THE SUBURB OF LLANDAFF

INCORPORATING PART OF DANESCOURT

Medieval History of the Cathedral

Landaff takes it name from the Church (llan) on the River Taff (taf). In the 6th Century, Saints Dyfrig and Teilo ordered the construction of a place of worship on the banks of the river, near where the current Cathedral now stands. The monastery became a shrine to the Saints after their death, and acted as a focus of Christianity in the Welsh kingdom of Morgannwg.

The original building was damaged during the Norman Conquest in the late 11th Century so in 1120, the first Bishop of Llandaff, Bishop Urban, began the task of rebuilding the cathedral in stone. Progress was slow due to a lack of funding. The Nave and West Front were completed by 1220. The Lady Chapel was added in 1287 and the outer aisle walls rebuilt, while the square Jasper Tower was completed in 1485.

The tower was built to house the bells which had previously been in the original Bell Tower, the ruins of which you can still see on the small hill above the Cathedral. In pre Norman Times on that hill, the original Church of St. Teilo stood with its small community. Both the Bishop and the Archdeacon of Llandaff had their own castles. The Bishop’s Castle was erected in the 13th century near the Green, and the Archdeacon’s Castle lay to the North of the Cathedral.

Owain Glyndwr and the Welsh Uprising

When Owain Glyndwr lay siege to the castles in in 1404, he left the Bishop’s Castle and the Tower in partial ruins, whilst totally destroying the Archdeacon’s Castle. Fortunately, the Cathedral, although damaged, was spared the worst of the attacks. By the 15th Century, the wealthy and powerful Mathew family had taken over the land ownership of most of Glamorgan.

Map of Llandaff in 1886.

They had considerable influence over Llandaff and a number of them have tombs at the Cathedral. The family did not maintain the monastic buildings, instead selling off large tracts of land at bargain prices. By the time of the Civil War the Cathedral had been turned into a stable, an ale house and a post office, while the clergy were imprisoned at Cardiff gaol by the Puritans.

In 1696 the great bell from its tower, and seven years later the battlements of the Jasper Tower were damaged in a storm. In 1723, the South-West Tower collapsed, destroying the nave below. Architect John Wood of Bath, began a partial, and unpopular restoration of the Cathedral.

His Italian Temple was completed in 1746, at the same time as his other projects at Llandaff Court and the Cathedral School. The School was built on the site of the now demolished Bryn-y-Gynnen, which was the Bishop's Manor House. Llandaff Court then served as the Bishop’s Palace from 1850 until 1958.

Local Economy and Prichard's Restoration

From the 11th to 19th Century, the Green held a Cattle Market and Whitsun Fair on the Green which boosted the economy, until it was closed down due to an increase in brawls and fighting. The cutting off of this regular income made the task of maintaining the Cathedral even more arduous.

After hundreds of years of neglect, local and revered architect John Prichard led the extensive restoration of the Cathedral in 1843. He demolished Wood’s Italian temple and reconstructed the presbytery and nave. The new buildings blended in beautifully with the existing mediaeval structure. The tower that had collapsed in 1723 was replaced with a spire that bears Prichard’s name and on 13 July 1869 a thanksgiving service was held to celebrate the restoration of the cathedral.

Llandaff Cathedral

Other examples of Prichard's work in the village include the Probate Registry and St Michael’s College in Cardiff Road. Many of the buildings on the Green were designed by him and the result is one of the most heritage rich areas in Cardiff.

Expansion of the Suburb

In 1869, to meet the increasing demand for water in Cardiff, land in Lisvane was used to build a privately owned reservoir. The reservoir attracted a plethora of wildlife, and just nine years later it was purchased by the Cardiff Corporation. It attained SSSI status in recent years, giving it some protection from being re-developed. In 1944, the Council bought a huge tract of well-maintained land near the railway line to create Cefn Onn park.

Howell’s School for Girls in Cardiff Road is named after Thomas Howell, and is the oldest independent all-girls school in Wales. Thomas Howell was a Drapers merchant in the 16th century and it was his charity work that led to the provision of dowries for orphan girls. 300 years later, a Parliamentary commission decided that the money should he used to provide schools for girls in Llandaff and Denbigh.

Insole Court

Cardiff Road and Palace Road were soon populated with the mansions of Cardiff’s wealthier citizens. The Insoles were coal owners and shippers during the three generations in which Welsh Steam Coal was the world's dominant industrial resource. Owning collieries in the Rhondda and with interests in the Taff Vale and the Barry Railway Companies, they became considerable figures in the South Wales industry. The family reached the height of its prosperity in the late 19th Century acquiring large land holdings, central to which was the Court in Llandaff on the outskirts of Cardiff. James Insole was a coal owner who used some of his fortune to build Insole Court while Sir Edward Stock-Hill, whose father had constructed one of the earliest dry docks in Cardiff, built Rookwood House. This building survives today in the form of a hospital.

20th Century to Present Day

Llandaff was incorporated into Cardiff in 1922, and soon began to feel the presence of the City. The ancient Llandaff Mill was demolished to make way for Western Avenue and nearby housing estates. Llandaff Cathedral suffered more bad luck when it was damaged by a landmine in World War Two. The destruction to the graveyard and cathedral was immense, but fortunately the Rossetti Triptych oil painting and 12 priceless stained-glass windows had been safely stored. The cathedral was restored to its former glory in 1960, with Prichard’s design in mind. A memorial chapel dedicated to the Welsh Regiment was constructed also.

BBC Wales moved into Broadcasting House on Llantrisant Road in 1964, and a large housing estate had been built at Danescourt. The Bishop of Llandaff High School and the Llandaff Technical College, now UWIC served the suburb's educational needs. Insole Court has been under threat of either partial re-development or closure by the local authority, so the Friends of Insole Court (founded in 1993) continue to fight the Council on any plans that could destroy an important piece of Llandaff's heritage.

Page Updated: 1st August 2010

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