Cathays (electoral ward) Cathays (electoral ward) The Cathays ( ) electoral ward of Cardiff covers the Cathays and Castle communities and includes some or all of the following areas: Blackweir, Cardiff city centre, Cathays Park and Maindy in the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff Central. It is bounded by Gabalfa and Birchgrove to the north; Plasnewydd and Adamsdown to the east; Butetown to the south; and Riverside to the west. The River Taff forms its western boundary to where it meets the South Wales Main Line, the South Wales Main Line forms the southern boundary to where it meets the Valley Lines northbound branch,
Splott medieval times, and a derivation of "plat", meaning a grassy area of land. The name of the original farm would seem to be Middle English "splott", from Old English (speck, blot, patch of land) and the word is to be found in other English place names in the Vale of Glamorgan, Gower, and Pembrokeshire, as well as in Somerset and Devon, in the West Country of England, from where it was presumably introduced by English settlers. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names. The population of Splott in the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 12,074, in