The original castle at Castell Coch is thought to have been constructed in the late 11th century. It was built to defend Cardiff and control the land around the river Taff. English nobleman, Gilbert de Clare, built a new castle between 1267 and 1277 to protect his land. This castle was probably destroyed in the native Welsh rebellion of 1314.

The site was acquired in 1766 by John Stuart, the 4th Earl of Bute and later the 1st Marquis of Bute, when he married Lady Charlotte Windsor. John Crichton-Stuart, the 3rd Marquis of Bute inherited the castle in 1848. Lord Bute met William Burges in 1865 and they began their long collaboration with Cardiff Castle. In 1871, Bute asked his chief Cardiff engineer, John McConnochie, to excavate and clear the castle ruins. Bute commissioned Burges to rebuild the castle in a Gothic Revival style. The construction took place between 1875 and 1879. [1271]

Castell Coch, near Cardiff, a thirteenth-century castle ruin, situated on a steep, rocky, well-wooded scarp beside the gorge of the river Taff, with a magnificent view of the Glamorgan sea-plain and the Bristol Channel, is unique in the series of monuments here reviewed . It was completely restored in 1875, for the third Marquis of Bute, by William Burges (1827-81) ,a distinguished architect steeped in the Gothic tradition.

Because of this, it vividly illustrates, in small compass, a characteristic early medieval combination of dignity and defensive strength. Dignity, manifest in the great Tower, the arched Entry and the elaborately decorated and furnished quarters of the Castellan ; strength in massive unbreached walling, in rock-cut moat and drawbridge easily raised, and in the complete provision for active defence by arrow-storm from tower, gate and curtain.

The peaked roofs of Rhenish character, with patterned leadwork and gilt finials, the heraldry, and the gaily painted woodwork of bridge, shuttered embrasures and stairs, accentuate the scholarly romanticism of the whole reconstruction. Nineteenth-century work in this field of endeavour is here seen at its best. - Ancient monuments in care of the Ministry of Public Building and Works; illustrated regional guide v.4 rev. (1954) [1272] [499]

Castle Coch - A lithographic view of the castle on the sides of the 1,007 feet (307 m) high Garth mountain taken from Rock's Royal Cardiff Cabinet Album (published between 1884 and 1896) which is held within the Penarth Dock Collection. [001]

Vineyard at Castle Coch, Cardiff, South Wales : The Vineyard at Castle Coch was planted in the spring of 1875, on the French system, as practised in the neighbourhood of Paris, Burgundy, and in the Champagne district. The Vineyard lies to the south of the Castle, at a somewhat lower level, with a gentle slope to the south, and from the nature of the ground, it requires no artificial drainage. The soil, two feet deep, is a light fibrous loam, resting on limestone rock. The Vines are planted in rows from north to south, three feet apart, and the plants are three feet apart in the rows, and trained to stakes four feet high, and pruned to within three buds of the previous year's growth every year.

The first wine was made in 1877. The crop was not a heavy one, but sufficient to make about forty gallons of wine. In 1878 the crop of Grapes was better, but in the two following years it was a complete failure, owing to the cold, wet and sunless summer of 1879, in which the canes did not ripen. There was a good crop in 1881, the wine was of the best quality, and pronounced by the Fruit Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society to resemble a first-class still champagne. The whole of the vintage (except a few dozen) was sold readily at 60s. per dozen. The years 1882 and 1883 were complete failures, in which no wine was made ; but since 1884 more or less wine has been made every year.

In the Jubilee year (1887) the vintage produced nine hogsheads of excellent wine ; the crop was the largest and best ripened since the Vines were planted. Lord Bute is so far satisfied with the results of the experiment, that he has begun planting a large Vineyard on his estate at Swanbridge, and a smaller one at St. Quentin's, near Cowbridge, with the idea of further experimenting upon the soil and situation best adapted for the cultivation of the Vine in the open air in South Wales. The variety found to prove the sturdiest and to answer best is named Gamay Noir, a variety which is grown largely in the south of France for wine making. - Vines and Vine Culture. 1892 [1273] [499]