Clock Tower, Cardiff Castle, Wales

Image: © David Hallam-Jones Taken: 14 Aug 2018

Whilst a young man of 21 years, John, the 3rd Marquess of Bute engaged architect William Burges to undertake the remodelling of the castle. The two men shared a passion for medieval Gothic Revivalism and this, combined with Bute's huge financial resources, enabled Burges to rebuild the property on a grand scale. It seems that work began in 1868 with the construction of the 150-foot (46 m) high Clock Tower. The tower, built to house a suite of bachelor's rooms comprising a bedroom, a servant's room and summer and winter smoking rooms was a re-working of a design that Burges had previously used in an unsuccessful competition entry for the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The two storey- high summer smoking room that rests at the top of the structure has an internal balcony that gives views of the Cardiff Docks, the Bristol Channel, and the Glamorgan countryside.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0