Cardiff town walls

Cardiff’s medieval town walls once enclosed the city centre and Cardiff Castle in a stone ring over two kilometres round. Robert Fitzhamon began the walls after his invasion of Wales late in the 12th century, and they were first recorded in 1111. The fortifications had five or six gateways, watch towers and ditches, with walls up to three metres high and nearly two and a half metres thick. By the 15th century Owain Glyndŵr’s forces had breached parts of the wall, and later floods and neglect finished much of the rest. The last large section was taken down in 1901 to make way for the fish market. Five named gates gave entry to the town: the North Gate led north to Caerphilly, the East Gate stood on today’s Queen Street, the South Gate opened to the docklands, the West Gate faced the river, and Blaunch Gate served the quay. Each gate had its own history—John Speed’s 1610 map shows the East Gate with a single arch, while the West Gate once rose seven and a half metres high. By the late 18th century all the gates had been demolished to ease traffic and build the Glamorganshire Canal. Today only fragments remain. A reconstructed West Gate is fixed to Cardiff Castle, and a short stretch of wall stands behind Queen Street. A blue plaque marks the North Gate on the Northgate Building, and a small wall supports a flower bed beside the castle. Westgate Street and Golate recall the old thoroughfares, and St Davids shopping centre’s Town Wall corridor follows the line of the defences. Cock’s Tower, a watchpost on the east wall, was lost when the shopping centre was built, but its site can still be traced.