THE meeting of Barry Men’s Forum welcomed Lloyd Granville and the theme of his address was the Insole family.
Like the Marquis of Bute and David Davies of Llandinam, the family saw the opportunity to mine coal from the south Wales Valleys in the early 19th Century. In the year 1829 George Harvey Insole, who hailed from Worcester, reached an agreement with the Third Marquis of Bute to acquire a yard at Canal Wharf in the centre of Cardiff to handle and ship coal from a newly-opened mine at Porth named Cymmer Colliery in 1840. This colliery became ‘famous’ in July 1856 after a mining disaster when over 114 miners died.
To move the coal, he linked up with the Taff Vale Railway and his wealth grew rapidly. He obtained a large swathe of land on the western side of Cardiff to construct a magnificent dwelling just off Western Avenue near Llandaff. He had become a wealthy businessman and joined forces with the Third Marquis of Bute to restore Cardiff Castle, which was in a dire state of repair. To oversee the work of restoration the architects William Burgess and George Robinson were engaged.
Insole had three sons and his extended family suffered early deaths around the end of World War Two. As a result, there were no male heirs. The house at Llandaff has over the years been extended but in the early 1930s, financial difficulties raised their ugly head and the house fell into disrepair.
A few years later Cardiff Corporation acquired the estate to make way for the orbital road of Western Avenue and the gardens were sold for housing and the streets given the names they carry to this day. In 1938, the last of the Insole family vacated the mansion. Soon after, World War Two started and the house was used by the Air Raid Precaution unit, the Royal Observer Corps and the Auxiliary Fire Service.
When hostilities ceased the venue became a much-used community centre and in 1988, Cardiff City Council put the house up for sale. This incensed the locals and in 1993, the building was acquired by a group called ‘Friends of Insole Court’ who took on the massive restoration project. The group fundraised and the building reopened in November 2008, thanks to the volunteers and many
benefactors. After two decades of campaigning, the Friends were invited by Cardiff Council to form a Community Asset Transfer Trust and this enabled the building to have its heritage assets and community hub renewed, thus empowering its management to be fully handed over to the Trust. This process came to fruition in 2016, thanks to funding from the National Lottery and others. Most of the restoration work has been done by volunteers mostly, from the Cardiff area.
The forum meets weekly on Thursdays at 9.30am at the Barry Town Council Community Hall, Cemetery Road, Barry, and we always welcome new members. Further information can be obtained from Paul Gilbertson on 01446 738713.
PDGG
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