Abstract
Cardiff Castle's Clock Tower dominates the city's skyline. Designed by William Burges for Lord Bute it was completed in 1873 to epitomize the Victorian dream of High Gothic. The tower is ornamented with painted and gilded features including clocks, sundials, heraldic shields and life-size human statues representing the planets. The tower stands at over one hundred feet tall. Despite the obvious difficulties that this height presents in reaching the main features of ornamentation, the statues, clock and shields have all been regularly overpainted, meaning that the original colours, details and paint types intended by Burges have been gradually lost and obscured. As part of a multimillion-pound conservation programme for the Castle, architectural paint research was undertaken on all areas of the Clock Tower's ornamentation, leading to an accurate recreation of Burges' original scheme, which adhered to the demands and ethics of the project's overall Conservation and Management Plan.1 The project is managed and funded by Cardiff Council with assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Cadw.
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