Fintans

Insole Court

Llandaff · 1.2 miles

Victorian Gothic architecture dominates the former mansion set within the historic suburb of Llandaff, Cardiff. Constructed in 1855 for the coal-merchant James Harvey Insole, the house began as a modest double-fronted residence called Ely Court. Prosperity in the 1870s prompted a Gothic Revival makeover, adding a neo-Gothic tower and a smoking room at its summit, while a 1906 extension introduced larger panelled rooms, a guest wing, central heating and electricity. The estate, once 57 acres, was bought by Cardiff Council in 1932 and reduced to the house and ornamental gardens after surrounding land was developed for housing. Managed by the Insole Court Trust since 2016, the ground floor reopened to the public in September 2017 and the first floor followed in 2018 with an exhibition charting the Insole family’s story. Visitors can explore the mansion free of charge, use the on-site shop and Reading Room, and view the stable yard and extensive gardens, all of which are step-free for wheelchair users. The Potting Shed Café provides refreshments, and the venue offers room-hire facilities for private events. Daily classes and activities are held on the site, and opening times are published on the official listing. The property remains open every day, with no admission fee, and retains its Grade II* listed status alongside Grade II stable buildings and historic gardens.

Roath Park

Lakeside · 1.9 miles

A classic Victorian atmosphere surrounds a 130-acre stretch of reclaimed bogland in Cardiff, Wales, where a 30-acre lake winds for 1.3 miles around a series of islands that provide safe nesting for waterbirds. Managed by Cardiff County Council’s Parks Section, the site offers a glass-house conservatory, two well-equipped playgrounds, bowling greens, tennis courts, and sports pitches for football, rugby union and baseball. Rowing boats can be hired on the lake, which also supports coarse fishing and a radio-controlled-boat society, while the surrounding gardens – including Wild, Botanical, Rose and Pleasure Gardens – display floral displays and a wild-flower area designed to encourage native wildlife. The park is listed as a Green Flag award holder, reflecting its recognised quality and importance to the city. The park’s development began after a proposal in 1886 and a 1887 donation of the land, principally by John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. Design work involved Bute’s head gardener Andrew Pettigrew, his son William Wallace and chief engineer William Harpur, leading to the first public opening in 1894 and further phased openings over the next two decades. A lighthouse erected in 1915 commemorates Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition, and the whole area retains its Victorian and Edwardian character, being Grade I listed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register. Volunteer “Friends” groups cooperate with the council to maintain both the northern and south-eastern sections, and a cycle path added in 2024 widens the southern edge for cyclists. OpenStreetMap records the park as a public green space nearest to the town of Lakeside, with no admission charge and standard visitor facilities provided throughout.

Castell Coch

Tongwynlais · 2.5 miles

Perched above Tongwynlais in the Taff Gorge, Castell Coch presents a 19th-century Gothic Revival structure that rests on the foundations of earlier medieval fortifications. The first stronghold on the site dates from shortly after 1081, when the Normans erected an earth-work motte to defend the newly taken town of Cardiff and to oversee the river route. A stone castle was later added by Gilbert de Clare between 1267 and 1277, incorporating a shell wall, towers and a gatehouse, before being probably destroyed during the Welsh uprising of 1314. The ruins passed into the possession of the Bute family in 1760; in 1875 the 3rd Marquess of Bute commissioned architect William Burges to rebuild the exterior as a summer country residence, with interior decoration completed by Burges’s team in 1891. The property entered state care in 1950 and is now administered by Cadw. Visitors can explore the dramatic silhouette of the three stone towers and the richly ornamented Victorian interiors, which feature bespoke furniture and symbolic motifs drawn from classical and legendary sources. The surrounding beech woods, designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, contain rare plants and notable geological formations. Access is provided by footpaths from the nearby car park, although the site is not wheelchair accessible. Opening times are published on the Cadw listing, and admission is managed by the heritage agency. No on-site facilities such as cafés or shops are recorded, so visitors may wish to bring refreshments.

Bute Park

Civic Centre · 2.5 miles

Spanning roughly 130 acres on the eastern bank of the River Taff, the grounds that now form Bute Park were originally part of the estate surrounding Cardiff Castle. Landscape work by Capability Brown in the late eighteenth century gave the area a formal shape, while the layout that defines the present park dates from 1873 under the direction of Andrew Pettigrew, head gardener to the third Marquess of Bute. In 1947 the fifth Marquess transferred the land to the local authority, and it remains held in trust for Cardiff’s residents, overseen by Cardiff Council with support from volunteers and community groups. Within the park visitors encounter a mixture of open grassland, tree-lined avenues and a dedicated arboretum. Sculptural elements include wooden carvings made from retained stumps and a small formal garden that replaced an ironwork sundial in 2006, a joint design with Stuttgart. Two footbridges link the park to Sophia Gardens and Pontcanna Fields across the river, where the Glamorgan County Cricket Ground and the Sport Wales National Centre lie. The eastern edge follows the historic dock feeder canal, a watercourse that originated as a medieval millstream and later supplied the 19th-century Cardiff Docks. Recent restoration work, funded partly by the Heritage Lottery Fund, added a summer-house kiosk, restored the Animal Wall, and repurposed West Lodge as the Pettigrew Tea Rooms and information point. An education centre in the nursery now supports horticultural training and public programmes. The park is operated by Cardiff Council, with opening times displayed on the official listing and dogs permitted throughout. Facilities include refreshment kiosks, public toilets, and an information desk housed in the former West Lodge. Access is straightforward from the Civic Centre area, and the site is maintained by on-site rangers and gardeners assisted by volunteers.

Sanatorium Park

Ely · 2.5 miles

Situated in the Canton area of western Cardiff, Sanatorium Park provides an open green space featuring wildflower hedgerows, a pair of play areas, and a football goal combined with a half basketball court. The western boundary of the grounds meets the River Ely, alongside which the Ely Trail footpath runs through the location. Access points are available from Treganna Street and Lawrenny Avenue, while Ysgol Gymraeg Treganna sits adjacent to the northern perimeter. The A4232 road crosses the southern section via the Grangetown Viaduct. Historically, the neighbourhood held industrial works, with the Canton Brickworks operating nearby from the late nineteenth century until its demolition prior to 1947, and the Ely Paper Works functioning from 1865 until its closure in 2000. Lansdowne Hospital previously stood to the northeast prior to its demolition and redevelopment for housing. Cardiff City Council constructed a fenced football pitch on the east side of the park, which faced opposition and protests from local residents during 2020 over consultation issues and restricted access during pandemic restrictions. Finished by December 2020, the pitch was subsequently noted to suffer from regular flooding after heavy rain, making it waterlogged and unusable. Fitzalan High School and Ysgol Gymraeg Treganna utilise the completed sports pitch. Across the river lies Trelai Park on the former site of Ely Racecourse, though no pedestrian bridge connects the two green spaces.

National Museum Cardiff

Civic Centre · 2.5 miles

A free museum and art gallery set within Cardiff’s Civic Centre provides visitors with collections spanning botany, geology, zoology and fine and applied art. Operated by National Museum Wales and listed by Cadw, the venue offers step-free access and publishes its opening hours on the official listing. Admission is free, and the site is equipped to accommodate school groups and other organised visits, although advance booking is advised for the hands-on Clore Discovery Centre. The institution traces its origins to the National Museum of Wales, founded in 1905 and granted a royal charter two years later. A key element of Cardiff’s bid for the museum was the transfer of the Cardiff Museum Collection in 1912. Construction of the present building in Cathays Park began that same year; the war delayed its public opening until 1922, with an official ceremony in 1927. Architects Arnold Dunbar Smith and Cecil Brewer designed the structure, while Sir W. Goscombe John devised the surrounding sculpture scheme, featuring works by Gilbert Bayes, Thomas J Clapperton and others. In 2011, the former Glanely Gallery was converted, with Clore Duffield Foundation support, into the Clore Discovery Centre, allowing visitors to handle items from the museum’s seven-and-a-half million objects, including insects, fossils and Bronze Age weapons. The archaeology collection has since been relocated to St Fagans National Museum of History. Among the artworks on display are Old Master paintings such as Amico Aspertini’s Virgin and Child, Frans Snyders’ Poulterer’s Shop and a permanent Rembrandt portrait from 1657. A Botticelli studio piece, confirmed in 2019, and landscape works by Claude, Gaspard Dughet and Nicolas Poussin illustrate the breadth of the collection. A dedicated gallery also showcases 18th-century British patronage, highlighting the holdings of Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn. The museum experienced a temporary closure in February 2025 for building maintenance and health-and-safety work, reopening on 7 February 2025.