Mansion House, Cardiff

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Mansion House
Y Plasty
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Mansion House, Cardiff.jpg
Mansion House in 2008
Mansion House, Cardiff
Interactive map of Mansion House
Former namesThe Grove
General information
Architectural style Neo-Baroque style
LocationRichmond Road, Roath CF24 3UN, Cardiff, Wales
Coordinates 51°29′10″N3°10′14″W / 51.4862°N 3.1706°W / 51.4862; -3.1706
Technical details
Floor count2
Design and construction
Architecture firm Habershon and Fawckner
Website
mansionhousecardiff.co.uk -->
Listed Building – Grade II
Official nameThe Mansion House [1]
Designated24 May 2002;23 years ago (2002-05-24) [1]
Reference no.26661 [1]

The Mansion House (Welsh : Y Plasty), located on Richmond Road in Cardiff, was the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Cardiff until 1995. It was listed Grade II by Cadw in May 2002. [1]

Contents

History

The house was commissioned by James Howell, the owner of Howells department store, who opened his first shop in 1865. He selected a site on Richmond Road which he leased from Lord Tredegar in 1890. The house was designed by the architects Habershon & Fawckner in the Neo-Baroque style, built in rubble masonry and was completed in 1896. It was originally called 'The Grove'. [2]

The house was designed as a large family home, to house his 11 children. The design involved a symmetrical main frontage of four bays facing onto Richmond Road. An unusual aspect of the house was that it was designed to be able to be divided into two: it featured two round-headed front doors, with a balcony above, and a wall in the cellar which was designed to allow extension upwards. The outer bays have bay windows on both floors. At roof level, there was a modillioned cornice and there were three dormer windows. [1]

Residents at the house in the early 20th century included Mabel Howell (a daughter of James Howell), who was secretary of the Cardiff and District Women's Suffrage Society. [3] [4]

In 1913, the leasehold of the house was bought by the Cardiff Corporation, for use as the home of the lord mayors. [2] Internally, it featured two apartments on the first floor and these were also used by judges sitting in the city. [5] The Prince of Wales met civic leaders at the mansion house during a visit to Cardiff in May 1930. [6] In 1956, the freehold of the property was bought by the Cardiff Corporation's under the advice of their Civic Buildings Committee for £3000 from the Tredegar Estate, most of which was being disposed of at this time in lieu of death-duties. [7] The house continued to be used by successive lord mayors until 1995. [8]

The building had a major overhaul in time for the Cardiff European Council summit held on 15 and 16 June 1998. [9] [8] [10] It was then used by Cardiff Council for events, functions, civil ceremonies and weddings. It also became the base for the council's protocol team. [8]

The actress, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and her husband, Michael Douglas, visited the mansion house, in July 2010, for the launch of the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales appeal of which she is a patron. [11] Scenes from the BBC television series, Doctor Who , starring Ncuti Gatwa, were shot at the mansion house in October 2023. [12]

The council ceased to use the mansion for civic purposes in the 2020s, and put it up for sale in June 2025. [13] [14]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cadw. "Mansion House, Cardiff (Grade II) (26661)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  2. 1 2 Mortimer, Dic (2014), Cardiff: The Biography, Amberley Publishing, ISBN   978-1-4456-4251-2
  3. ↑ Jenkins, Beth (2021). "The politics of women's suffrage". University of London Press. ISBN   978-1913002121.
  4. ↑ Crawford, Elizabeth (2013). The Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland A Regional Survey. Taylor and Francis. p. 222. ISBN   978-1136010545.
  5. ↑ MacKinnon, Sir Frank Douglas (1940). On circuit 1924–1937. Cambridge University Press. p. 29.
  6. ↑ "The famous Cardiff mansion that will cost millions to fix". Wales Online. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "Mansion House freehold bought" . Western Mail. 12 September 1956. p. 7. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Waldram, Hannah (7 August 2011). "Council to market one of its oldest buildings for venue hire". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  9. ↑ Owen, Twm (12 June 2022). "Cardiff European Council". South Wales Argus. Archived from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Cardiff European Council". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  11. ↑ "Cardiff Mansion house in 'aggressive' takings boost bid". BBC. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "Ncuti Gatwa films Doctor Who in Cardiff". Cult Box. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  13. ↑ "Mansion House in Cardiff comes to the market". Savills. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
  14. ↑ Ridout, Joanne (21 June 2025). "Inside landmark Cardiff house that everyone knows but few have visited". Wales Online . Retrieved 21 June 2025.
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