Loudoun Square is a residential square in

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

, Wales. Described as "the heart of the old

Tiger Bay Tiger Bay () was the local name for an area of Cardiff which covered Butetown and Cardiff Docks. Following the building of the Cardiff Barrage, which dams the tidal rivers, Ely and Taff, to create a body of water, it is referred to as Car ...

", the square is the location of two of Cardiff's few residential

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s, as well as shops, a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, church, health centre and community centre.

History

During the 1840s the

Marquess of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that ...

created the residential area of

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', ) is a district and community (Wales), community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marqu ...

, to house workers for the new

Cardiff Docks Cardiff Docks () is a port in southern Cardiff, Wales. At its peak, the port was one of the largest dock systems in the world with a total quayage of almost . Once the main port for the export of South Wales coalfield, South Wales coal, the Po ...

. After his death (in 1848), and the death in 1852 of the owner of a glassworks on the site, land was acquired between West Bute Street (to the east) and the

Glamorganshire Canal The Glamorganshire Canal () in South Wales, UK, was begun in 1790. It ran along the valley of the River Taff from Merthyr Tydfil to the Bristol Channel at Cardiff. The final section of canal was closed in 1951. History Construction started ...

(to the west) to create a large square of three-storey decorative houses.Evans, Dosworth, Barnett, ''Below the Bridge'', p. 23 It was shown as "Luton Square" on an 1855 map. The square was a "jewell" in "perhaps the poshest place in town", surrounding a green tranquil park with its houses home to shipwrights, mariners, merchants, brokers and builders. The area became highly multicultural, "one of the most colourful and cosmopolitan communities on Earth". By the 1880s the wealthier residents had moved away to the new suburbs. While the nearby Mount Stuart Square became the site for an impressive new

Coal Exchange The Coal Exchange (also known as the Exchange Building) is a historic building in Cardiff, Wales. It is designed in Renaissance Revival style. Built in 1888 as the Coal and Shipping Exchange to be used as a market floor and office building for ...

building, Loudoun Square became increasingly overcrowded as residents took in tenants to help pay the high rents.Evans, Dosworth, Barnett, ''Below the Bridge'', pp. 43-44 The Loudoun Square area became known as "

", and the racial composition became even more diverse with the arrival of seafarers on the ships in the period before the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

1960s redevelopment

By the late 1940s the houses in Butetown were in extremely poor repair and the area was seen by the city authorities as a physical ''and'' moral slum.Evans, Dosworth, Barnett, ''Below the Bridge'', pp. 54-55 It was decided to demolish the existing houses and replace them with modern residential

s. Loudoun Square was the first area to be tackled and the nineteenth century housing was cleared in 1960. Residents of the Square were moved to new housing or decanted to Cardiff's suburban

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

s. Between 1960 and 1966 two 16-storey tower blocks, Loudoun House and Nelson House, were built on the centre of Loudoun Square.

Recent events

A new foyer, "hotel-style" concierge reception and garden area was created by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Administrative divisions of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

for Loudoun House and Nelson House in 2001, described by a resident as "similar to the St David's Hotel". In Summer 2010 work started to replace and improve the facilities in the square, with a £13 million revamp led by the Cardiff Community Housing Association. The new facilities would include a new shopping centre, community hub and a health centre, together with 13 new houses and 48 apartments to a

BREEAM The Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), first published by the Building Research Establishment in 1990, is touted as the world's longest established method of identifying the sustainability of buildings. Ar ...

accredited eco-standard. In 2023, a new station on the South Wales Metro is planned to open in the area, serving 3 Light Rapid Transit lines to Treherbert, Aberdare, & Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff City Centre & Cardiff Bay (With plans to extend to the Senedd and Cardiff Parkway).

Sources

References

External links

Aerial photo showing Loudoun Square (1927) bottom right
Gathering the Jewells website {{coord, 51.4699, -3.1706, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Butetown Squares in Cardiff