In 1865 William Burges (1827 – 1881) met the 3rd Marquess of Bute, John Patrick Crichton – Stuart (1847 – 1900) and together they created the wonderful Cardiff Castle as we see it today.

There had been a building on the site since Roman times, in fact the beautiful clock tower is built over the site of a Roman Bastion and was completed in 1875.

At the time The 3rd Lord Bute was reputed to be as wealthy as Queen Victoria. The talented Gothic Revival architect William Burges had the most incredible imagination. In Lord Bute William Burges had found a man who had the wealth to enable Burges to created the most wonderful Neo Gothic castle, creating buildings, interiors, furnishings and fabrics.

I had for many years wanted to see what William Burges had created in Cardiff Castle, and on a recent visit to Cardiff I explored the Castle and took a guided tour, which was wonderful, I can only urge you to do the same.

I found William Burges through my love of Victorian designers, William Morris being my favourite, and I was struck by the close link between the two men who were both medievalists.