Home > Cardiff Castle > The Romans
- 2nd half of the 1st century AD
Design -->
- 4 sizes until present size, 8 acre site from 4th century AD
- 10 foot thick walls
- Lias limestone (local)
- River stones, boulders, iron-hard cement
- Community, soldiers lived in wooden buildings inside the walls
Location -->
- Mouth of river
- Fort, trading post
Ruins -->
- Norman re-occupation in 11th century
- Used the stone to build their keep
- Walls "disappeared beneath later earth banks"
Excavation -->
- Found pottery and glass within walls
Restoration -->
- 1889 walls re-discovered during excavations, originally thought it was 1,000 years younger
- Marquess of Bute decided to rebuild walls on original Roman foundations, outline remains with red sandstone
- Reconstruction took 35 years with completion of south wall 1922-1925
--> south wall: best preserved section of Roman wall, viewing gallery created to highlight 270 ft. section; mural of Roman life by Frank Abraham displayed across from it
