Roath, Splott and Adamsdown: One Thousand Years of History

This is an account of three discrete districts of south-east Cardiff and their evolution through 1,000 years of history. From their pre-Norman origins to their emergence as thriving suburbs in the early twentieth century, the volume focuses on manorial society and economy, the growth of population, trade and industrial development, social structure and community leadership and the area’s transformation from a rural setting to a sophisticated, mature urban and commercial environment. Subjects covered include life in medieval times; seventeenth-century society as viewed through the personal testimonies of inhabitants; nineteenth-century estates; farms and families; urban and industrial development in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and the growth of religion and education. The origins and changing nature of place-names are also explored and the volume ends with an examination of the nature of the communities today.