James has been working in Cardiff for a few months so I checked the Ricardian connections to see when visiting. The city is currently on TV a lot as it features in Torchwood, a spin-off from Doctor Who, which is also filmed there. Compulsive viewing for us!

Richard was Lord of Cardiff and Glamorgan, to fill the vacuum left by Warwick’s death. Inside the castle, his portrait hangs above a doorway. Next to it is a Victorian stained glass window made by the architect William Burges, showing King Richard III with his wife Anne Neville. The next window contains Elizabeth of York and Henry VII. Unfortunately you can’t take photographs inside the castle, and there wasn’t a postcard of the window on sale in the shop. So it’s a good job there’s a reproduction of the glass in Michael Hicks’ book Richard III, in the colour section of illustrations.

We had to pay to have a guided tour of the castle as you’re not allowed to wander round by yourself. Our guide didn’t mention the glass but I was busy looking out for it all the time. It was where the tour finished so while everyone else was leaving, I was gazing upwards at Richard’s portrait and the glass! You can wander round the grounds and go into the keep on your own though.

Our tour was through the house which dates from 1420, but you’d never believe it to look at it, as it was transformed by William Burges into a Gothic revival fantasy after 1866. The Butes had owned the castle for a century. They turned Cardiff into a major port, and themselves into wealthy citizens.

Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, built the hall block and tower in the 1420's. He married the heiress to the castle, Isabel Despenser, in 1423 in Hanley Castle. Their daughter Anne married Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, and their daughter Anne married Richard III.

Our tour took us through most of the rooms decorated by William Burges for the Marquis of Bute in the 1860's, and they are gorgeously decorated. Every surface is painted and gilded.

In the banqueting hall, the stone chimneypiece represents Cardiff Castle. Peering out of the dungeon cell is the Duke of Normandy who was imprisoned in the castle until his death in 1134. He’s buried in Gloucester Cathedral.

Afterwards we had a delicious lunch in the castle restaurant then explored the keep, which still looks like part of a medieval castle.

See the article in “Dickon Independent” issue 58 pages 4 - 5 for other local places of interest with Ricardian connections.

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