Castell Coch is a fantasy straight out of the pages of Sleeping Beauty. Its conical towers and needle-sharp turrets peek out from a wooded slope, creating an idyllic vision of the Middle Ages. It was the work of the eccentric Victorian architect William Burges, who designed this dream palace for the Marquis of Bute, owner of Cardiffs booming dockland and reputedly the richest man in the world. Castell Coch was begun in 1875 on the site of the original 13th-century ?Red Castle. Burgess scholarly exterior - complete with working portcullis and drawbridge - clothes an interior where he allowed his fertile imagination to run riot. There is almost too much to take in at this perfectly preserved extravaganza - the dazzling ceilings, the scenes from Aesops Fables on the walls, the bird and animal mouldings around the doors.