View source for Butetown

{{Short description|District and community in Cardiff, Wales}}
{{about|the Cardiff district|the Caerphilly village|Bute Town}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2025}}
{{More references |date=November 2022 }}
{{Infobox UK place
| type = [[Community (Wales)|Community]]
| country = Wales
| coordinates = {{coord|51.467|-3.166|display=title|region:GB_scale:10000}}
| unitary_wales = [[Cardiff]]
| module=
{{Switcher
| [[File:2024 Wales Cardiff Community Butetown map.svg|240px]]
| Show map of the community
| [[File:Cardiff ward location - Butetown.png|240px]]
| Show map of the [[Butetown (electoral ward)|electoral ward]]
}}
}}

'''Butetown''' (or ''The Docks'', {{langx|cy|Tre-biwt}}) is a district and [[community (Wales)|community]] in the south of the city of [[Cardiff]], the capital of [[Wales]]. It was originally a model [[housing estate]] built in the early 19th century by [[John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute|the 2nd Marquess of Bute]], for whose title the area was named. 

Commonly known as "[[Tiger Bay]]", this area became one of the UK's first [[multicultural]] communities with people from over 50 countries settled here by the outbreak of the [[First World War]], working in the docks and allied industries. Some of the largest communities included the [[Somalis]], [[Yemenis in the United Kingdom|Yemenis]] and [[Greeks]], whose influence still lives on today. A [[Greek Orthodox]] church still stands at the top of [[Bute Street, Cardiff|Bute Street]]. 

It is known as one of the "five towns of Cardiff", the others being Crockherbtown, [[Grangetown, Cardiff|Grangetown]], [[Newtown, Cardiff|Newtown]] and [[Temperance Town, Cardiff|Temperance Town]]. 

The population of the ward and community taken at the [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 census]] was 10,125.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13696948&c=CF10+5GB&d=14&e=62&g=6498570&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1428240181396&enc=1 |title=Cardiff ward population 2011|access-date= 5 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411182322/https://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13696948&c=CF10+5GB&d=14&e=62&g=6498570&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1428240181396&enc=1 |archive-date=2015-04-11 }}</ref> It is estimated that the Butetown's population increased to 14,094 by 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Butetown (Ward, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/wales/wards/cardiff/W05000854__butetown/|access-date=2021-05-21|website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Muslim Community- Everyday Life in Butetown, Cardiff, Wales, UK, 1943 D15319.jpg|thumbnail|right|A school in Butetown in 1943]]

By 1911 the proportion of Cardiff's population that was black or Asian was second in the UK to London, though mainly concentrated in the dock areas such as Tiger Bay.<ref name="Llafur 1980 5">{{cite journal |last =Evans |first =Neil |title =The South Wales Race Riots of 1919 |journal =Llafur |volume =3 |issue =1 |pages =5–7 |publisher =Society for the Study of Welsh Labour History |date =Spring 1980 |language =en |url =https://journals.library.wales/view/1326508/1327139/0 |access-date =13 June 2020 |via=[[The National Library of Wales]] }}</ref> The district was one of the epicentres of the [[1919 South Wales race riots]], with eyewitnesses reporting six deaths instead of the official accounts of three, and with nearly all arrests made by the Cardiff police being of the local ethnic minority population instead of the white soldiers who had instigated the riots.

During World War II, local authorities attempted to ban Black American [[G.I.]]s from drinking in the city's pubs; however, pub staff refused to enforce the ban.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sullivan|first=Chris|url=https://bylinetimes.com/2020/08/05/lost-cities-how-cardiffs-thriving-multicultural-hub-was-crushed/|title=LOST CITIES: How Cardiff’s Thriving Multicultural Hub Was Crushed|date=2020-08-05|website=Byline Times}}</ref>

In the 1960s, most of the original housing was demolished including the historic [[Loudoun Square]], the original heart of Butetown. In its place was a typical 1960s housing estate of low-rise courts and alleys, and two high-rise blocks of flats.

In the 1980s, the new [[Atlantic Wharf]] development was built on the reclaimed West Bute Dock, and has involved the construction of some 1,300 new houses. Together with the developments in the Inner Harbour and Roath Basin, it was hoped this would spur redevelopment and employment in Butetown, but it seems not to have. The divide between the wealthy [[Cardiff Bay]] and the poor Tiger Bay seems as wide as ever, although some of the surviving areas of historic Butetown are becoming prime office and retail locations. With the new Century Wharf development to the west on the banks of the [[River Taff|Taff]], the housing estate is becoming a little 'boxed in', increasing feelings of exclusion. Over the next few decades, the 1960s housing will require renewal and it is hoped{{by whom |date=November 2022 }} that new development will be more suited to the urban context of the area and will provide a better mix of private and public housing to help fully integrate the community with the rest of the city.

A three-year £13m project to redevelop a shopping parade, community hub, health centre and homes in Butetown began in 2010. The Loudoun Square development will include environmental aspects such as harvesting rain water. The project is a collaboration between Cardiff Community Housing Association (CCHA), [[Cardiff Council]] and [[Cardiff and Vale University Health Board]]. The facilities and 62 new homes will follow four years of consultation with local residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10458686|title=£13m new look in city community|date=30 June 2010|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> In 2022 a well-known mural of Maimuna Yoncana on St James Street which celebrated Cardiff’s ethnic diversity was painted over with a McDonald's advert.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Outrage as iconic Cardiff mural painted over to make way for McDonald's ad|url=https://www.thenational.wales/news/19867702.cardiff-bay-city-shirt-diversity-mural-painted/|access-date=2022-01-22|website=The National Wales|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-22|title=McDonalds order repainting of iconic mural after row erupts|url=https://nation.cymru/culture/mcdonalds-order-repainting-of-iconic-mural-after-row-erupts/|access-date=2022-01-22|website=Nation.Cymru|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=John|date=2022-01-22|title=Iconic mural painted over to make way for McDonald's ad|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/butetown-mural-painted-over-mcdonalds-22840338|access-date=2022-01-22|website=WalesOnline|language=en}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
The [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 census]] included the following [[demographics|demographic]] information:<ref>[http://formerly.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872,3257,6571,6572&parent_directory_id=2865&id=13973 2011 Census Key Statistics – Butetown] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202185302/http://formerly.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872,3257,6571,6572&parent_directory_id=2865&id=13973 |date=2015-02-02 }}; accessed 2 February 2015.</ref>

*Overall population: 10,125
*White: 65.7%
*Black: 11.3%
*Asian: 9.7%
*Mixed Ethnicity: 5.7%
*Other Ethnic Groups: 7.7%

People identifying themselves as [[Welsh People|Welsh]]: 42.8%

==Welsh language==
The growth of the docks in the mid 19th century attracted a significant Welsh-speaking community to the area.<ref>The following two paragraphs are based on [[Simon Brooks]], ‘Tiger Bay a'r diwylliant Cymraeg’, ''Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion'', 2009, pp. 198–216 (available on-line [http://eincaerdydd.com/ein-llyfrgell/tiger-bay-ar-diwylliant-cymraeg/ here] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202195055/http://eincaerdydd.com/ein-llyfrgell/tiger-bay-ar-diwylliant-cymraeg/ |date=2015-02-02 }}). Accessed 2 February 2015.</ref> To serve this community three Welsh-language chapels were opened: Bethania, Loudon Square ([[Presbyterian Church of Wales|Calvinistic Methodist]]; opened 1853, closed 1937); Mount Stuart ([[Union of Welsh Independents|Congregationalist]]; opened 1858, relocated to Pomeroy Street in 1912); and Siloam, [[Mount Stuart Square]] ([[Baptist Union of Wales|Baptist]]; opened 1860, moved to [[Grangetown, Cardiff|Grangetown]] in 1902). A Welsh-speaking [[Church of England|Anglican]] church also opened in the area in 1856 (All Saints on Tyndall Street; Welsh language services moved elsewhere in 1870). One of the members of Butetown’s Welsh-speaking community was [[Evan Rees (Dyfed)]], a worker in the Bute Docks in the 1870s and a future [[Archdruid]] of Wales.<ref>Thomas Bowen, ''Dinas Caerdydd a'i Methodistiaeth Galfinaidd'' (Caerdydd, 1927), p. 81.</ref>

The 1891 census showed that 15% of Butetown’s population could speak Welsh, significantly higher than the Cardiff average of 10.7%.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} Some parts had a particularly high percentage, such as the Loudon Square/James Street area (28%). During the 20th century, however, the percentage declined, although Welsh-speakers remained a recognised part of the local community.<ref>Neil M. C. Sinclair, ''The Tiger Bay Story'' (Cardiff, 1997), pp. 58 and 129.</ref>

In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] it was recorded that 928 or 9.6% of Butetown residents (over 3 years old) could speak Welsh. This was a significant increase on the figures for the [[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 census]], which were 356 and 8.3%.<ref>[http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.org/English/Assistance/Dataandstatisitcs/Pages/2011CensusresultsbyCommunity.aspx Welsh Language Commissioner: 2011 Census results by Community] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022002038/http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.org/English/Assistance/Dataandstatisitcs/Pages/2011CensusresultsbyCommunity.aspx |date=2013-10-22 }}; accessed 24 January 2015.</ref>

==Transport==
[[File:Bute Street with rail line to right.jpg|thumb|Bute Street ''(left)'' and the [[Butetown Branch Line]] ''(right)'']]
The area is served by [[Cardiff Bay railway station]] with shuttle services every 12 minutes to [[Cardiff Queen Street railway station|Cardiff Queen Street]].
[[Cardiff Bus]] operates the 11 service to Pengam Green via [[Cardiff City Centre]], [[Splott]] and [[Tremorfa]] and the 35 service to Gabalfa via Central Stn and [[Cathays]]. It also on the 1/2 Bay Circle route connecting the area with [[Grangetown, Cardiff|Grangetown]], [[Canton, Cardiff|Canton]], [[Fairwater, Cardiff|Fairwater]], [[Llandaff]], [[Gabalfa]], [[Heath, Cardiff|Heath]], [[Cathays]], [[Roath]], [[Tremorfa]], [[Splott]] and the [[Cardiff city centre|City Centre]]. Butetown also enjoys the incorporating [[Cardiff Bay]], thus benefiting from its public transport opportunities such as the [[Baycar]] bus route.

[[Bute Street (Cardiff)|Bute Street]] and [[Lloyd George Avenue]], running parallel, link the area to the [[Cardiff city centre|city centre]]. Also, the [[A4232 road|A4232]] links it to [[Culverhouse Cross]] and the [[M4 motorway|M4 J33 Cardiff West]] to the west and to [[Adamsdown]] in the east.

==Government==
{{main|Butetown (electoral ward)}}
Butetown is both an [[ward (politics)|electoral ward]], and a [[community (Wales)|community]] of the [[City of Cardiff Council|City of Cardiff]].  There is no [[community council]] for the area. The [[Butetown (electoral ward)|electoral ward of Butetown]] is located in the parliamentary constituency of [[Cardiff South and Penarth (UK Parliament constituency)|Cardiff South and Penarth]].  It is bounded by the wards of [[Cathays (electoral ward)|Cathays]] and [[Adamsdown]] to the north; [[Splott (electoral ward)|Splott]] to the northeast; [[River Severn|Severn estuary]] to the southeast; and [[Grangetown, Cardiff|Grangetown]] to the west.

Since the [[2022 Welsh local elections]], the Butetown ward has been represented by Labour councillors Saeed Ebrahim, Helen Gunter and Margaret Lewis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Election results for Butetown, 5 May 2022 : Cardiff Council |url=https://cardiff.moderngov.co.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?ID=210&RPID=5818067&LLL=0 |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=cardiff.moderngov.co.uk}}</ref>

==Images of Butetown==
<gallery>
File:Nelson House, Butetown.jpg|{{center|Nelson House,<br />Butetown}}
File:Loudoun House, Butetown.jpg|{{center|Loudoun House,<br />Butetown}}
File:Cardiff Bay police station.jpg|{{center|[[Cardiff Bay Police Station]]}}
File:Queen's Gate Tunnel.jpg|{{center|Queen's Gate Tunnel (Butetown tunnel)}}
File:The A4232 road bridge over River Taff.jpg|{{center|Taff Viaduct<br />(Butetown Link Road)}}
File:HSBC Bank, Bute Street.jpg|{{center|HSBC Bank, Bute Street}}
File:ATW-153312-CardiffBay-02.jpg|{{center|[[Cardiff Bay railway station]]}}
File:Merchant Place (Cory’s Building).jpg|{{center|The former Cory’s Building}}
File:James Street, Cardiff.jpg|{{center| James Street}}
File:Džamija u Cardiffu.jpg|Islamic Centre in Butetown
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Butetown History and Art Centre]]
* [[Listed buildings in Cardiff Bay|Listed buildings in Butetown]]
* [[Sailortown (dockland)]]

==External links==
*{{cite web|title=Butetown: Industries and Buildings|url=http://orapweb.rcahms.gov.uk/coflein//R/RCEX_025_01.pdf|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{Cardiff}}
{{Communities of Cardiff}}

[[Category:Butetown| ]]
[[Category:Districts of Cardiff]]
[[Category:Communities in Cardiff]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 19th century]]