What are you looking for?
The Library is in the oldest part of the Castle’s residential building, it once formed part of the fifteenth century Great Hall built by Richard Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick.
It had actually been two separate rooms until the 1870s, when the new Banqueting Hall was installed above and work began on creating a Library for the 3rd Marquess of Bute.
Admission to the Library is included with your Castle Ticket, or you can find out more by joining a guided tour.
Take a virtual look around the Library at Cardiff Castle.
The decorations in this room are appropriately themed on literature and language. On the chimneypiece above the fireplace we see five carved figures, each holding a tablet bearing script in Greek, Hebraic, Assyrian, Hieroglyphics and Runic. The red and gold walls are embellished by the addition of putti, each one carries the name of one of Lord Bute’s favourite authors, including Shakespeare and Molière.
We are very fortunate that the Library still contains the original Burges bookcases and tables. Designed and made especially for this interior, the furniture is covered with carved and inlaid decoration produced by Lord Bute’s own workshops. The two library tables also conceal radiators of the Castle’s central heating system, a very modern innovation at the time.
