cardiff roofscape

a georgian country house was turned into a victorian dream of chivalry by william burges, using the finances of the fellow romantic the marquis of bute, who wanted to clothe his ancestral coal and iron docks at cardiff with a glamour that only the middle ages could supply. billy burges grafted his visions onto real mediaeval stock, which flowered in spectacular interiors and skylines like this, his imagination fed by his deep knowledge of the architecture and decorative techniques of the gothic period.