City Hall ( cy, Neuadd y ddinas) is a civic building in

Cathays Park Cathays Park ( cy, Parc Cathays) or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the

civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a buildi ...

, it is an important early example of the Edwardian Baroque style. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

History

The complex was commissioned to replace Cardiff's fourth town hall on the western side of St Mary's Street which had been completed in 1853. Following a design competition, the firm of Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards was selected to design Cardiff's fifth town hall and adjacent

law courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accord ...

in the Edwardian Baroque style. The contractor, E. Turner and Sons, used the world's first all-electrically operated building site, including eight 5-ton cranes to lift the stone blocks. The total building cost was £129,708 (with the concurrently-built Law Courts next door costing £96,583). As Cardiff received its city charter in 1905 while construction was underway, the current building is known as City Hall. The new building was officially opened by

Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguably ...

on 29 October 1906.

Exterior architecture

Clock tower

The distinctive clock tower is in height and has a gilded dial on each of its four faces. The clock mechanism includes an hour bell and four quarter bells which are each inscribed with mottoes in English or Welsh.Cardiff Council ''City Hall Cardiff: Visitor Information Guide'' Second edition, 2006

Fountains and pool

In front of the entrance portico is a rectangular pool with fountains. The fountains were created to mark the investiture of

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

as Prince of Wales in July 1969.

Memorials

On the southern side of the building are two memorials: the memorial on the right is dedicated to victims of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

while the one on the left is dedicated to the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

soldiers, airmen and sailors who gave their lives during that war.

Interior rooms, functions and art collections

Marble Hall

The first floor landing of City Hall is decorated with statues in Pentelicon marble of famous figures from Welsh history. These were funded by a gift from

David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda David Alfred Thomas, 1st Viscount Rhondda, PC (26 March 1856 – 3 July 1918), was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician. He was UK Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil from 1888 until the January 1910 general election, then MP ...

; the personages to be commemorated were decided by a competition in the '' Western Mail''. The Marble Hall with completed statues was unveiled by

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

, then Secretary of State for War, on 27 October 1916., pp. 21–6 The figures portrayed are as follows: *

Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. Sh ...

(1st-century queen of the

Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...

) by

James Havard Thomas James Havard Thomas (22 December 1854 – 6 June 1921) was a Bristol-born sculptor active in London and Capri. He became the first Chair of Sculpture at the Slade School of Art in London. He was known for his painstakingly precise sculptures resu ...

Saint David Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; la, Davidus; ) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail a ...

(6th-century patron saint of Wales) by Sir

William Goscombe John Sir William Goscombe John (21 February 1860 – 15 December 1952) was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms of ...

Hywel Dda Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubart ...

(king and codifier of

Welsh law Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 202 ...

, 10th century) by

F. W. Pomeroy Frederick William Pomeroy (9 October 1856 – 26 May 1924) was a prolific British sculptor of architectural and monumental works. He became a leading sculptor in the New Sculpture movement, a group distinguished by a stylistic turn towards nat ...

Gerald of Wales Gerald of Wales ( la, Giraldus Cambrensis; cy, Gerallt Gymro; french: Gerald de Barri; ) was a Cambro-Norman priest and historian. As a royal clerk to the king and two archbishops, he travelled widely and wrote extensively. He studied and taugh ...

(scholar and writer in the 12th and 13th centuries) by Henry Poole * Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf (Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last ruling Prince of Wales) by

Henry Albert Pegram Henry Alfred Pegram (27 July 1862 – 26 March 1937) was a British sculptor and exponent of the New Sculpture movement.Chamot, M.; Farr, D.; Butlin, M.: The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture'' London 1964. Life Pegram wa ...

Dafydd ap Gwilym Dafydd ap Gwilym ( 1315/1320 – 1350/1370) is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Life R. Geraint Gruffydd suggests 1315- 1350 as the poet's dates; others place him a little ...

(Welsh poet of the 14th century) by W. W. Wagstaff *

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr or Glyn Dŵr (, anglicised as Owen Glendower), was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander who led a 15 year long Welsh War of Independence with the aim of ending English rule in W ...

(Welsh patriot and warrior of the 14th and 15th centuries) by Alfred Turner * Henry VII (founder of the Tudor dynasty, 15th and 16th centuries) by

Ernest Gillick Ernest George Gillick (19 November 1874 – 25 September 1951) was a British sculptor. Life Gillick was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on 19 November 1874, the son of a tailor. The family moved to Nottingham, where Gillick was apprenticed as a d ...

* Bishop William Morgan (translated the Bible into Welsh in the 16th century) by

Thomas John Clapperton Thomas John Clapperton FRBS (14 October 1879 – 15 February 1962) was a Scottish sculptor, famous for the statue of Robert the Bruce at the entrance of Edinburgh Castle erected in 1929. Biography Clapperton was born on 14 October 1879 in Galas ...

William Williams, Pantycelyn William Williams, Pantycelyn (c. 11 February 1717 – 11 January 1791), also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn, and Pantycelyn, is generally seen as Wales's premier hymnist. He is also rated among the great literary figures of Wal ...

(revivalist and hymn writer, 18th century) by Leonard Stanford Merrifield * Sir

Thomas Picton Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton (24 August 175818 June 1815) was a British Army officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. According to the historian Alessandro Barbero, Picton was "respected for his courage and feared for his irascible t ...

(general at Waterloo, 18th and 19th centuries) by

T. Mewburn Crook Thomas Mewburn Crook (4 December 1869 – 18 January 1949) was an English sculptor who primarily produced portraiture and ecclesiastical works, many of which were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. Biography Crook was born at Tonge Moor, Bol ...

In July 2020, Cardiff City Council voted to remove the marble statue of Sir Thomas Picton, on account of his links to slavery.

Assembly Room

This room has hosted royalty, international statesmen and diplomats, and can seat 500 diners simultaneously. It is used for miscellaneous ceremonies, conferences and events during the year. It is decorated with mouldings picked out in gold leaf, of mermaids and other sea creatures. Three large bronze chandeliers are contemporary to the original architects' design.

Council Chamber

This is located above the main entrance portico and directly below the main dome of the building. Hanging from the dome is a bronze chandelier designed by Edwin Alfred Rickards. The arrangement is unusual in that the seating is set in a circular pattern whereas normally British council chambers have semicircular seating. The chamber was designed to host Cardiff's Council meetings (which have subsequently been relocated to Atlantic Wharf). The dome of City Hall is supported by four massive pillars of Italian marble with bronze Ionic

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

. The chamber is paneled throughout in oak. The plaster work is by G.P. Bankart and the stained glass window depicts a personification of the City of Cardiff, by

Alfred Garth Jones Alfred Garth Jones (1872–1955) was an English artist and illustrator who worked mainly in woodcut, pen and ink line art drawing and watercolour. Early life Alfred Jones was born in Hulme, Manchester in 1872, the son of Thomas Jones (b1844) ...

dated 1905.

In popular culture

The cover of the

Catatonia Catatonia is a complex neuropsychiatric behavioral syndrome that is characterized by abnormal movements, immobility, abnormal behaviors, and withdrawal. The onset of catatonia can be acute or subtle and symptoms can wax, wane, or change during ...

single " Mulder and Scully" has a UFO above the building similar to the movie poster for ''

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

''.

References

External links

*
The history of the Marble Hall
{{Authority control Politics of Cardiff Landmarks in Cardiff Cathays Park Grade I listed buildings in Cardiff Grade I listed government buildings

Cardiff City Hall City Hall ( cy, Neuadd y ddinas) is a civic building in Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the Cathays Park civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of ...

Government buildings completed in 1906 Edwardian architecture Government buildings with domes 1906 establishments in Wales