Insole Court (also known as Ely Court)

Insole Court is a grand Victorian and Edwardian town garden. There is fine terracing and balustrading, reflecting the owners' passion for horticulture.

The garden features extensive rockwork which was introduced as a habitat for Violet Insole's collection of alpines and rock plants. The garden still contains a wide variety of ornamental trees and shrubs, although Violet's alpines and irises, on which she was an expert, have mostly gone.

Description of Insole Court

(Note all dimensions, elevations and compass orientations are approximate).

Insole Court, formerly known as Ely Court, comprises a large Victorian mansion and associated outbuildings and grounds situated in Llandaff, Cardiff. The site, which slopes gently down from 33mOD in the north to 18mOD in the south, is 3.6 hectares in area, being 350 metres in length roughly north/south and varying in width from 80 metres in the north to 150 metres in the south.

The grounds are bounded in the north by Fairwater Road, where the main entrance gateway is located (ST149779). Cardiff Bus services 33&33A travel along Fairwater Road and services 60 & 25 northbound and 24 & 62 southbound pass the Llandaff end of Fairwater Road (Stagecoach services 122 and 124 also pass this way).

To the south the grounds are bounded by Vaughan Avenue where there is pedestrian access and space for car parking. Vaughan Avenue connects with a service road which runs parallel to Western Avenue via Heol Harlech. Cardiff Bus Service 1 passes eastbound and Service 2 passes westbound along Western Avenue.

On the east side the grounds are bounded by Harwicke Court at the northern end and Insole Gardens at the southern end, whilst to the west the grounds are bounded by Prospect Drive at the northern end and Insole Close East at the southern end.

The Fairwater Road entrance gateway gives vehicular access to a tree lined driveway; the North Drive, which is about 180 metres in length and runs southward toward the mansion. To the west of this drive there is a narrow strip of land adjacent the gardens of properties on Prospect Drive. Some of these properties have private access to the grounds. East of the entrance on Fairwater Road is the North Lodge.

South of the lodge, on the east side of North Drive, is a long narrow lawn (North Drive Lawn), separated by a 2 metre high hedge from another plot further east which is known as the Acer Memorial Lawn. Near the northern end of the North Drive Lawn a path cuts across it through a gap in the hedge and gives access to the Acer Memorial Lawn. North of this path and east of the hedge is a small copse of mature trees including pine, redwood and magnolia species bounded to the north by the grounds of a private residence east of the lodge.

The Acer Memorial Lawn is bounded on its east side by a stone wall which forms the boundary with properties on Hardwicke Court. In front of the wall is a long narrow flower bed. The path across the lawn turns south parallel to the flower bed and boundary wall. At the south end of the lawn the path turns west past an area of trees and scrubs, which screens the north side of a fenced yard from view. When it reaches the hedge the path turns south bringing the west side of the fenced yard into view.

On the east side of the yard is a derelict outhouse and on the south side the back wall of a stable block. At the south-west corner of the stable block is a west-facing gate into the stable yard. On the south side of the stable yard there are two more derelict outbuildings. The east side of the yard is bounded by a high wall. (There is no public access to the yards and outbuildings). From the west-facing stable yard gate a road runs west to join North Drive. The south side of this road is bounded by a wall 3 to 4 metres high, which is constructed of stone on the north side but of brick on the south side. A few metres south of this are a low wall running parallel to the high wall and a row of garages dating from World War 2, orientated north/south.

The main driveway terminates at a courtyard/car parking area close to the main entrance to the mansion, which is situated on its north elevation. A road from the courtyard/car park passes the northern ends of the two east wings of the mansion, giving access on the west side to the rear of the garages and on the east side to the entrance to an area known as the Community Garden. Adjacent to the Community Garden are derelict creeper-covered structures. The road terminates at a south-facing gated entrance into the stable yard. Between this road and the rear of the garages is a grassy bank, at the top of which there is an area of rocks and the entrance to a grotto. The entrance to the grotto is located adjacent to the west side of the south-facing stable yard gate. The grotto leads through to the strip of ground between the high and low walls mentioned above. It is believed that the grotto has been constructed at least partly from ‘Pulhamite', though this is yet to be confirmed.

The Community Garden is bounded by a high brick wall on the north and east sides, a beech hedge on the south side and a fence on the west side. It is protected on the west side by the easternmost wing of the mansion. The northern brick wall of the Community Garden contains four shallow recesses to accommodate special cultivars. Near the northern end of this area is a brick-built flat-roofed structure having the appearance of a World War 2 air-raid shelter. At the south-west corner of the Community Garden a gate leads to steps down to the south elevation of the mansion. (The Community Garden is not open to the general public.)

Opposite the southern end of the row of garages another road, the South Drive, crosses over a mock bridge and curves around the western side of the site, which is bounded by the gardens of properties on Insole Grove East. This drive gives pedestrian access from Vaughan Avenue. At the western ends of the mock bridge are two pillars, both of which were formerly topped by stone griffins but only the griffin on the southern pillar is extant. The grounds south of the mansion are fenced off from the South Drive by railings.

On the south side of the mock bridge, twin steps sharing a halfway landing (Bridge Steps) lead down to twin gates in a railing fence. From the gates a circular path is accessed. On the south side of the circle there are two paths, the westernmost path runs through a glade (West Glade) to a gazebo. The gazebo, which is octagonal in plan, is constructed from a mixture of boulders and dressed stone and is roofed in slate. The entrance doorway, which faces roughly east, is secured by railings and is boarded up to prevent entry. Adjacent to the gazebo are three square section stone-built pillars, across two of which is a thin metal arch. Close to the gazebo there is a gate in the railing fence giving access to the grounds from the South Drive. To the east of the gazebo there is another area of lawn (the South-west Lawn). The path off the south-eastern side of the circular path leads past the eastern edge of the West Glade and also gives access to the South-west Lawn.

From the north-west corner of the mansion a narrow level path passes through a gate in a railing fence past the western elevation of the mansion. It is flanked by a stone balustrade on the west side. This path gives access to the south elevation of the house, which overlooks a terraced lawn (Front Lawn) which is at a lower level. From the courtyard immediately west of this path a broad path slopes down through a gateway, past an entrance to the basement of the house and gives access to the north-west corner of the Front Lawn.

On the south side of the mansion are two small statues of lions at the top of a set of steps (Lion Steps). The Lion Steps lead down twin embankments, with a mid-point landing, to the Front Lawn which is orientated such that the eastern end is angled slightly further from the house than the western end. At each corner of this lawn there are flower beds. A path, with a central flower bed feature and outlying curved flower beds in the lawn either side, crosses the lawn in a north/south direction from the Lion Steps to another set of steps that lead to the South-west Lawn. An ornate stone balustrade forms the southern boundary of the Front Lawn, although on the east side of the above mentioned steps it is partly missing.

At the south-west corner of the Front Lawn there is another set of steps which lead down past some large rocks to the South-west Lawn. On the west side of these steps there is a viewing platform facing west. The viewing platform is fronted by a five sided parapet. At the centre of the west side of the Front Lawn another set of steps lead down to the South-west Lawn. A large Cedar of Lebanon tree is located on the South-west Lawn just east of the corner steps.

The east side of the Front Lawn is bounded by twin embankments. At the south-east corner of the Front Lawn a few steps lead up to join a path that runs south from the south-east corner of the mansion toward the boundary with Vaughan Avenue. Along the side of the Front Lawn this path descends between banks of rockery.

East of this path, adjacent to and at the same level as the mansion, a terraced lawn called the Croquet Lawn can be accessed. This is bounded to the east by an embankment up to railings alongside Insole Gardens and to the north by a hedge and railings. On the north side of the railings is an asphalt path which gives pedestrian access up to Insole Gardens via some modern steps. North of the asphalt path is an embankment up to the south side of the Community Garden. The south side of the Croquet Lawn is bounded by a stone wall, at the mid-point of which steps lead down to another area of lawn (South-east Lawn). This is bounded to the east by railings adjacent Insole Gardens, to the south by railings adjacent Vaughan Avenue and to the west by a hedge parallel to the path from the mansion.

On north side of the South-east Lawn there are strips of garden either side of steps backed by a high stone wall and fronted by a low hedge. Within each of these strips, either side the steps, are the remains of two curved stone/concrete seats with lion's head arms. In the centre of the South-east Lawn is a circular flower bed, at the centre of which is an ornate stone planter. A side path off the path from the mansion runs eastward along the northern side of the lawn, then turns south to follow the east side of the grounds, then west to follow the south side of the grounds, before rejoining the path from the mansion.

The southern and eastern boundaries of South-west Lawn are formed by hedges. A gap in the eastern hedge gives access to the path from the mansion. Two openings through the southern hedge give access into an elongate east-west trending area of rockeries, which are also accessible from both the east via the path from the mansion and from westernmost end of the hedge. On the south side of the hedges a path runs from east to west, gradually petering out to grass. South of this a mainly dry water channel cuts east-west through most of the length of the area. At the western end of this area there is another large rock feature that appears to be constructed of Pulhamite. From the bottom of the path from the mansion, a path turns west on the south side of the water channel and passes through a glade (South Glade) bounded along its south side by railings. This path peters out to grass in the south-west corner of the South-west Lawn.

South of the South Glade is a roughly triangular area of trees bounded in the south by a low hedge on the north side of Vaughan Avenue.

Little of the grounds are visible from public roads other than a view down the driveway from the gateway on Fairwater Road.