Rhiwbina Garden Village () is a residential development in

Rhiwbina Rhiwbina (; , also ''Rhiwbina'') is a suburb and community in the north of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Formerly a small hamlet within the parish of Whitchurch, Rhiwbina was developed throughout the twentieth century, and is now a separate ...

, a northern suburb of Cardiff. It was begun in 1912 to a masterplan by

Raymond Unwin Sir Raymond Unwin (2 November 1863 – 29 June 1940) was a prominent and influential English engineer, architect and town planner, with an emphasis on improvements in working class housing. Early years Raymond Unwin was born in Rotherham, Yor ...

, one of the leading architects of the

Garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...

. Unwin's plans were commissioned by the Cardiff Worker's Cooperative Garden Village Society Ltd. The society had been established by several Cardiff academics including the economist

Herbert Stanley Jevons Herbert Stanley Jevons, aka HS Jevons (1875-1955), was the son of economist and mathematician William Stanley Jevons. He was professor of economics and political science at University of South Wales. He was also the first Head of Department of Econ ...

. The garden village was subsequently developed by the society on farmland bought from the Jenner family of

Wenvoe Castle Wenvoe Castle was a castle and country estate between Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and Wenvoe, in the Vale of Glamorgan, south Wales. Today the former estate forms the Wenvoe Castle Golf Club. Goldsland lies on its western boundary. History In ...

. The first 34 houses were built in 1913 and more were built from 1919 to 1923, occupying an area between Pen-y-dre and Lon Isa which became known as Rhiwbina Garden Village. It was designated as a Conservation Area in 1976. Properties were initially rented from the Rhiwbina Garden Village Society, which was run as a

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

by the residents. The houses were subsequently sold to existing tenants in the 1960s. Though initially planned as a housing development for the working class, the high rent of the properties ensured that the middle class became established in Rhiwbina Garden Village. It is the only garden village development in Cardiff, architecture critic John Newman describes it as the "most extensive and best preserved Garden Village in Glamorgan" in the ''Glamorgan'' edition of '' The Buildings of Wales''. Rhiwbina Garden Village was designated a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

in 1977. The majority of the properties are listed with

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

. Lon-Y-Dail built from 1912 to 1913 was the first road developed, running from south to north. Lon Isa was next, and Y Groes, the oblong green forming the centre of a cul-de-sac, was created by their intersection. The houses of Y Groes were designed by A.H. Mottram; No. 7 Y Groes is dated 1913 and inscribed with the initials of the Cardiff Worker's Cooperative Garden Village Society. The houses of Pen-Y-Dre that run alongside the railway line were designed by H. Avray Tipping, though John Newman believes that Tipping's designs may have been ghosted by Eric Francis.

Thomas Alwyn Lloyd Thomas Alwyn Lloyd OBE (11 August 1881 – 19 June 1960), known as ''T. Alwyn Lloyd'', was a Welsh architect and town planner. He was one of the founders of the Town Planning Institute in 1914 and its President in 1933. He was also a founding m ...

designed the remainder of Pen-Y-Dre between 1920 and 1923. Lloyd also designed his own residence, 11 Heol Wen at the west end of the road. Scenes from the 2011 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' Christmas special, ''

The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is an episode of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. First broadcast on BBC One on 25 December 2011, it is the seventh List of Doctor Who Christmas specials, ''Doctor Who'' Chris ...

'' were filmed on Y Groes in the garden village. Blue plaques erected by the Rhiwbina Civic Society in Rhiwbina Garden Village commemorate the residences of the founder of the

St Fagans National Museum of History St Fagans National Museum of History ( ; ), commonly referred to as St Fagans after the village where it is located, is an open-air museum in St Fagans, Cardiff, Wales, chronicling the historical lifestyle, culture, and architecture of the Wels ...

Iorwerth Peate Iorwerth Cyfeiliog Peate (27 February 1901 – 19 October 1982) was a Welsh poet and scholar, best known as the founder, along with Cyril Fox, of St Fagans National Museum of History. Iorwerth Cyfeiliog Peate was born on 27 February 1901 in Lla ...

, in Lon-y-Dail, writer and Welsh nationalist Kate Roberts in Lon Isa, archaeologist

Cyril Fox Sir Cyril Fred Fox (16 December 1882 – 15 January 1967) was an English archaeologist and museum director. Fox became keeper of archaeology at the National Museum of Wales, and subsequently served as director from 1926 to 1948. Many of his m ...

in Heol Wen, and social reformer Edgar Leyshon Chappell in Y Groes.

Gallery

File:10 & 12 Lon Isa, Rhiwbina Garden Village, July 2020.jpg, 10 & 12 Lon Isa File:34 & 36 Lon Isa, Rhiwbina Garden Village, July 2020.jpg, 34 & 36 Lon Isa File:Nos. 5 & 7 Lon Isa, Rhiwbina Garden Village, April 2020.jpg, 5 & 7 Lon Isa File:City and County of Cardiff - Nos. 2-8 Pen-y-dre (evens) - 20181020180618.jpeg, 2-8 Pen-y-dre File:Four Elms, 17 Heol Wen, Rhiwbina, Cardiff.png, Four Elms, 17 Heol Wen

References

External links

Glamorgan Archives - The opening ceremony of Rhiwbina Garden Village
{{coord, 51, 31, 23, N, 3, 12, 56, W, type:city_region:GB, display=title 1913 establishments in Wales Arts and Crafts architecture in Wales Garden suburbs Houses in Cardiff Planned communities in Wales