VlogB

Following the withdrawal of the Romans from Wales in the 5th century, Cardiff’s fortunes fluctuated wildly. The settlement became a thriving market town in the 14th century, only to be burnt to the ground during Owain Glyndwr’s ill-fated revolt against the English in the 15th century. (Despite this minor transgression, a statue to the fabled Welsh figure stands today in Cardiff City Hall.)

However, the real turning point for Cardiff came with the completion of the Glamorganshire Canal in 1798. By providing a direct link between the town’s nascent dock complex on the Severn Estuary and the coal mines of the South Wales Valleys, the canal kickstarted Cardiff’s game-changing transformation into a major coal port. In less than a century, Cardiff’s dock network would become the largest in the world in terms of the tonnage of exports. This led to a swell in population and influx of immigration from around the world, with no less than 57 different nationalities being recorded among the city's residents in the early 1900s.

The Cardiff docks project was spearheaded, and largely financed, by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute. The Butes had come to own much of Cardiff’s land in the late 18th century, including Cardiff Castle, and used it to expand the town, helping Cardiff to gain official city status in 1905 (the first town in Wales to gain official city status!). 

However, while the Butes were instrumental in Cardiff’s industrialization, the family were so wealthy they could afford to leave vast tracts of land empty for recreational use, including Bute Park and Sophia Gardens (the latter named after the 2nd Marquess of Bute’s wife). The result is that, today, Cardiff has perhaps the greenest centre of any city in Europe.

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