Grangetown, Cardiff
Encyclopedia
Grangetown is a community
in the south of Cardiff
, capital of Wales
. It is one of the largest districts in the south of the city and is bordered by Riverside
, Canton
and Butetown
. The River Taff
winds its way through the area. Adjacent to the city's Cardiff Bay
area, Grangetown is benefitting from the nearby developments and is experiencing a period of gentrification and improvements in its infrastructure. Its population as of 2001
was 14,367 in 6,230 households.
Grangetown is a diverse and multiracial district and has a significant population of Somali
, Asian
and mixed-race residents. It is home to a Swaminarayan Temple
and various mosques including the newly built Abu Bakkar mosque.
(RCAHMW
conflicts this, dating the house to the C16th). The area’s name derives from this association with the abbey. Grange Farm still exists today but is now surrounded by streets of terraced brick houses, which were built to house the many workers who moved to Cardiff to work in the industrial boom of the 19th century, particularly centred on the docks.
Grangetown developed after 1850, the year Penarth Road and the bridges over the River Taff and River Ely were constructed, linking Cardiff with Penarth. It became a suburb of Cardiff in 1875.
The area was low lying and subject to flooding. In 1883 the sea flooded parts of Grangetown to a depth of five feet.
Local brewing legend, Samuel Arthur Brain, was elected to Cardiff Council in 1885 to represent Grangetown. The church of St Paul, Paget Street, was built between 1889 and 1902, largely at the expense of Lord Windsor. It uses an "eccentric" palette of materials including pennant rubble, pink sandstone and portland cement. St Dyfrig and St Sampson, Pentre Gardens, dates from 1911. Grangetown's original public library on Redlaver Street was built 1900-1901 in the Tudor Gothic style. It has now been sold to developers and converted into flats.
Cardiff's popular pastries, Clark's Pies, arrived in Grangetown in 1955 when Dennis Dutch (great-grandson of Mary & Arthur Clark) opened a shop in Bromsgrove Street. The shop still trades today.
. Grangetown is part of the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency which returns one MP to the UK Parliament and one AM to the National Assembly for Wales
.
is home to a number of superstores.
The 'Roxe Jam' hip-hop and graffiti festival takes place annually in Sevenoaks Park, Grangetown, on the last weekend of July. The first festival was in July 2008. The event was set up in memory of a young graffiti writer, Bill Lockwood aka Roxe, who was killed in a road accident. The main highlight of the event is the legal painting of a 140 m long wall which runs parallel to the Cardiff to Penarth railway line.
's most successful teams. Both play their home games at Sevenoaks Park. Grange Albion celebrated its centenary in 2007.
is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line
from Cardiff Central
to Bridgend
via Barry
, Rhoose Cardiff International Airport
and Llantwit Major
, with branch lines serving Penarth
and Barry Island
.
Cardiff Bus
operates the following services in the area:
Penarth Road (A4160
) is the main road running through the area northeastbound to Cardiff city centre
and southwest bound to Llandough
, Dinas Powys
, Penarth
and Barry. The Ferry Road Interchange on the Grangetown Link Road (A4232)
links to the M4 J33 (Cardiff West)
.
's 'Doctor Who
' series entitled Father's Day. In the story the church is attacked by monsters called 'Reapers' while a wedding is about to commence. Filming took place on location in November 2004.
Community (Wales)
A community is a division of land in Wales that forms the lowest-tier of local government in Wales. Welsh communities are analogous to civil parishes in England....
in the south of Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, capital of Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It is one of the largest districts in the south of the city and is bordered by Riverside
Riverside, Cardiff
Riverside is an inner-city southern area of Cardiff, capital of Wales. Riverside is also the name of the electoral ward, which can be split into two very different parts, Riverside and Pontcanna...
, Canton
Canton, Cardiff
Canton is an inner-city district and community in the west of Cardiff, capital of Wales, lying west of the city's civic centre. One of the most ethnically diverse of Cardiff's suburbs, with a significant Asian population such as Pakistanis and Indians, Canton has a population just in excess of...
and Butetown
Butetown
Butetown is a community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early nineteenth century by John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose title the area was named...
. The River Taff
River Taff
The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...
winds its way through the area. Adjacent to the city's Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
area, Grangetown is benefitting from the nearby developments and is experiencing a period of gentrification and improvements in its infrastructure. Its population as of 2001
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
was 14,367 in 6,230 households.
Grangetown is a diverse and multiracial district and has a significant population of Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
, Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
and mixed-race residents. It is home to a Swaminarayan Temple
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Cardiff
Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Cardiff is a Swaminarayan temple located in the Grangetown area of the capital city of Wales, Cardiff. It is the first and largest Hindu temple in Wales and comes under the NarNarayan Dev Gadi of the Swaminarayan Sampraday.-History:...
and various mosques including the newly built Abu Bakkar mosque.
History
Until the mid-19th century Grangetown was an area of marshy land used for farming. Grange Farm is believed to date back to the 13th century, when it was recorded as being owned by Margam AbbeyMargam Abbey
Margam Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales.-History:The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The abbey was dissolved by King...
(RCAHMW
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales is a Welsh Government sponsored body based in Aberystwyth, Wales. It was founded in August 1908...
conflicts this, dating the house to the C16th). The area’s name derives from this association with the abbey. Grange Farm still exists today but is now surrounded by streets of terraced brick houses, which were built to house the many workers who moved to Cardiff to work in the industrial boom of the 19th century, particularly centred on the docks.
Grangetown developed after 1850, the year Penarth Road and the bridges over the River Taff and River Ely were constructed, linking Cardiff with Penarth. It became a suburb of Cardiff in 1875.
The area was low lying and subject to flooding. In 1883 the sea flooded parts of Grangetown to a depth of five feet.
Local brewing legend, Samuel Arthur Brain, was elected to Cardiff Council in 1885 to represent Grangetown. The church of St Paul, Paget Street, was built between 1889 and 1902, largely at the expense of Lord Windsor. It uses an "eccentric" palette of materials including pennant rubble, pink sandstone and portland cement. St Dyfrig and St Sampson, Pentre Gardens, dates from 1911. Grangetown's original public library on Redlaver Street was built 1900-1901 in the Tudor Gothic style. It has now been sold to developers and converted into flats.
Cardiff's popular pastries, Clark's Pies, arrived in Grangetown in 1955 when Dennis Dutch (great-grandson of Mary & Arthur Clark) opened a shop in Bromsgrove Street. The shop still trades today.
Recent changes
In North Grangetown Renewal Area, Cardiff Council is investing in the future of Grangetown by improving the area. This includes repairs to the roads and pavements, planting of trees and the creation of a new public open space, Gerddi Courtmead Gardens, parallel to Hereford Street.Government
The Grangetown electoral ward returns three local councillors to Cardiff CouncilCardiff Council
The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The council consists of 75 councillors, representing 29 electoral wards. The authority is properly styled as The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff or in...
. Grangetown is part of the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency which returns one MP to the UK Parliament and one AM to the National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
.
Amenities
Leisure centres
- The Channel View Leisure Centre can be found in the south of Grangetown off Avondale Road. Its facilities include a gym, bookable sports halls, an outdoor astro pitch, an internet cafe and a climbing wall.
- The Cardiff International Sports VillageCardiff International Sports VillageCardiff International Sports Village is located in Cardiff Bay in the city of Cardiff, Wales. It is one of the largest regeneration projects currently in the UK...
is located in the far south of the area, on the south side of the junction with the A 4232A4232 roadThe A4232, which is also known either as the Peripheral Distributor Road or the Cardiff Link Road , is a distributor road in Cardiff, the capital of Wales....
and features the Cardiff International PoolCardiff International PoolThe Cardiff International Pool is a sport facility located in the Cardiff International Sports Village in Cardiff, capital of Wales. It opened to the public on 12 January 2008 and was officially opened on 26 February 2008 by Duncan Goodhew....
and Cardiff ArenaCardiff ArenaThe Cardiff Arena, also known as Cardiff Bay Ice Arena and also known by ice hockey fans as the Big Blue Tent, is a temporary ice rink in Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales. It has a capacity of 2,500 for ice hockey and is home to the Cardiff Devils after leaving the Wales National Ice Rink, in order to...
.
Parks and gardens
There are a total of four public parks in the district: Grange Gardens, Sevenoaks Park, the Marl, and Grangemoor Park. Grangemoor Park was created on top of a rubbish tip and opened in 2000.Places of worship
Grangetown has at least ten Christian places of worship: Grangetown Baptist Church and the Salvation Army citadel, a Hindu temple on Merches Place, and a newly built mosque on Clydach Street.Public houses and clubs
There are three public houses in the district and a number of licensed social clubs.Shopping
The district has three post offices. A reasonable number of small local shops are centred on Penarth Road and Corporation Road. In addition, the Cardiff Bay Retail ParkCardiff Bay Retail Park
The Cardiff Bay Retail Park in Grangetown, Cardiff was once the site of the Ferry Road Landfill Site. It was built in around 1998. It is currently home to businesses which include Asda and British Home Stores, Boots Group and Argos. There have been many turnovers in businesses, yet new phases are...
is home to a number of superstores.
Education
- Grangetown Nursery is a nursery schoolNursery schoolA nursery school is a school for children between the ages of one and five years, staffed by suitably qualified and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare...
for children aged around 3. It is located in Avondale Road. - Grangetown Junior School is an old Victorian school, built in 1884. Grangetown Primary School currently has the biggest primary school playground in Wales.
- St Patrick's School is a Roman Catholic primary school with around 250 pupils and 13 teachers.
- Ninian Park School has over 400 pupils and 25 teachers. It was built in 1899-1900, at which time is was the most expensive boarding school in Cardiff.
- St Paul's School is a Church in WalesChurch in WalesThe Church in Wales is the Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.As with the primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Archbishop of Wales serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The current archbishop is Barry Morgan, the Bishop of Llandaff.In contrast to the...
primary school - Tan Yr Eos is located next to Ninian Park School and is a Welsh medium primary school.
Festivals and events
Grangetown Festival take place for a week in June each year. It began in 1978 and is organised by Grangetown Community Concern. The festival culminates in a parade through the streets, ending in Grange Gardens where a carnival takes place.The 'Roxe Jam' hip-hop and graffiti festival takes place annually in Sevenoaks Park, Grangetown, on the last weekend of July. The first festival was in July 2008. The event was set up in memory of a young graffiti writer, Bill Lockwood aka Roxe, who was killed in a road accident. The main highlight of the event is the legal painting of a 140 m long wall which runs parallel to the Cardiff to Penarth railway line.
Sport and leisure
It is home of Grange Albion and Grange Catholics, two of British baseballBritish baseball
British baseball, sometimes called Welsh baseball, or in the areas where it is popular simply baseball, is a bat-and-ball game played primarily in Wales and England. It is closely related to the game of rounders, and indeed emerged as a distinct sport when governing bodies in Wales and England...
's most successful teams. Both play their home games at Sevenoaks Park. Grange Albion celebrated its centenary in 2007.
Sportsmen from Grangetown
- Frank WhitcombeFrank WhitcombeFrank William Whitcombe was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s and '40s who played rugby union for Cardiff RFC, London Welsh RFC, and Army Rugby Union, playing at Prop, i.e...
- Bradford NorthernBradford BullsBradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
, WalesWales Rugby LeagueWales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales.In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted the body located in the south of Wales and the Welsh body...
& Great Britain Rugby League International . - George WhitcombeGeorge WhitcombeGeorge Charles Whitcombe was a Welsh footballer. He also captained Wales at baseball, winning a total of five caps....
- Wales BaseballBritish baseballBritish baseball, sometimes called Welsh baseball, or in the areas where it is popular simply baseball, is a bat-and-ball game played primarily in Wales and England. It is closely related to the game of rounders, and indeed emerged as a distinct sport when governing bodies in Wales and England...
Captain & Cardiff CityCardiff cityCardiff City may refer to:* Cardiff city centre* Cardiff City Council* Cardiff City F.C.* Cardiff City L.F.C.* Cardiff City Stadium...
Footballer. - Dai WestacottDai WestacottDavid "Dai" Westacott was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff. Westacott played a single international game for Wales, in 1906, and faced the Original All Blacks as part of the Glamorgan county team in 1905.-Rugby career:Westacott first came to note as a...
- Wales Rugby UnionWelsh Rugby UnionThe Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...
International.
Transport
Grangetown railway stationGrangetown railway station
Grangetown railway station is a railway station serving the Grangetown district of Cardiff in Wales. It is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line 1 mile south west of Cardiff Central towards Bridgend via Barry, Penarth and Barry Island....
is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line
Vale of Glamorgan Line
The Vale of Glamorgan Line is a commuter railway line in South Wales from Cardiff to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose and Llantwit Major. There are also branch lines to Penarth and Barry Island. As its names suggests, the line runs through the Vale of Glamorgan....
from Cardiff Central
Cardiff Central railway station
Cardiff Central railway station is a major railway station on the South Wales Main Line in Cardiff, Wales.It is the largest and busiest station in Wales and one of the major stations of the British rail network, the tenth busiest station in the United Kingdom outside of London , based on 2007/08...
to Bridgend
Bridgend railway station
Bridgend railway station is a mainline railway station serving the town of Bridgend, South Wales. It is located approximately halfway between Cardiff Central and Swansea at the point where the Maesteg Line diverges from the South Wales Main Line, and is the western terminus of the Vale of...
via Barry
Barry railway station
Barry railway station is one of 3 stations in the town of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan in Wales. It is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line, which runs from Cardiff Central to Bridgend via Barry, Rhoose, and Llantwit Major...
, Rhoose Cardiff International Airport
Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station
Rhoose Cardiff International Airport railway station is a railway station that serves the village of Rhoose and Cardiff Airport. A dedicated shuttle bus connects this station with the airport terminal building....
and Llantwit Major
Llantwit Major railway station
Llantwit Major railway station serves the small town of Llantwit Major in South Wales. It is located on the Vale of Glamorgan Line, 29 km west of Cardiff Central towards Bridgend via Barry and Rhoose...
, with branch lines serving Penarth
Penarth railway station
Penarth railway station is the railway station serving the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It is the terminus of the Penarth branch of the Vale of Glamorgan Line 4¼ miles south of Cardiff Central.-The busy years:...
and Barry Island
Barry Island railway station
Barry Island railway station is a railway station, fifteen kilometres south-west of Cardiff Central, serving Barry Island in Wales...
.
Cardiff Bus
Cardiff Bus
Cardiff Bus is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. Its hub is Cardiff central bus station...
operates the following services in the area:
- 1 City Circle towards Canton
- 2 City Circle towards Cardiff Bay
- 8 (Central Stn-Roath-Heath-University Hospital Wales) or (Cardiff Bay)
- 9/9A (Central Stn-Roath-Heath-University Hospital Wales) or (Cardiff International Sports Village) / (Channel View)
- 92 from Penarth Road (Penarth)
- 93/94 from Penarth Road (Penarth-Barry)
Penarth Road (A4160
A4160 road
The A4160 is the old road connecting central Penarth with Cardiff in Wales, although now the A4055 and A4232 has subsequently become the main route from Penarth to central Cardiff and Cardiff Bay...
) is the main road running through the area northeastbound to Cardiff city centre
Cardiff city centre
Cardiff city centre is the central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bounded by the River Taff to the west, the Civic centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations - Central and Queen Street - to the south and east respectively...
and southwest bound to Llandough
Llandough
Llandough is a village and southern suburb of Cardiff, in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.- Location :...
, Dinas Powys
Dinas Powys
Dinas Powys is a large village and a community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales which takes its name from the Dinas Powys hillfort that dates from the Iron Age...
, Penarth
Penarth
Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
and Barry. The Ferry Road Interchange on the Grangetown Link Road (A4232)
A4232 road
The A4232, which is also known either as the Peripheral Distributor Road or the Cardiff Link Road , is a distributor road in Cardiff, the capital of Wales....
links to the M4 J33 (Cardiff West)
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
.
TV and Film
The parish church of St Paul, Paget Street, was used as the location for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's 'Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
' series entitled Father's Day. In the story the church is attacked by monsters called 'Reapers' while a wedding is about to commence. Filming took place on location in November 2004.