Castell Coch – for real this time
Ever since I made a passing reference to Castell Coch in South Wales here, I’ve noticed a steady trickle of visitors finding my blog after googling it. It’s been making me feel a little guilty, since I really didn’t say much about the castle at all. But never fear, now I’m going to fix that. I’ve searched the web (fairly) exhaustively to bring together a collection of pictures of the interior of Castell Coch. And so that I’m not completely off subject, I’m happy to include the kitchen and the bathing arrangements in this selection.
First, let’s have a glorious romantic shot of the outside – it really is romantic, looking down on the Vale. I always try to remember to look out for it after passing through Cardiff on my “home” through Wales:
Castell Coch in Autumn, via flickr
The castle has been in a few movies – there was a very strange one of Gawain and the Green Knight made in the ’70s that featured Castell Coch. And I think there was a version of Robin Hood that had actors swinging around on the outside of it. Although there was a Norman castle on this spot, (defending the rich “Marches” against those wild Welsh), what you see now is the work of “artist architect” William Burges, started around 1879 for the 3rd Marquis of Bute, at that time the richest man in the world. What fun they must have had designing this little nest:
Castell Coch Banqueting Room
Burgess' Famous Drawing Room Ceiling
I’m not going to show all the amazing details of the public rooms, if you google or search on flickr, you’ll find hundreds of gorgeous pictures that show it all much better than I can. I’ll stick to my brief with some of the cooking and bathing arrangements.
I don’t think Lord and Lady Bute would ever have passed much time in the kitchen, but here are some shots for you:
Castell Coch Kitchen via flickr
Welsh Dresser at Castell Coch
Victorian Range in Kitchen
The funny thing about Castell Coch is that for all it’s grandeur it really only has 2 bedrooms – one for the Lord and one for the Lady. There were probably several for the staff tucked away somewhere, but those are not open today – except for this space, which seems to be some kind of nursery:
White Painted Washstand in Simple Room
Even if you were the richest man in the world, the plumbing arrangements were a little primitive by our standards:
Washstand in Lord's Bedroom
Tub in Lord Bute's Bedroom
The Lady seems to have a better deal – she even seems to have plumbing at her washstand:
Lady's Bedroom at Castell Coch
Washstand in Lady Bute's Bedroom
It’s so ironic, isn’t it, that the huge wealth derived from the Industrial Revolution (coal and mechanization and the destruction of the natural landscape of the Welsh Valleys) was used to create this amazing, handcrafted, “better than nature” world? I hope this post gives you a little more of what you were looking for as far as Castell Coch is concerned, if that’s what you were googling when you got here!
