The East Wall

From the East Gate southward, the wall took another inexplicable course. It seems that the next section may have been built from the Cock’s Tower, located further south, towards the East Gate. Just before it reached the latter, cartographic evidence suggests that the wall was not in alignment with the gate (30). In order to join the two together, another short section of wall had to be introduced at yet another angle. Continuing from the Cock’s Tower, the east wall veered sharply south westerly before sweeping around once again in an arc to meet the South Gate. The final section is the most unusual one. It swings out from the latter and arches towards the river. In situ observation suggests that an elevation at this spot was used to raise the building and its adjoining wall above the prevailing flood level.

Unfortunately, the thickness of the wall remains largely a matter for conjecture. Tiles marking the former position of the town wall in St.David’s Shopping Center and in Queen’s Street suggest a thickness of eight and a half to ten feet (or two and a half to three meters). The tiles marking the former position of the wall in the multi-storey car park in Quay Street are only four and a half feet (or one and a half meters) wide. They are thought to have been part of the old Town Quay. Unfortunately, actual measurements – if they were taken during the excavations – were never published and can therefore not be verified. Measurements of the former earthen embankment are also unknown. The latter appears to have been lost on the western side of town first, i.e. before or in the 16^th century, where the development of real estate was well advanced. On the eastern side remnants survived into the middle of the 20^th century.

From the 18th century onward the decline of Cardiff’s town wall progressed rapidly. It collapsed in sections due to neglect and its stones were used as building material for other purposes in the town. In 1839, one John Rees was convicted for having demolished a portion of the town wall. He was charged to pay an annual rent of 1 guinea for his misdemeanor (31). In fact, it had become fair practice by then to lease sections of the wall to burgesses, thus speeding up the disappearance of the structure. Some of the wall material was used quite legitimately to support the Glamorganshire Canal embankment. In 1890, one of the last surviving portions was photographed at the rear of an old Infant School in the Hayes, opposite Hill Street (32). Now in 2000, the very last remaining section of Cardiff’s once so proud town wall stands in an alley behind Queen Street shopping center. It is approximately nineteen feet (or five and three quarter meters) long, four feet (or one and a quarter meters) thick and about ten feet (or three meters) high. It bears the historical blue-plaque for the North Gate, which might preserve it for a little longer.

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