The libraries in the old parish of Roath
Map of the libraries of Roath and surrounding areas:
ADAMSDOWN LIBRARY
Adamsdown Library was established in the former Adamsdown cemetery chapel in 1950. By the late 1960s it was reported to be in a poor condition and beyond economic repair. It was scheduled to be closed on March 31st 1968, and the Libraries Committee proposed that it be demolished as soon as possible after closure. In the event the building and contents were destroyed in a fire on March 29th.
Painting – The Ten Acre Field, Cardiff by Alexander Wilson shows two gentleman standing outside the Adamsdown Cemetery Chapel (facing the road that later became Moira Terrace) – on display at the Cardiff Story Museum. Adamsdown Cemetery Mortuary Chapel. Aerial shot: Welsh Government RAF shot 1956.
CAPEL I BAWB LIBRARY
Capel i Bawb Library at Cardiff Royal Infirmary (pic credit Stride Treglown)
In March 2022 the former Cardiff Royal Infirmary Chapel was opened as ‘Capel i Bawb’. The former chapel has been converted into a library, health and wellbeing information and advice centre, meeting spaces, IT suite and also houses the Aroma Café. It was a joint project between Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and Cardiff Council. The architects involved in the conversion were Stride Treglown.
CATHAYS LIBRARY
A winter scene at Cathays Library in around 1914
The old parish boundary of Roath ran down the middle of Fairoak and Crwys Roads so this library was always just outside Roath but it is such an iconic building in the area that it is included on this page. It is a Grade II* listed building and one of the 2,500 Carnegie libraries, financed by the American businessman Andrew Carnegie.
Preceding the current library there was a Cathays Branch Reading Room which was opened in May 1890. It initially containing 300 books and had an assistant librarian.
The current library was constructed between 1906-7, though the panel above the main door is inscribed 1906. The building is in a Arts & Crafts Gothic style, designed by Cardiff architects Speir & Bevan. It has a generous single storey in a ‘butterfly’ plan, with two main wings parallel to Whitchurch Road and Fairoak Road. The front gable ends have large windows each divided into four lights. The building’s central entrance section has a narrow octagonal tower above it, with a leaded spire.
Cathays Branch and Heritage Library to give it it’s proper current title is also important from a local history point of view as it houses Cardiff’s heritage and local studies collections, an invaluable resource for local historians. Currently not open on a Friday.
PEN-Y-LAN LIBRARY
Pen-y-lan Library was originally called Roath Park Library. It opened on 18 July 1956. The building wasn’t new but had been used previously probably for wartime use then recreational use. The building had been called the Roath Park Recreation Centre and was used by local societies and theatre groups. The formal appropriation of the site to library purposes was approved by the Parks Committee in 1970. The name was later changed to Pen-y-lan Library.
It reopened on 25 April 2009 after being closed for several months in order to refurbish and renovate the building, which cost £2 million to complete.
ROATH LIBRARY
The Roath Library opened in 1901, replacing earlier reading rooms in Clifton Street and Stacey Road. The foundation stone had been laid in July 1900 by councilor S A Brain, owner of the Brains brewery. The Roath Branch Library was designed by architects Teather & Wilson and built between 1900 and 1901 on a triangular site bounded by Newport Road, Four Elms Road and Clifton Street. It cost of £2,480 to build and was able to accommodate 11,000 books. At the opening the library was presented with a picture of what the site had previously looked like with the four elm trees present. In 1910 it was converted into an open-access library which enabled members of the public to select books direct from the shelves themselves. The red brick building with bathstone dressing was closed in 1937 for eight months, modernized and extended eastwards. A feature of the extension was a children’s reading room. The building was also completely refurbished in 1992/3. In 1997 the library building became Grade II listed, as a good example of its type. In the early 2010s the library was threatened with closure. It closed in Nov 2014 for repairs but never reopened. Deeply embedded in its triangular garden is the ancient milestone probably dating from the 1760s ‘From the Town Hall in Cardiff, 1 mile’. Maps appear to indicate that the milestone was originally on the northern side of Newport Road, previously known as Roath Road.
Roath Local History Society 