Roath

Roath Brook flowing through Roath Park in the snow

Roath (Welsh: Y Rhath) is a district and community in the east/north-east of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It lies just east/north east of the city centre, stretching from Adamsdown in the south to Roath Park in the north. Roath contains the Plasnewydd electoral ward.

Description

Its main shopping streets are Albany Road, City Road, and Wellfield Road. The area is characterised by its several tree-lined avenues and Victorian era terraced streets. Roath houses a very diverse population including a large number of students, being very close to the main university campuses, a large ethnic minority population and many young professionals. Parts of Roath are among the most affluent districts of Cardiff, although subdivision of the large Victorian properties is starting to occur in the areas at the south end of the district.

Its close proximity to the city centre, its number of local amenities, churches, shops and restaurants and public houses and the famous Roath Park make it a popular area to live.[1]

History

Roath Court

Y Rhath (Rahat, Raath 13th c.) is likely a development of the Brythonic word for ramparts, cognate with the Irish word ráth (earthwork, fortification), the latinised form of this word (Ratae) appears elsewhere in Roman Britain (such as Ratae Corieltauvorum). This may suggest a pre-existing Iron Age settlement, likely on the site of the old manor house which was surrounded by earthworks and a ditch for centuries.[2]

Alternatively, it could derive from the name given to the Roman settlement in Cardiff, Ratostabius.

Roath Court is a nineteenth-century villa on the site of the medieval manor house of Roath.[3] Since 1952 it has been a funeral home.[4] Its Georgian portico, designed by Robert Adam in 1766 for Bowood House, Wiltshire, was moved there in 1956.[3]

Roath contains the Church of Saint Margaret of Antioch, built in 1870 on the site of an earlier Norman chapel and the new Gothic revival church. Designed by Llandaff architect John Prichard on a Greek Cross plan, the latter was financed totally by the third Marquess of Bute, in spite of his conversion to Catholicism in 1868. Inside is an opulent mausoleum housing tombs of nine members of the Bute family, including the First Marquess and his wives. The tower of St Margaret's was finally completed in 1926.

Roath once had a railway station on the South Wales Main Line, but this closed in 1917.

Amenities

St Margaret's Church, Roath

Festivals and events

Since 2009 the annual Made in Roath arts festival has taken place in October. The event showcases art, music, performance and literature in a variety of venues including peoples' homes.[11]

Notable people

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roath.

J. Childs. Roath, Splott and Adamsdown. The History Press. 1995

Heath Roath Park Penylan
Cathays Roath Tremorfa
City centre Adamsdown Splott

Coordinates: 51°29′28″N 3°09′38″W / 51.49111°N 3.16056°W / 51.49111; -3.16056

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.