Castell Cyfarthfa | |
 Front view of Cyfarthfa Castle | |
  Location within Merthyr Tydfil | |
| Established | 1824 |
|---|---|
| Location | Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales |
| Coordinates | 51°45′24″N 3°23′25″W / 51.75666°N 3.39014°W |
| Type | Historic house museum, art museum |
| Architect | Robert Lugar |
| Owner | Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Trust |
| Website | Cyfarthfa Castle |
Cyfarthfa Castle (Welsh: Castell Cyfarthfa; [kəˈvarθva]) is a castellated mansion that was the home of the Crawshay family, ironmasters of Cyfarthfa Ironworks in Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The house commanded a view of the valley and the works, which ‘at night, offer a truly magnificent scene, resembling the fabled Pandemonium, but on which the eye may gaze with pleasure’.[citation needed] Cyfarthfa loosely translates from the Welsh for place of barking. The reason is hunting dogs were regularly heard in this area of the town, hunting polecats and weasels among others.
Despite appearing to be a fortified building, it is a house built in the style of a large mansion with a large kitchen, bake house and dairy, billiard room, library, and a range of reception rooms. In addition, there is a brew house, icehouse and extensive storage cellars that used to contain over 15,000 individual bottles of wines and spirits such as Sherry, Champagne, Whiskey, Brandy, Madeira Wine, and over 7,500 bottles of port. Adjoining the building were also stable blocks and coach houses. The castle stands in 158-acre (64 ha) of parkland, now called Cyfarthfa Park and maintained by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. The park is listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.