Butetown is a district and community in the south of the city ofCardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by 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 and Greeks, whose influence still lives on today. A Greek Orthodox church still stands at the top of Bute Street. It is known as one of the "five towns of Cardiff", the others being Crockherbtown, Grangetown, Newtown and Temperance Town. The population of the ward and community taken at the 2011 census was 10,125.
Development
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 poorTiger 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 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 that new development will be more suitable of 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, Cardiff Council and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. The facilities and 62 new homes will follow four years of consultation with local residents.
Demographics
The 2011 census included the following demographic information:
The growth of the docks in the mid 19th century attracted a significant Welsh-speaking community to the area. To serve this community three Welsh-language chapels were opened: Bethania, Loudon Square ; Mount Stuart ; and Siloam, Mount Stuart Square. A Welsh-speaking Anglican church also opened in the area in 1856. One of the members of Butetown’s Welsh-speaking community was Evan Rees, a worker in the Bute Docks in the 1870s and a future Archdruid of Wales. The 1891 census showed that 15% of Butetown’s population could speak Welsh, significantly higher than the Cardiff average of 10.7%. Some parts had a particularly high percentage, such as the Loudon Square/James Street area. During the 20th century, however, the percentage declined, although Welsh-speakers remained a recognised part of the local community. In the 2011 census it was recorded that 928 or 9.6% of Butetown residents could speak Welsh. This was a significant increase on the figures for the 2001 census, which were 356 and 8.3%.
Butetown is both an electoral ward, and a community of the City of Cardiff. There is no community council for the area. The electoral ward of Butetown is located in the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth. It is bounded by the wards of Cathays and Adamsdown to the north; Splott to the northeast; Severn estuary to the southeast; and Grangetown to the west. On Cardiff Council, the Butetown ward has been represented since 2017 by Cllr Saeed Ebrahim.
