Lady Gwendolen Mary Anne Stuart (Fitzalan-Howard) played a significant part in the development of Castell Coch. Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard (1854 – 1932) was the daughter of The 1st Baron Howard of Glossop and granddaughter of The 13th Duke of Norfolk. She was engaged to John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute in February 1872 and the couple …
When I’m researching old postcards, it’s sometimes a struggle to identify the publisher and often difficult to find out much information about them. I was delighted to discover the amazing TuckDB Postcards, which has documented over 135,000 cards from the famous publisher. CDF 72 – Castle Coch, Near Cardiff (1959) I bought this postcard a …
“Castles and Abbeys of Wales” was written by D J Cathcart King (MC, LLM, FSA) and published by the Department of the Environment in 1975. The 40 page book features 49 monuments and 32 photographs. The two photos of Castell Coch (below) are prominently featured in the centre of the book. The monuments are organised …
I’ve been planning a series of blog posts that look at each room in Castell Coch. While I work on this I thought I’d share another postcard from my collection. This view of Lady Bute’s bedroom is from a 1967 postcard published by the Ministry of Public Building and Works. William Burges’ stencilled cabinet isn’t …
I purchased this booklet a few years ago but I’ve only recently looked into the history of the author. It’s an excerpt from Volume L (50) of the “Transactions of The Cardiff Naturalists’ Society”. It contains a report by John Stuart Corbett on the Society’s visit to Castell Coch on June 27th 1917. The booklet …
Castell Coch was featured in Country Life magazine 61 years ago this month. Architectural writer Mark Girouard took readers on a tour of the famous Welsh landmark over two issues beginning on 10th May 1962. The magazine was founded in 1897 and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2022. Girouard went on to become an authority …
The Wales 1983 Festival of Castles (Gwyl Cestyll Cymru 1983) was a controversial marketing campaign created by the Wales Tourist Board. It was branded “Cestyll 83” and took place during the “Year of Castles”. The festival was launched on 28 February 1983 by the Prince and Princess of Wales at Caerphilly Castle. Euryn Rhys Roberts, …
Castell Coch is currently closed for its annual conservation housekeeping. The trees surrounding the castle are also undergoing some maintenance so I looked through some old postcards to see how the view has changed. This postcard was published by “The R. A. P. Co. Ltd. London. EC4.” It’s unposted but I believe it’s from between …
I purchased a guidebook for the Welsh Folk Museum at St Fagans from an online store as the description mentioned Castell Coch. There was no other information but I was intrigued and it wasn’t very expensive. It turned out to be this charming little pamphlet for Caerphilly Castle and Castell Coch. The guide was produced …
I shared some aerial photos of the Taff Valley by Terence Soames earlier in the year. One of the photos was this spectacular shot of the Walnut Tree Viaduct and Castell Coch, which was taken in 1957. Terence Soames was an aerial photographer and worked for H. Tempest (Cardiff) Ltd in the 1950s. The main …
