SUBURBS

Introduction to the suburb history pages.

Many people don't give a thought as to why their street has an unusual name, or what the origins of their estate are, which is a shame because so much history can be gleaned from these reminders of long ago. Why does Cardiff have such an abundance of parkland compared to other cities in the UK? Why do so many of Cardiff's suburbs overlap each other? Where was Temperance Town? If Cardiff Castle is 2,000 years old, why doesn't it look its age? These questions and many more are hopefully answered in the suburb history pages.

Using a mixture of books, video, images, maps and online resources, I have compiled a brief history page for each of the major suburbs in Cardiff.

It's easy to take one author's research as read. But if you spend time digging deeper into history books, documents and manuscripts, you may have encountered many non-specific generalisations of Cardiff's history, with conflicting facts and figures.

In writing these pages I've strived to take into account the different versions of Cardiff's history that are available on and off-line. It has been my aim to provide information that is referenced and correct, and present it in a style that is easy to read and navigate.

I wanted to avoid what other websites have done (copying reams of text from books and other sites) and introduce my own take on the history of Cardiff, so I have tried to remain objective. Details about smaller areas are contained within their 'parent' suburb. e.g. Lakeside is covered in Cyncoed, which slightly overlaps a small part of Roath, whilst Danescourt is part of Llandaf, even though it was built on land in Radyr.

As you browse, you will begin to learn about the smaller districts in the bigger suburbs. To view a summary of the area's history, please select it from the list below.

Whether you're a fellow historian, or you just have a passing interest, I truly hope that you find the pages interesting and informative.