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The
Romans, the first to realize Cardiff's strategic position
on the River Taff near the Bristol Channel, built a series
of forts on this site, controlling the whole of Wales by
75 AD. From around 250 AD until the 5th century, Cardiff
gained importance as a naval base for the protection of
the Roman Empire.
Robert
Fitzhamon, the Norman Lord of Gloucester, who had been drawn
into the feuds among the Welsh Princes, saw the strategic
importance of the old Roman fort at Cardiff and built a
Norman castle on the site with a forty-foot motte (defensive
hill), moat and timber Keep. In the 12th century his son-in-law,
Robert "the Consul," is credited with building the first
stone keep of Cardiff Castle...
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