The_Hayes

The Hayes

The Hayes

Area and street in Cardiff, Wales

For the city in the Netherlands thats name translate to The Hayes, see The Hague. For the conference centre in Swanwick, Derbyshire, England, see Hayes Conference Centre.

The Hayes (Welsh: Yr Ais) is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Centred on the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised and is the location of the Hayes Island Snack Bar.

The northern end of The Hayes, showing the Old Library, with St John's Church visible to the left.
The southern end of The Hayes, showing part of St David's, a Radisson Blu hotel, Alliance and the new Central Library

At the north end of The Hayes is the Old Library, known as the Cardiff Free Library, Museum and Schools for Science and Art during its century (1882 to 1988) of use as the second incarnation of the city's central library. The latest, fourth permanent Cardiff Central Library opened in 2009 and is situated at the opposite end of the Hayes.

Scenes of BBC's Doctor Who and Torchwood have often been filmed here.[citation needed]

Etymology

The name Hayes for a place name derives from the Norman French word Haie, or possibly the French word La Haye meaning hedge or enclosured field.[1]

Architecture

See also: List of shopping arcades in Cardiff

Cardiff is famous for its Victorian arcades. These include the Royal Arcade and Morgan Arcade, both of which have entrances on The Hayes. Morgan Arcade is the present home to Spillers Records, which is the oldest record shop in the world.[2]

Renovation

In 2006, the closure of the David Morgan department store saw a redevelopment of The Hayes. The David Morgan store was renovated, with the upper floors being converted to apartments with retail units below. A number of retailers moved into the area. 2009 saw the addition of the St David's 2 development anchored by a John Lewis department store and Central Library at the southern end of the Hayes. The St David's side of the Hayes brought new retail units and apartments running the full length of The Hayes. The street and surrounding area was repaved and landscaped, at St David's Hall a large screen has been attached to the exterior for public events.

One of the most prominent new features of The Hayes since its redevelopment is 'Alliance'. This 25m high sculpture by Jean Bernard Métais is a large stainless steel ring and pointed column.

  • Oxford House, 2006
  • February 2007
  • Construction of St. David's, April 2008
  • April 2009
  • St. David's after completion

Buildings and structures

Buildings in The Hayes
The former David Morgan department store
Hayes Island Snack Bar
St David's Hall

At the southern end of The Hayes is St David's shopping centre, one of the largest shopping centres in the UK. Facing the centre is the former David Morgan department store which are now mixed use apartments and retail space. Spillers Records, which claims to be the oldest record shop in the world dating back to 1894, was situated here until 2010, when it moved to the nearby Morgan Arcade, due to the rising rent.

At the northern end of the area, and in addition to John Lewis and Debenhams in St. David's, is Howells department store, which is part of the House of Fraser group. Opposite Howells is St David's Hall, a large concert hall and exhibition centre. Nearby is the Old Central Library, now a pub, wine bar and the Cardiff Visitors Centre. The Old Library will also be home to the Cardiff Story museum, opening in late 2010.

Centrally located in The Hayes is a statue of John Batchelor – a 19th-century Liberal politician.

Cardiff Central Library

Main article: Cardiff Central Library

The new Central Library opened on 14 March 2009.[3] The former permanent Central Library was located a few hundred yards northeast of the present building and was knocked down to make way for the St. David's 2 development. The new library has six floors totalling and area of 55,000 ft2 and 90,000 books.

St David's Hall

Main article: St David's Hall

St David's Hall is a large performing arts and conference venue in The Hayes, and is the National Concert Hall and Conference Centre of Wales. It hosts the annual Welsh Proms, the Orchestral Series attracting renowned conductors and performers and the world-famous biennial Cardiff Singer of the World competition. As well as classical music it also plays host to jazz, soul, pop, rock, dance, children's, r&b, musicals and other forms of world music, as well as light entertainment artists. The foyers in the centre are open and have regular free performances from often local groups, and the many foyers, balconies and bar areas are also used to host art exhibitions. It also has its own Celebrity Restaurant, on top of the numerous bars.

Alliance

Main article: Alliance (sculpture)

Alliance is a 25 metres (82 ft) high sculpture in The Hayes. The sculpture consists of a large stainless steel and enamelled metal arrow column and a hoop, which glows in the dark, and falls and rises with the tide. Paid for by the St David's shopping centre as part of a £1.5m public art scheme in the city centre, it was installed in the space between the new mall and Cardiff Central Library[4]

Adjoining streets

It is adjoined by:

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Hayes.

References

  1. [1]
    "Hay-on-Wye". alt concepts inc. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  2. [2]
    "Oldest shop selling records". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  3. [3]
    "First look at new 'green' library". BBC. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  4. [4]
    Bolter, Abby (3 December 2009). "Arrow art aimed at the heart of Cardiff's history and culture". Wales Online. Retrieved 14 May 2014.

51.479°N 3.175°W / 51.479; -3.175
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article The_Hayes, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.