Temperance Town, Cardiff

Temperance Town
Country	Wales
City	Cardiff
Established	1860s

Temperance Town, Cardiff, was the unofficial name for a working-class inner-city suburb established in the 1860s and demolished in the 1930s to make way for Cardiff Bus Station.

History

Temperance Town was built on reclaimed land next to the River Taff. The land was owned by Colonel Edward Wood, a teetotaller, who imposed a condition on the developer that the sale of alcohol would be not be allowed - hence the district's name.

Development took place in the early 1860s. Schools were opened in January, 1879 and a church, St Dyfrig's, was built in 1888. The main street, Wood Street was filled with shops and other businesses. The large Temperance Hall was eventually converted to a Congregational church.

In the years up to the 1930s, Cardiff's prosperity had been reduced by the decline in coal exports and conditions in Temperance Town had deteriorated, with resultant poverty and over-crowding. In 1930, the Great Western Railway built a new station on the edge of the district and the railway company was concerned that a clearly poor district would affect its business. It persuaded the Cardiff Corporation (the local authority) to improve the area and, albeit without consultation with the inhabitants, the Cardiff Corporation Act 1934 provided the necessary powers. The redevelopment plans included new public facilities such as a bus station.

The Corporation rehoused Temperance Town's residents elsewhere in better housing elsewhere in the city and the district's demolition started in late 1937.

In the event, World War II delayed redevelopment. The bus station opened in 1954 and a widened Wood Street was lined with offices and shops. In 1958, a swimming pool, the Wales Empire Pool, was built for the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, in the same year.

See also

• Temperance Towns, other settlements built by followers of the Temperance movement

Sources

Fisk, Stephen (June 2009). "Abandoned Communities - Temperance Town". Retrieved 19 Aug 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)