'Cardiff’s City Hall stands in what has been acclaimed one of the finest civic centres in Europe.'

The magnificent Edwardian City Hall is the finest building of this superb ensemble, but is actually the fifth to have served as the centre of local Government. Little is known of Cardiff’s original ‘Gild Hall’, but the second Town Hall stood in the middle of St Mary’s Street until it was replaced on the same site in the mid- eighteenth century. The fourth Town Hall, on the western side of St Mary’s Street, was built in 1853 and remained in use until the present City Hall opened in 1904.

The Civic buildings stand in Cathays Park, once the site of a short lived Georgian mansion (1812-25), built for the 1st Marquess of Bute. The Bute family sold the 59 acres to the town in 1898, for £159,000. Plans were drawn up for the new buildings, and the new Town Hall (Cardiff was not yet a City) was to form its focal point.

The design was by the firm of Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards, who had won the architectural competition for this prestigious commission. With a budget of £125,000, construction was begun by the local firm of E. Turner and Sons in 1900, and was completed in 1904.

The design is inspired by English and French Renaissance architecture, but has in addition all the presence and confidence of the Edwardian period, when Cardiff’s prosperity from the coal industry was at its height.

City Hall is dominated by the 194 foot high clock tower, and the dome is surmounted by a Welsh dragon, sculpted by HC Fehr

The Clock Tower

The Clock Tower of City Hall is perhaps the most distinctive architectural feature of the building, bold and asymmetrical and a well-loved Cardiff landmark.

The clock frame, which contains the mechanism, is 5’10” in length and made of one solid piece of cast iron, ensuring perfect rigidity. The escapement is a three-legged ‘gravity’ design, and made of gun-metal. The time is shown on four twelve foot wide gilded dials, one on each face of the tower.

The bells themselves are cast from pure copper and tin, and each one is engraved with a motto. The hour bell, as well as the second and fourth quarter bells, have mottoes in Welsh. The first and third bells are inscribed in English.

The mottoes chosen are:

Hour bell: ‘Y gwir yn erbyn y byd’ (His truth against the world)

1st Quarter - ‘I mark time, dost thou?’
2nd Quarter - ‘Duw a phob daioni’ (God is all goodness)
3rd Quarter - ‘Time conquers all and we must time obey’
4th Quarter - ‘A gair Duw yn uchaf’ (God’s voice on high)

 

Above the portico is the main window of the Council Chamber. This is flanked by groups of monumental statuary representing the sea receiving the City’s three rivers; the Taff, the Rhymney and the Ely. High on the west end of the façade is a group representing ‘Science and Education’ by D McGill. Other groups include ‘Music and Poetry’ and ‘Commerce and Industry’ by Paul Montford, and ‘Welsh Unity and Patriotism’ by Henry Poole.

The fountain and pool in front of the portico was added in July 1969 to commemorate the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales. The fountain display to the west of the pool represents the Prince of Wales’ feathers; that to the east, an ornamental curtain of four jets.

The magnificent exterior of City Hall prepares the visitor for the decorative Edwardian interiors, where rooms both large and small are all elegantly proportioned. The portico leads into the main foyer and reception. Grand staircases either side, with ornate bronze balustrades, lead to the reception rooms above. On one staircase is a memorial to Captain Robert Scott and his courageous companions, who sailed from Cardiff on the Terra Nova, on their ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1910. On the other staircase is another bronze memorial, this time to the poet and writer Sir Edward Reed, who also served Cardiff as a Member of Parliament.

Continue up the staircase and find yourself in a part of City Hall that rarely fails to delight and impress visitors…

The Marble Hall

The appropriately named Marble Hall is lined by magnificent columns of Sienna marble mounted in bronze. Bronze also is used for the light fittings, which are supplemented by modern spotlights, reflecting the polished marble floor. Delicately stained glass windows and ornate mouldings of mermaids and seashells enhance this beautiful interior. Items from the City Hall art collection are on display, and the Marble Hall is the setting for the series of statues of ‘Heroes of Wales’. These statues, carved from Serraveza marble, were unveiled in 1916, and were the gift of Lord Rhondda. Suggestions for the subjects were invited from all over Wales, and each statue is the work of a different sculptor. It was a twentieth century hero, David Lloyd George, then secretary of State for War, who unveiled the statues. A painting of the ceremony is displayed in the Hall

Beyond the doors at the north end of the Marble Hall lies…

The Assembly Room

This splendid interior has played host to Royalty, Heads of State and diplomats from all over the World on many great occasions. The Assembly Room is also used by thousands of Cardiff citizens for a variety of events - concerts, lectures, Gala dinners, public meetings, youth events, as well as award ceremonies and conferences. Perhaps at its most impressive when used for a grand dinner, when up to five hundred guests may sit down to dine beneath the magnificent ceiling. The Marble Hall and the Assembly Room are also very popular for important conferences and up to six hundred can be seated in what must be one of the most prestigious settings in Britain.

The Assembly Room is rich with ornamental mouldings that are a reminder of the City’s close links with the sea, and mermaids, seahorses, fish and shellfish are picked out in gold leaf. On the ceiling, which is decorated with elaborate plasterwork are three massive bronze chandeliers which were designed by the architects especially for the room. At either end of the Assembly Room, the wall panels still await the architect’s intended painted mural scenes.

At the opposite end of the Marble Hall is…

The Council Chamber

Originally designed to accommodate Council meetings, the Council Chamber has witnessed many passionate debates over the years. Today it is available for numerous other uses, including press conferences, televised debates, meetings and wedding ceremonies.

The Chamber lies directly beneath the dome of City Hall and this is reflected by its circular form and high ceiling.

The panelling is made of oak, decoratively inlaid with holly, whilst four massive pillars of Italian Breccia marble support the dome. Above the columns are two bronze models of ships – reminders that Cardiff grew through its docks from a small and relatively unimportant community into a great City. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Cardiff had become the greatest coal-exporting port in the World.

The Councillor’s seats, which are also of oak, were designed by the original architects of the building, and are arranged in the round. The Lord Mayor’s chair is set in an elevated position.

Cardiff’s armorial bearings are displayed in the canopy over the Lord Mayor’s chair. They carry the mottoes in Welsh ‘Deffro mae’n dydd’ (Awake it is day) and ‘Y ddraig goch ddyry cychwyn’ (The Welsh dragon will lead the way).

Mayoral Boards – Council Chamber

On entering the Chamber there are galleries to the left and right. Here the walls are inset with beautiful quality Welsh oak, and in chronological order name the Lord Mayor from City status in 1905 until 1996

Cardiff has been fortunate in having many distinguished men and women acting as Mayor throughout the twentieth century. The gallery on the right of the Council Chamber contains the names of an earlier generation – Mayors of the Town of Cardiff from 1836 to the granting of City Status in 1905.

Along the corridor to Function Rooms A–D, you will find a gallery of recent Lord Mayors’ portrait photography.