Splott

 

Splott

Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	Maps for ST200767
Geography
Total populatio]	12,074 (2001 census)
Post office and telephone
Post town:	CARDIFF
Postal district:	CF24
Dialling code:	029
Administration
Local council:	Cardiff Council
CAS code:	{{{CASCode}}}
Number of councillors:	3
Politics
Welsh Assembly:	Cardiff South & Penarth
UK Parliament:	Cardiff South & Penarth
European Parliament:	Wales

Splott (Welsh: Y Sblot) is a district in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. Splott is characterised by its once vast steelworks and rows of tightly knit terraced houses. The suburb of Splott falls into the Splott electoral ward.

The name is from Old English splott "speck, blot, patch (of land)," which is also the source of place names in the Vale of Glamorgan, Gower, and Pembrokeshire. Fanciful suggestions for the origin of the name have included a truncation of "God's Plot", as the land belonged to the Bishop of Llandaff in medieval times, and a derivation of plat, meaning a grassy area of land.

The population of Splott in the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 12,074, in 5,101 households of which only 183 are detached homes. Of the 8,221 adults in the area, only 1,000 have the lowest category of qualifications (Level 1 or below).

History

Splott is a traditional part of the City of Cardiff. Its name refers to the Welsh word for allotments which was the use of the area prior to its conversion to housing. Most of the housing stock is Victorian in origin built during the expansion of the City's iron and steel industry to house workers in these factories.

The early history of Splott is given in the Cardiff Records. Splott was anciently held by the Bawdrips of Penmark. It consisted mainly of two farms, called the Upper and Lower Splott, situated between Roath Village and the sea.

• 1440 - the Splott is mentioned as bounding certain lands of Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Worcester and Warwick.
• 1596 - William Bawdrippe of Penmark built a fair house at the Splott and made it his chief residence.
• 1626 - William Bawdrip of Splott was Member of Parliament for Cardiff. He sold Penmark and Splott to Sir Edward Lewis of the Van.
• 1638 - Sir Edward Lewis of the Van died.
• 1740 - the Llandaff Survey of this year mentions a chief rent of four shillings as payable in respect of Splott Farm in Roath.

No residential or industrial development took place in the area, however, until the end of the 19th century. In 1880 the whole area between Cardiff and the Bristol Channel (known as East Moors) was marshland, apart from the farms of Pengam and Splott. Residential development started in the 1880s, constructing streets, houses, shops, taverns and Board Schools; subsequently, Churches were built by various denominations. Splott park opened in 1901.

Inevitably there have been many changes in the years since Splott was first developed. Portmanmoor Road is now an industrial estate and its former Victorian era housing was demolished along with adjoining Enid Street, Layard Street, and Menelaus Street which no longer exist.

There is a strong community focus and this is centred around churches, schools, pubs and sporting teams. Roman Catholics remain well catered for through St. Albans and the associated school. This continues to produce rugby teams of all age groups which compete in city leagues. Splott University Settlement was one the most successful British baseball teams, winning the Welsh League title several times.

People

Wilson Street, Splott

• John Humphrys, British Radio and Television presenter was born in Splott on 17 August 1943.

• Shirley Bassey originated from nearby Tiger Bay, but moved to Splott at the age of two and attended Moorland Primary School and Splott Secondary Modern School.

• Clive Sullivan (Welsh rugby league player) grew up in Splott.

• Helen Raynor, writer of the Torchwood episode 'Ghost Machine', which is also largely set there, lives in Splott.

• Lynn Bowles, the morning traffic reporter on BBC Radio 2 was born in Splott.

Popular culture

Farmville Road, Splott

Splott is featured in the third episode ("Ghost Machine") of the BBC science fiction drama and Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, which is set in Cardiff. It is also mentioned somewhat humorously in other episodes, due to its English pronunciation, which was referred to as "SP-LO-T" but was corrected as "SP-LO". Splott also features in the Torchwood novel Another Life.

Splott is also home to the webseries The Splott Division, which centres around three redundant Superheroes.

Splott and the neighbouring district of Tremorfa are the settings for several works by Welsh playwright Peter Gill.

Because the morning BBC Radio 2 traffic reports are read by the Splott-born Lynn Bowles, many listener contributions to the Terry Wogan and Ken Bruce shows feature (primarily fictitious) anecdotes humorously referring to the district. On 14 December 2009, Wogan was made Lord of Splott live on his radio programme in its final week, by resident and broadcaster Noreen Bray. She invested him on behalf of TAFFS, or Terry's Adoring Fans From Splott.

Governance

Splott is an electoral ward and parish of Cardiff, Wales. The electoral ward includes the areas of Pengam Green, Splott and Tremorfa. The ward is bounded by Adamsdown and Penylan to the northwest; Rumney and Trowbridge to the north east; the Severn estuary to the south east and Butetown to the south west.

In the UK Parliament, Splott is part of the constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth. Its most prominent MP was former Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan. The current MP is Labour's Alun Michael, elected in 1987.

In the Welsh Assembly, Splott is part of the constituency of Cardiff South and Penarth, whose current AM is Labour's Vaughan Gething, elected in 2011. The constituency falls within the electoral region of South Wales Central, whose four current AMs are Conservatives Andrew R. T. Davies and David Melding, Liberal Democrat Eluned Parrott and Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood.

Cardiff districts

Splott is part of the STAR area of Cardiff (STAR stands for Splott, Tremorfa, Adamsdown and Roath, four inner city suburbs born out of the industrial revolution). The STAR Centre leisure facility is located in splott, along with Splott Pool. The area is served by Splott Library and Roath Library.

Riverside	City centre	Adamsdown
Grangetown	Butetown	Splott
Llandaff	Cardiff Bay	Tremorfa

See also

• For details of Splott Aerodrome, see RAF Pengam Moors

External links

Splott today

• Splott page on BBC Wales south-east
• Splott Albion Blacks
• Moorland Primary School, Splott
• The Splott Community Workshop
• St. Saviour's Church, Splott

History of Splott

• Genuki
• Manor of Splott
• Splott Mission and St Alban's, Splott
• www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Splott and surrounding area