The custodians at Castell Coch recently managed to open a cupboard that had been locked up and forgotten about for years.
Hiding in Plain Sight
The cupboard is in a prominent place in the kitchen but staff had never routinely opened it.
A Good Story
Castell Coch posted their discovery on Facebook and it received thousands of views. Several Welsh news sites picked up the story and published articles.
The post has had over 3,200 views and 120 comments.
Opening the Time Capsule
The items discovered were probably used for cleaning and housekeeping. An old sheet of newspaper from July 1955 gives an indication of when the objects were stored.
Medieval Remains
The Kitchen Tower was built on the tallest remains of the original 13th-century castle. William Burges notes in his Castell Coch Report from 1872, “The upper storey was devoted to the purposes of a kitchen, as is apparent from the existence of three fireplaces, a cupboard and drain; it was lighted by two narrow windows.”
The space used for simply storing household items was once a medieval fireplace.
Custodians and Caretakers
There were several interesting comments on Facebook that mention former custodians and caretakers. (I haven’t verified all this information yet.)
- Nora Edwards was a custodian who worked in the castle for 37 years from the 60s until the 1990s.
- Bob Pendlebury was the resident custodian in 1948 and he’d worked there from at least 1936, when the drawbridge collapsed.
- Samuel Griffiths (1847-1933) was born in Tongwynlais. He lived on Ironbridge Road and was listed in the 1911 census as the caretaker of Castell Coch.
I’m planning to do some more research on the former custodians and caretakers. It would be great to document their history and even speak to more recent custodians.
I was invited to take a look at the cupboard by the staff at Castell Coch. The custodians and volunteers are amazing and have such a passion for heritage.
