Clock Tower, Cardiff Castle

Some people may think this article is far-fetched in our Comenius Project.

Also why am I writing and publishing this article ?

The main reason is that in each of our towns there’s a Tower. Secondly, during our third project meeting in Cardiff, in October2010, we as teachers were staying in a hotel, opposite this most famous landmark of the Welsh capital.

So every day we walked at least 2 or 3 times past this magnificent Victorian construction, part of Cardiff Castle.

Philippe, the French coordinator, took many, many photos with his particularly performing camera.

Once back home I started studying the photos, and researching the Internet to know more about this Clock returned in January 2006 to its original beauty after a two-year-long restoration. The restoration project was managed by Cardiff Council,

Restoration Clock Tower

Cardiff Council, 2006

and executed by "Hirst Conservation"

Hirst Conservation

Newsletter 2006

Here’s my comment on Philippe’s pictures with the information I found.

This 132-foot-high, seven-storeyd tower stands in the south-west angle and was built on top of a Roman bastion between 1869 and 1873 by the British architect William Burges.

Wiliam Burgess worked for John Patrick Crichton-Stuart (1847-1900), the third Marquess of Bute

and immensely rich owner of Cardiff Castle at that time. The Marquess was very much interested in astrology and Medieval Art; William Burges was a strong defender of a British Victorian style, named Gothic Revival.

On each of the four faces of the tower there are 5 heraldic shields

five heraldic shields beneath

gold-leaved windows

Lion on the arms of Crichton

above a huge cast-iron clock.

Each clock is flanked by oversized, nine-foot high, very colourful statues, representing the seven planets and their corresponding Roman gods, dressed in medieval costumes.

Thomas Nicholls started carving the statues in 1869 and in 1873 they were painted for the first time.

Each figure stands on a pedestal and holds an attribute relating to their signs of the Zodiac. Those are the Zodiac signs governed by each planet.

This picture of 16th-century illustrations of the zodiac signs, will help you to clearly distinguish the gilded statues below the pedestals and the names of the planets.

Zodiac signs

16th century illustrations

For the restoration hundreds of books of 233/4 karat gold leaf were necessary.

On the West Wall there are Saturn and Jupiter.

West Wall: Saturn on the left, Jupiter on the right

Saturn, the second largest planet, father of Jupiter, is the Roman God for Agriculture (is he holding a sickle in his right hand ?), whose Zodiac sign is Capricorn, you can see under his name.

Jupiter, the largest planet, son of Saturn, is the supreme god of the Roman pantheon; his Zodiac sign is Pisces. Jupiter is believed to rule both Moon and Sun and controls the movement of the planets. Jupiter is the ruler of the fire sign Sagittarius, he’s holding in his left hand. He’s often represented wearing a beard and holding a sceptre, here in his right hand.

On the South Wall there are Mars and Sol (Sun).

South Wall

Mars on the left, Sol (Sun) on the right.

Mars, the son of Jupiter, is the Roman God of War. Mars is portrayed as a warrior in battle armour, wearing a helmet and bearing a shield on which you can see a scorpion, one of his Zodiac signs, the other being Aries, you can see below the inscription Mars.

The planet Sol or Sun, whose Zodiac sign is Leo (Lion).

On the East Wall there are Venus and Mercury.

East Wall: Venus on the left, Mercury on the right

Venus, the daughter of Jupiter and the Roman goddess of love and beauty, has two Zodiac signs: Libra, you can see in the middle of her body,

Venus, East wall

and Taurus, below the inscription Venus. What exactly is she holding and looking at in her left hand ...... perhaps one of her many attributes: a hand-mirror, a golden apple ?

Mercury, the second smallest planet, rules both the Virgo Sun Sign and the sign of Gemini,

Mercury, East wall

you can see both Zodiac signs under the name Mercury.

East Wall: Venus and Mercury

North Wall: Luna (Moon)

The seventh planet, Luna, the Roman name for the personified goddess of the Moon (in her left hand), is on the North Wall.

Luna, North wall

Her Zodiac sign is Cancer, below her name. On the gilded plate in her right hand, you can see a farmer ?? with his dog.

On the North Wall there’s also an oak-tree to be seen, the arms of the third Marquess of Bute.

North face, oak-tree, arms third Marquess of Bute

At the top of the restored Clock Tower you can admire the gilded coronet.

gilded coronet beneath

weather van on top of the Clock Tower

Here’s another article about the Clock’s restoration, by BBC News:

BBC News

Marina Bureaud, project coordinator