 June 2009 by the Manic Street Preachers. The first Cardiff library was opened in 1861 as the Cardiff Free Library, later expanded and known as the Cardiff Free Library, Museum and Schools for Science and Art.
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.
The Morgan Arcade is a shopping arcade in Cardiff, South Wales.
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a former theatre in central Cardiff. Built in 1878, seating 2,800, it later became a sex cinema. It is now a pub.
Media related to Royal Arcade, Cardiff at Wikimedia Commons