Cathays Lord Windsor) on 12 November 1766, he inherited great further lands including in Cathays to the north of his existing estate which he had partially had developed. He then bought other properties and farms, to the north and east, including what became Cathays Park. There he built Cathays House at a cost of £40,000 and at further cost landscaped Cathays Park. After his son took over the title he preferred to live in Cardiff Castle so demolished the house in 1815, and turned Cathays Park into purely enclosed parkland used for grazing. Following the 2nd Marquis' development of Cardiff Docks,
Cathays Park 1927 part of the East range, with the lecture theatre funded by William Reardon Smith, was complete. Further extensions came only in the 1960s and '90s; these remained faithful to the original design on the exterior (and included sculpture by Dhruva Mistry) but are of a neutral character on the inside. Due to presence of the then Welsh Office building, by the 1990s 'Cathays Park' became a metonym for that Government Department. In addition to the large lawn in front of the City Hall, Cathays Park includes three formal gardens. All of the spaces are within conservation areas and many