CARDIFF CASTLE

Many years ago in the year 1766, the Bute family became owners of Cardiff Castle. They were a Scottish family who made a lot of money through selling coal from South Wales to places all over the world.

On Monday the 12th of January 2009, we had the privilege to visit their magnificent house but they only used it 6 weeks of the year.

First we went into a big room where we met Elizabeth, she was very enthusiastic and was quick to get started. She had two big plastic boxes full of clothes. Claire was first to get up and put her cap and apron on, then once all of the girls got ready we stood in rows and curtseyed, then when the boys were ready with their waistcoats they stood out the front and bowed. We were then put into groups and given an object to work with. First we had to discuss what we thought the object was. Jac, Jess, Mollie and I stood out at the front of the room. Jac said it was an ice-cream holder, Mollie said it was to drink shots, Jess said it was a candle holder and to keep fragrances and I said it was an egg cup.

The Stewards Room was full of armour and weapons, we were allowed to try on a Stuart helmet and we had a chance to hold a small man’s chain mail, it was cold and heavy. I found this very interesting and funny.

The Winter Smoking Room is where the 3rd Marquess of Bute would entertain his gentlemen guests after dinner. In the evening the ladies were not allowed in the smoking rooms. They really didn’t want the ladies to even come near the room, so they carved a black devil on the door to scare them away. The theme of the decoration in this room is Time. Six Norse gods in the stained glass windows represent; Monday = Mercury, Tuesday = Tur, Wednesday = Woden, Thursday = Thau, Friday = Friga, Saturday = Saturn and on the ceiling right in the middle is the sun that represents Sunday. Four carved people in each corner of the room represent the time of the day. The zodiac sign on the chimneypiece is Capricorn. Capricorn is a goat. My zodiac sign is Virgo.

The 3rd Marquess of Bute and his wife Gwendolyn had four children. The nursery was the children’s schoolroom and playroom. The theme of this room was fairy tales and nursery rhymes. A man named William Burges decorated the whole castle and made up lots of fairy tale characters, the most well known was the Invisible Prince. Lord Bute owned another castle in Cardiff, it was Castle Coch. He walked their every day for his exercise.

The Arab Room is in the Herbert Tower and was used as a sitting room. It shows how Lord Bute and his architect, William Burges, were interested in an eastern design. The ceiling had been decorated with leaf gold. William Burges’ favourite bird was a parrot, so he decorated the ceiling with them. This room was specifically for the ladies so the men were not allowed in there and the parrots told people that the ladies used to talk a lot.

The Bute family name is Crichton Stuart. The Crichton Stuart coat of arms is above the fireplace and is made up of tiny tiles in different colours. This type of design is called a mosaic. The white marble plaque on the chimneypiece is decorated with semi precious stones in blue, pink and green. They are lapis-lazuli, rose quarts and jade. The Arab room was decorated in the year 1881, which was when William Burges died.

The Banqueting hall is the room where the 3rd Marquess of Bute held banquets for his guests. The theme in this room is medieval history. The knight on horseback in the centre of the chimneypiece is the man who built the stone keep at Castle Castle and lived there in the 12th Century. His name was Robert the Consul. His wife is also shown on the chimneypiece, here name was Mable Fitzhamon. Robert, 2nd Duke of Normandy, is shown as a prisoner in the dungeon at Cardiff Castle for 8 years. This room was decorated in golds and yellows in very fine detail.

The small dining room was used when Lord and Lady Bute were not entertaining their guests in the banqueting hall. The decoration in the small dining room has a religious theme. In the middle of the room was a big table with a hole, which was for a grapevine, someone thought you put a bin under the table and shove your rubbish through the hole. As you leave the room there is a wooden monkey with a nut in its mouth, when you push the nut the male servants would come and see what they wanted. There is a small flower with a button in the middle, when you press the button the females would come and see what they wanted. In those days, the men were considered better.

The library is where Lord Bute kept a lot of rare and expensive books. The 3rd Marquess was the Lord Mayor of Cardiff in 1890 to 1891 and he did a lot of work here in the library. There were two big tables in the room, which were worth £250,000 each, and they were just to hide the hideous heaters.

We then went back into the first room to give our costumes back and have lunch.

Then we went into a big room, sat down on big leather chairs and watched a film about two people going back in time. At the end of the film the screen came up and through a big glass window we could see the keep.

Then we went out and were given little phones, if you pressed 56 it would tell you information about certain parts of the castle.

It was a very enjoyable trip and I hope to go back soon.

Molly Nash