Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roman fort. The castle was commissioned either by William the Conqueror or by Robert Fitzhamon, and formed the heart of the medieval town of Cardiff and the Marcher Lord territory of Glamorgan. In the 12th century the castle began to be rebuilt in stone, probably by Robert of Gloucester, with a shell keep and substantial defensive walls being erected. Further work was conducted by the 6th Earl of Gloucester in the second half of the 13th century. Cardiff Castle was repeatedly involved in the conflicts between the Anglo-Normans and the Welsh, being attacked several times in the 12th century, and stormed in 1404 during the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr.
Ewenny Priory, in Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, was a monastery of the Benedictine order, founded in the 12th century. The priory was unusual in having extensive military-style defences and in its state of preservation; the architectural historian John Newman described it as “the most complete and impressive Norman ecclesiastical building in Glamorgan”. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, parts of the priory were converted into a private house by Sir Edward Carne, a lawyer and diplomat. This Elizabethan house was demolished between 1803 and 1805 and replaced by a Georgian mansion, Ewenny Priory House. The house is still owned by the Turbervill family, descendants of Sir Edward. The priory is not open to the public apart from the Church of St Michael, the western part of the priory building, which continues to serve as the parish church for the village. The priory is in the care of Cadw and is a Grade I listed building.
Castell Coch is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais, Cardiff in Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff Gorge. Abandoned shortly afterwards, the castle's earth motte was reused by Gilbert de Clare as the basis for a new stone fortification, which he built between 1267 and 1277 to control his freshly annexed Welsh lands. This castle may have been destroyed in the native Welsh rebellion of 1314. In 1760, the castle ruins were acquired by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, as part of a marriage settlement that brought the family vast estates in South Wales.
Powis Castle is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former having been described as "the most important", and the latter "the most magnificent", in the country. The castle and gardens are under the care of the National Trust. Powis Castle is a Grade I listed building, while its gardens have their own Grade I listing on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
St Donat's Castle, St Donats, Wales, is a medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 16 miles (26 km) to the west of Cardiff, and about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) to the west of Llantwit Major. Positioned on cliffs overlooking the Bristol Channel, the site has been occupied since the Iron Age, and was by tradition the home of the Celtic chieftain Caradog. The present castle's origins date from the 12th century when the de Haweys and later Peter de Stradling began its development. The Stradlings held the castle for four hundred years, until the death of Sir Thomas Stradling in a duel in 1738.
Hewell Grange is a former country house in Tardebigge, Worcestershire, England. "One of the most important late 19th century country houses in England", the mansion was built between 1884 and 1891 by George Frederick Bodley and Thomas Garner for Robert Windsor-Clive, later first Earl of Plymouth. Constructed in the Jacobethan style, it was "perhaps the last Victorian prodigy house". After the Second World War, the third earl sold the Hewell estate to the Crown and it was redeveloped as a prison. The mansion was used to house young offenders, and later low-risk prisoners, while adult prisons were built in the grounds. The site was subsequently consolidated as HM Prison Hewell. In 2019, the Ministry of Justice announced the closure of the Category D open prison housed in Hewell Grange, after a highly critical report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons.
Oxwich Castle is a Grade I listed castle which occupies a position on a wooded headland overlooking Oxwich Bay on the Gower Peninsula, Wales. Although it may occupy the site of an earlier fortification, it is a castle in name only as it is a grand Tudor fortified manor house built in courtyard style.
Margam Country Park is a country park estate in Wales, of around 850 acres (3.4 km2). It is situated in Margam, about 2 miles (3 km) from Port Talbot in south Wales. It was once owned by the Mansel Talbot family and is now owned and administered by the local council, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Situated within the park are three notable buildings: Margam Abbey, a Cistercian monastery; Margam Castle, a neo-Gothic country house that was once the seat of the Mansel Talbot family; and the 18th-century Orangery. The park is designated Grade I on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Robert George Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth,, known as the 14th Baron Windsor between 1869 and 1905, was a British nobleman and Conservative politician. He was the founding President of the London Society.
Sophia Gardens is a public park in Riverside, Cardiff, Wales, on the west bank of the River Taff. International test cricket matches and county cricket matches are held in the Sophia Gardens cricket ground, the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club. The gardens are listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
Old Beaupre Castle is a ruined medieval fortified manor house located in the community of Llanfair, outside Cowbridge in Wales. It is known in historic documents under the names Beawpire, Bewerpere, Bewpyr and Y Bewpur. It is a Grade I listed building and is under the care of Cadw. It can be visited free of charge all year round by members of the public. The gardens are designated Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.
St John's is a grade II listed building in the town centre of Monmouth, Wales. It is located in Glendower Street within the medieval town walls. The house is most remarkable for the rear of the property which features a Coalbrookdale verandah and formal walled garden that have been separately grade II listed with the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The villa's garden is also registered with the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust.
There are around 1,000 listed buildings in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. A listed building is one considered to be of special architectural, historical or cultural significance, which is protected from being demolished, extended or altered, unless special permission is granted by the relevant planning authorities. The Welsh Government makes decisions on individual cases, taking advice from the heritage agency Cadw, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and local councils.
There are 33 Grade I listed buildings in the Vale of Glamorgan all of which are churches and priory buildings, castles, country or manor houses and associated structures such as churchyard crosses and a dovecote.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade II* structures are those considered to be "particularly important buildings of more than special interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Cadw.
Tythegston is a conservation area village located close to Cardiff and Swansea on the south coast of Bridgend, Wales. It is home to Tythegston Court, a Grade II listed manor house at the centre of the 1,200 acre Tythegston Estate which is designated at Grade II on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales. The estate has been owned by the Knight family for some 350 years and operates as a farming and property enterprise, with an industrial estate, as well as hosting green energy and food production. The seaside town of Porthcawl, with its numerous beaches is within 3 miles, as is Bridgend inter-city rail station. The village covers an area of 2,871 acres (1,162 ha). It is part of the community of Merthyr Mawr.
Twmpath Castle, also known as Twmpath Motte, is a medieval motte on the southern slope of Wenallt Hill near Rhiwbina in Cardiff, Wales, which is a scheduled monument.
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in south-east Wales. It covers an area of 331 km2 (128 sq mi) and in 2021 the population was approximately 132,500.
The City and County of Cardiff is a county in the south of Wales. It covers an area of 140.3 km2 (54.2 sq mi) and in 2023 the population was approximately 359,512. Cardiff is the country's capital and hosts its parliament, the Senedd, and a large number of national institutions such as the Wales Millennium Centre, the National Museum, the national stadium of Wales and the St Fagans National Museum of History.
Andrew Pettigrew (1833–1903) was a Scottish landscape gardener. Much of his career was spent as head gardener to John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, firstly at Dumfries House and then at Bute's Welsh estate centred on Cardiff Castle. His three sons, William Wallace, Hugh Allan and Andrew Alexander, also became landscape gardeners, with William and Andrew both serving as the city's superintendent of parks. Collectively they created many of Cardiff's most notable parks, including Bute Park, Cathays Park, Llandaff and Pontcanna Fields, and Roath Park. The Glamorgan Archives, which holds the records of Cardiff County Borough Council containing materials relating to the development of the city's parks, describes them as "the family who landscaped Cardiff".
