West Lodge, Cardiff Castle

The West Lodge, also known as the West Gate Lodge, to Cardiff Castle is a Grade II* listed building, currently used as a tea room, in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is approximately 100 metres (330 ft) west of the Castle, with the Animal Wall running in-between.

West Gate attached to the side of the castle recreated by the Bute family

The lodge was designed by the architect Alexander Roos for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute and built in 1860–63 to the west of Cardiff Castle as a decorative gatehouse to the Bute estate.[1] It is located to the east of a pedestrian gateway and a much larger broad gateway with wooden gates, which are flanked to the west by a slim turret. All are built in grey stone in a Gothic style with crenellated parapets above.[1]

The West Lodge was given a Grade II* heritage listing in 1952, being an "integral part of the development of Cardiff Castle and Bute Park" and having a group value with the nearby Animal Wall.[1]

As part of a £5.6-million Bute Park restoration project, the West Lodge was converted into tea rooms and a gift shop in 2012. It opened to the public on 23 March with a special tile-laying ceremony. Victorian floor tiles had been laid in the tea rooms, which had been recovered from the nearby ruins of Blackfriars Friary in 1977.[2] The West Lodge was renamed as Pettigrew Tea Rooms, after the 3rd Marquess of Bute's head gardener,[2] Andrew Pettigrew.[3]