
Morgan Arcade, Cardiff
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Morgan Arcade in Cardiff was built in the late 1890s in a rather unique form with one long passageway from St Mary Street then two arms, with one curving pleasantly round to the left, ending at The Hayes, and the right arm ending in an alleyway, though not to be missed, as it has a pretty special shop up this section.
The glass ceiling has seen better days, but the white-painted ironwork is beautiful, as are the wooden frames to all the shop fronts, giving it a high-end feel, and indeed this is about as near as Cardiff gets to a high-end, designer arcade.
A lot of the shops are definitely targeting the upper end of the market, with designer labels in clothing predominating, both well-known brands and independent labels. But there are also the more functional shops that add a touch of quirky character to this arcade, too.
Spiller Records dates back to 1884 and claims to be the oldest record shop in the world (this is the shop up the right arm of the arcade) – it also sells t-shirts and has a weekly list of new releases posted in the window. It was originally in the old Queens Arcade (now a more modern shopping mall) and has been in Morgan Arcade since 2010 only.
The skateboard shop is probably targeting a different market from The Brogue Trader, but that’s what makes this arcade so diverse in its personality and customers. Right in the hub, where the two arms divide is a rather good coffee shop over two floors. But my favourite shop for placement has to be the ladies’ boutique with its position right on the curve of the arcade, adding to the beauty of its shopfront.
My pick of the arcade’s past
David Morgan, who ran the department store which gave the arcade its name, was born in 1833. Margaret MacKeith (author of 1983 arcade compendium) is possibly wrong on the dates. She has Morgan Arcade dating from 1879 but that is the year Mr Morgan began his business in Cardiff, whereas the arcade itself – or at least the first part of it – only opened in 1896, with most of what we see today being completed in 1899.
Just 12 months after opening in the arcade, Kaiser’s jewellery shop was raided in September 1898. Thieves entered via the small window above the front door of the shop, and made off with a collection of gold watches and watch chains. With gaslighting on in the shop through the night, and a window making it visible from the arcade, it was thought that any robbers would easily be seen by police, who were supposed to pass every 10 minutes through the night. But the patrolling constable claimed to have seen nothing.
PC Jack Jones was a well-known local constable, who was the star player in the Cardiff Police football team. His fitness proved vital in catching a thief who had entered a draper’s shop in the arcade in 1920 and escaped over the glass roof. When the man came to ground, it took just 300 yards for PC Jones to catch him in a sprint through the city centre.
Woodies fashions in 1997 paid respects to Gianni Versace (on his death) by replacing all his labelled clothes in their window display with black drapes and white lilies.
Sources for the above stories all from www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk and specifically: 1) South Wales Echo, 26 September 1898, National Library of Wales; 2) Western Mail, 21 January 1920 – Reach plc; 3) South Wales Echo, 17 July 1997 – Reach plc.












What memories do you have of visits in years gone by?
Have you got any good stories to add on the past of this arcade?
What’s your favourite shop in the arcade today?
Have you seen this arcade in any films or books?
My favourite shop in the arcade
This has to be the Spillers Record Shop, which is a bit of a Cardiff institution. Although only in this arcade since 2010, it was in a now demolished vintage arcade before that, so has a definite place in arcade history.
Is there a website for this arcade?
Cardiff has understandably branded itself the UK’s City of Arcades, with the remaining arcades clustered in two distinct parts of the city centre. One of these areas is the Morgan Quarter, the feature of which is Morgan Arcade, but it is the area as a whole which has a website. So here’s a link to the Morgan Quarter home page.
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