Castell Coch is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales.

The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081 to protect the newly conquered town
of Cardiff. The castle's earth motte was reused by Gilbert de Clare as the basis for a new stone fortification,
built between 1267 and 1277. John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, inherited the castle ruins in 1848.
One of Britain's wealthiest men, he employed the architectWilliam Burges to reconstruct the castle as a
summer residence. Burges rebuilt the outside before his death in 1881, and the interior work was finished by
his team in 1891; it featured elaborate decorations including extensive use of symbolism drawing
on classical mythologyand legendary themes. Crichton-Stuart planted a vineyard just below the castle,
where wine production continued until the First World War. In 1950 his grandson, the 5th Marquess of Bute,
placed the property into the care of the state. Castell Coch is considered to be one of the best surviving
examples of Victorian architecture. (Full article...)

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