Cathays Park judges Cathays Park to be "the finest civic centre in the British Isles". The area falls within the Cathays electoral ward. Cathays Park was formerly part of Cardiff Castle grounds. The present day character of the area owes much to successive holders of the title the Marquess of Bute, and especially the 3rd Marquess of Bute, an extremely successful and wealthy businessman. They acquired much of the lands in Cathays through investment and by inheritance through a marriage to Charlotte Windsor in 1766. In 1898, the local council bought of land from the 3rd Marquess of Bute to erect a
Crown Buildings, Cathays Park twenty years. In 1934–8, the block now known as Cathays Park 1 (a.k.a. CP1 or old Crown Building) was built by P. E. Hanton, as offices for the Welsh Board of Health. It is a three-storey building in the Stripped Classical style, with of floorspace. It also has an attic and a basement. Cathays Park 2 (a.k.a. CP2 or new Crown Building) is a five-storey office building with of floorspace, including an underground car park and a central atrium housing a cafe for the office staff. The "Encyclopaedia of Wales" describes CP2, completed in 1979, as conveying an impression of