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Insole Court
Insole Court (Welsh: Cwrt Insole) is a Grade II* Listed Victorian Gothic mansion in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, built for wealthy businessman James Harvey Insole (1821 Worcester - 1901 Llandaff) and dating back to 1855.
The mansion and Stable Yard are operated by a registered charity, the Insole Court Trust, who began operating the site in 2016. After an extensive refurbishment, the ground floor of the mansion reopened to the public in September 2017. In 2018, the first floor opened to the public for the first time, with an exhibition, 'This House is a Stage' that tells the story of the Insole family.
The site hosts daily classes and activities, as well as a The Potting Shed Café and room hire facilities. The mansion is free to visit and is open every day.
The Insole family lived on the site from 1856 to 1938. They had extensive coal-mining interests across the South Wales Coalfield, particularly the colliery at Cymmer, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and were closely involved in the development of the Barry Railway Company and the associated docks. Their growing prosperity enabled them to invest in land, including a site within the ancient Cathedral-city of Llandaff, between roads leading to Fairwater and Ely.
The original building was designed by W G & E Habershon and built in 1855 for James Harvey Insole, who commissioned a modest double-fronted building, named Ely Court. There was also a lodge built on Fairwater Road to house the family's coachman and his family.
But as the family's fortunes rose, reflecting those of Cardiff itself, two major extensions developed the building into the modern Insole Court. In the 1870s James Harvey commissioned George Robinson and Edwin Seward to change the appearance of the building into the Gothic Revival architecture-led works reminiscent of those of Lord Bute's architect William Burges on Cardiff Castle. These works also included the addition in 1874 of a neo-Gothic tower, similar to the clock tower which Burges had added to the castle in 1869. Insole's tower contained a smoking room at the very top.
The second development in 1906 - the height of the family's fortune - was undertaken on the instructions of George Frederick Insole (James Harvey's son, usually known as Fred), to extend and modernise the building. Rooms were enlarged and panelled, a new guest wing erected, central heating and electrical distribution inserted, and a large carriage porch was added.
After World War I, in the light of Winston Churchill's decision to change the firing of the Royal Navy to oil and the loss of many European markets, the South Wales coal industry began to decline. The family's fortunes suffered a similar downturn, with the deaths of Fred, in 1917, and his son Claud, in 1918 whilst on war service in France. The house passed to Eric, who lived there with his mother, Jessy, and sister, Violet (who died in 1932).
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Insole Court
Insole Court (Welsh: Cwrt Insole) is a Grade II* Listed Victorian Gothic mansion in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, built for wealthy businessman James Harvey Insole (1821 Worcester - 1901 Llandaff) and dating back to 1855.
The mansion and Stable Yard are operated by a registered charity, the Insole Court Trust, who began operating the site in 2016. After an extensive refurbishment, the ground floor of the mansion reopened to the public in September 2017. In 2018, the first floor opened to the public for the first time, with an exhibition, 'This House is a Stage' that tells the story of the Insole family.
The site hosts daily classes and activities, as well as a The Potting Shed Café and room hire facilities. The mansion is free to visit and is open every day.
The Insole family lived on the site from 1856 to 1938. They had extensive coal-mining interests across the South Wales Coalfield, particularly the colliery at Cymmer, Rhondda Cynon Taf, and were closely involved in the development of the Barry Railway Company and the associated docks. Their growing prosperity enabled them to invest in land, including a site within the ancient Cathedral-city of Llandaff, between roads leading to Fairwater and Ely.
The original building was designed by W G & E Habershon and built in 1855 for James Harvey Insole, who commissioned a modest double-fronted building, named Ely Court. There was also a lodge built on Fairwater Road to house the family's coachman and his family.
But as the family's fortunes rose, reflecting those of Cardiff itself, two major extensions developed the building into the modern Insole Court. In the 1870s James Harvey commissioned George Robinson and Edwin Seward to change the appearance of the building into the Gothic Revival architecture-led works reminiscent of those of Lord Bute's architect William Burges on Cardiff Castle. These works also included the addition in 1874 of a neo-Gothic tower, similar to the clock tower which Burges had added to the castle in 1869. Insole's tower contained a smoking room at the very top.
The second development in 1906 - the height of the family's fortune - was undertaken on the instructions of George Frederick Insole (James Harvey's son, usually known as Fred), to extend and modernise the building. Rooms were enlarged and panelled, a new guest wing erected, central heating and electrical distribution inserted, and a large carriage porch was added.
After World War I, in the light of Winston Churchill's decision to change the firing of the Royal Navy to oil and the loss of many European markets, the South Wales coal industry began to decline. The family's fortunes suffered a similar downturn, with the deaths of Fred, in 1917, and his son Claud, in 1918 whilst on war service in France. The house passed to Eric, who lived there with his mother, Jessy, and sister, Violet (who died in 1932).