Cardiff Town Walls

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. 280mi in circumference and had an average thickness of between 6ft and 8ft and a height of 10ft. It had five town gates and was first mentioned in the year 1111. Sections of the wall collapsed in the 18th century due to neglect, and many stones were then used as building material for other buildings in the town. The last large section of the wall was demolished in 1901. Now there are only two sections of the Medieval wall that still remain. One section of the wall supports a flower bed to the east of Cardiff Castle on Kingsway, and the second, larger section forms the rear of a shop on Queen Street in an unmarked alleyway immediately on the other side of Kingsway, between the Northgate Building and One Kingsway. History of the wallThe wall was constructed by Robert Fitzhamon the Lord of Glamorgan, and was first mentioned in 1111 by Caradoc of Llancarfan in his book Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicle of the Princes). By 1184, Maurice de Berkeley had built wooden palisades with South, North, East and West Gates. Gilbert de Clare later strengthened the defences of Cardiff Castle and the wooden palisades were replaced by stone walls. The town walls measured 1280 paces or 1. 280mi in circumference, with an average thickness of between 6ft and 8ft and a height of 10ft.

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. 280mi in circumference and had an average thickness of between 6ft and 8ft and a height of 10ft. It had five town gates and was first mentioned in the year 1111. Sections of the wall collapsed in the 18th century due to neglect, and many stones were then used as building material for other buildings in the town. The last large section of the wall was demolished in 1901. Now there are only two sections of the Medieval wall that still remain. One section of the wall supports a flower bed to the east of Cardiff Castle on Kingsway, and the second, larger section forms the rear of a shop on Queen Street in an unmarked alleyway immediately on the other side of Kingsway, between the Northgate Building and One Kingsway. History of the wallThe wall was constructed by Robert Fitzhamon the Lord of Glamorgan, and was first mentioned in 1111 by Caradoc of Llancarfan in his book Brut y Tywysogion (Chronicle of the Princes). By 1184, Maurice de Berkeley had built wooden palisades with South, North, East and West Gates. Gilbert de Clare later strengthened the defences of Cardiff Castle and the wooden palisades were replaced by stone walls. The town walls measured 1280 paces or 1. 280mi in circumference, with an average thickness of between 6ft and 8ft and a height of 10ft.