Cardiff Town Walls

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Caerdydd; Kidis; Kerdif

In the community of Castle. In the historic county of Glamorgan (Modern authority of Cardiff, preserved county of South Glamorgan).

Some very slight remains, but well illustrated in John Speed's 1610 map. Had comparatively small area, apparently five gates. Mentioned 1184 as palisaded and 1349 as stone. Was reported as being substantially intact in 1578 and appears to have been demolished from the later C18.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST181767

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 00120s; 00103s and others 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/1946/
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p23, 30, 40, 95, 97, 237, 243, 271
    Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p90
    Salter, Mike, 1991, The Castles of Gwent, Glamorgan and Gower (Malvern) p46
    Morgan, Dennis, 1991, The Cardiff Story. A history of the city from its earliest times to the present (Brown and Sons)
    Hindle, B.P., 1990, Medieval Town Plans (Shire Archaeology)
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences', in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116 [plan]
    Soulsby, Ian, 1983, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Phillimore; Chichester) p95-9 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p174
    Barley M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p211-2
    Rees, W., 1962, Cardiff, A history of the City p16
    Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47807#s6
• Journal Articles
  • Spurgeon, C.J., 2001, 'The Medieval Town Defences of Glamorgan' Studia Celtica Vol35 p161-212 esp p163-177
    Webster and Webster, 1974, Archaeology in Wales Vol14 p30
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
    Paterson, 1921, Cardiff Naturalists' Society Vol54 p31-9
    1901, Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol56 p318-9
    Robinson, 1886, Cardiff Naturalists' Society Vol18 p19-21
    Winstone, 1883, Cardiff Naturalists' Society Vol15 p60-1
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Matthews, J.H. (ed), 1898, 'Ministers' Accounts: 1492', Cardiff Records Vol1 p169-197 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=48086
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • John Speed, 1610, Map of Cardyfe [shows wall intact] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Speed%27s_map_of_Cardiff_1610.jpg
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/glameng.html#glam4]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1906, Leland's Itinerary in Wales (Bell and Sons; London) p34 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryinwales00lelauoft