Kits We'd Like To See - Castell Coch

Kits We'd Like To See - Castell Coch Part 1
by Martyn Griffiths

Illustrations as credited*

We have a lovely topic for this month's "New Like to See" (yes, despite contrary rumour the "Like to See"s are a continuing series!) Actually more so than usually; this month will be an introduction to this subject, while next month we will present a gallery of photo reference material.

There are of course many, many excellent paper models of European castles, but the same is sadly not true of British castles (which admittedly are mostly in ruins). In fact, there are relatively few kits of truly mediaeval castles of any nationality, since most of the European kits represent post-mediaeval castles, or ones so heavily updated in later times that they retain relatively little of their original character (cf. the articles in this and previous issues by Mike Stamper and Ricardo Leite on Erkotyp kits). Most British castles that aren't in ruins remain residences, and have also been updated over the centuries, often losing their much of their essential "castleness" in the process. So, it's fairly rare to find a habitable castle that retains truly mediaeval features. Castell Coch is one such, albeit that it is in fact mostly a 19th century reconstruction! However it is a tasteful and attractive reconstruction and an ideal subject for a paper model of a British castle.

Picture 1 � Castle courtyard�� Picture 2 - Exterior in 1870s

The castle is situated just outside Cardiff, capital city of Wales, and was built as a summer residence on ruined 13th century foundations by John Patrick Crichton Stuart, the Marquis of Bute (and reputedly the richest man in Britain, or indeed the world, at that time). The work was carried out from the mid 1870s to plans by the great mediaevalist architect and designer William Burges. Burges was a contemporary and friend of many members of the Pre-Raphaelites, and was in effect to architecture what they were to art. Sadly, though he lived to see the exterior largely completed he died in 1881, ten years before the work was finally completed. He would have seen little of his interior scheme realized by then.

Notably, Bute and Burges concurred on a more conservative (even quasi-archaeological) approach than was common for this sort of thing at the time. They therefore made few changes to the discernible plan of the Gilbert de Clare's original building, and their efforts could be praised as a model of sensitive reconstruction, maintaining the essential martial nature of the building. External changes included alteration of the main curtain wall to a more curved plan, and Burges did deviate from accepted British practice (flat-roofed towers) in giving the rebuilt towers attractive French-style conical roofs. Even here he argued there was historical justification, but this may well have simply been a gloss for what he really wanted to do; either way we can be grateful as the result is spectacular.

Picture 3 � Re-roofing in the 1970s��Picture 4 - Entrance and drawbridge

Picture 5 � Curtain-wall gallery��Picture 6 - Castle from below

Internally, it was another story. As with their other great collaboration at Cardiff Castle, Bute and Burgess here gave full reign to their considerable imaginations. The interior is a riot of ornate pseudo-mediaeval decoration of the Pre-Raphaelite variety (including a great deal of specially-made furniture, sculpture and wall paintings etc) that has to be seen to be believed. A visit is highly recommended if you're ever in the Cardiff area! The castle is now in the hands of Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments, and is open to visitors. If you carry on a few miles further in the same direction, you will also see the ruins of Caerphilly Castle, one of the largest and most spectacular in Britain.)

Picture 7 � A page from the Castell Coch Report

As part of his commission, Burges produced a beautiful volume of architectural drawings and reporting on the existing structure of the castle, plus proposals for its reconstruction. This is a scan of one of the pages, reprinted in the Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments guidebook. Modellers beware! These elevations may be taken as a general guide for the heights of towers etc, but many details of roofs, chimneys, windows etc changed in the process of realization. (If anyone can point me to any book containing good reproductions of plates from the Report, I'll be eternally grateful!)

Picture 8 � Another page, showing 'actual state' versus 'proposed reconstruction'.

For example, the large turret shown here on the main tower was never constructed. Also, the double-angle roof in the previous view was built as a single, narrow cone instead, without the timber 'hoardings' and with the battlements left exposed. Then again, some features not shown were built, including one later demolished. This was a small rooftop chapel, visible in the black and white 1870s photo above, which seems to have been removed before the 1900s. Another point for modellers to note is that the roof tiles (replaced in the early 1970s) are now a grey-green colour, but were originally red. So, a model including the chapel should only have a red roof, but a model without it may have either the red or green roof (a model could easily include options for with/without chapel, and red or green roof tiles).

Picture 9 � Floor plans (copyright Cadw)

Being a small castle (only about 50 metres across at its widest point), it could be modelled in a large scale with good detail, eg 1/72 would result in a model about 69 cm across the 'diagonal'. Note that all these images are quite a bit larger than shown here, if you save them to your desktop (or save the whole webpage) then you should find they're adequate reference material when viewed in Photoshop, ACDSee etc.

That's all we have space for this month. Next month we'll conclude this article with a gallery of reference photographs of the castle, some 'as-built' elevation drawings and some pictures of non-paper models. See you in a month!

* Photo credits: all images on this page are from the excellent Castell Coch guidebook by Sally Rousham from Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. A new version by David McLees is available from the castle or from Cadw at http://www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/publications/page001e.html A snip at only a couple of pounds! (I have a stack of these little books and they are absolutely excellent value. Most are full colour, often with excellent new artwork, floor plans, contemporary paintings, etc etc - unbeatable reference for individual Welsh monuments - recommended!)