Cardiff Castle wedding map print

The Romans came first, building a fort here around AD 55. In the late 11th century the Normans raised a motte inside the old walls, and a shell keep was added to its top around the middle of the 12th century. That keep still stands on its mound inside the walls, looking down over the green.

The castle's look today belongs to the 3rd Marquess of Bute, who inherited it before his first birthday, and to the architect William Burges. Their Gothic Revival rebuilding began in 1868 with the Clock Tower, 40 metres high and carved with figures of the planets. On the Animal Wall outside, carved creatures still keep watch over the street.

In 1947 the 5th Marquess gave the castle and its park to the people of Cardiff. On the artwork, Bute Park opens to the west and north, with the River Taff curving through it, the civic buildings of Cathays Park stand to the north, and the Principality Stadium is just south. Your day happened in the middle of all that.