Insole Court

Insole Court is a mansion built from Pennant sandstone rubble masonry with Bath freestone dressings. Later additions use thinly coursed and part snecked rubble, with some sections in ashlar facing (notably the top of the tower) and rendered areas such as the first floor of the north wing following fire damage in 1939. The roofs throughout are Welsh slate, except for the flat roofs of bay windows and the porte-cochere, which are presumably leaded.

The original house, built in 1855, was a small symmetrical Tudorbethan design best viewed from the south, where two gables with an entrance bay between them frame the stairs down to the parterre. The building was substantially enlarged between 1873 and 1878 into a much larger, consciously asymmetrical composition in a freer Gothic style, incorporating a tall medievalist embattled tower. Further enlargements followed in 1898 and 1906-9. The house now comprises two storeys with attics throughout, rising to three storeys in parts, with the tower extending an additional storey above the roof ridge (the fifth storey was later replaced by an open terrace).

The main north front is distinguished by tall gables and a deeply crenellated and machicolated tower with arrowslits and corner tourelles. Originally this tower had a steep roof and a smoking room with all-round windows for views. In 1906, the steep roof and smoking room were removed and replaced with an ashlar embattled parapet. The current arrangement features only an open terrace for views and a window on the fourth floor facing north. A porte-cochere was added to the right in 1909, featuring an acutely pointed main entrance arch carried by medieval-style figures with traceried animals carved to the ends. The arch extends over right-hand splayed bays with stepped central windows. Lancet windows on the ground floor of the left-hand bay continue into an arcaded passage leading to the service wing, which formerly had a lean-to canopy supported by stone corbels, now retained. An elaborate canted two-storey bay window projects further right.

The north wing has three bays overlooking the courtyard: a paired window, a four-light window, and a quatrefoil on the ground floor. The first floor, now rendered, was originally more elaborate with three gables and decorative timber-framing, as shown in a photograph from 1894. Only the left-hand gable with an oriel window survives; the other changes represent an austerity rebuild following the 1939 fire. An Early Pointed bow window near the polygonal left end displays flamboyant, Continental-style late-Gothic tracery, with upper windows set behind multi-cusped segmental arches and lower windows featuring a frieze of carved animals; all have leaded casements. At the corner stands a two-storey round tower with a quatrefoil band and conical roof topped by a cross. A grand spiral staircase occupies the far end of the later service wing lightwell. Both of these features were added in 1898 to the existing north wing. The south end originally included a conservatory with a pyramidal lantern. Tall multi-flued stacks rise on all roofs. Behind the north wing stands a large gabled service wing in similar but plainer character, added in 1906-9 and facing east.

The garden front to the south has 3 + 1 + 5 bays with pierced parapets and splayed bay windows with panelled bands. Gables and dormers rise above, mostly with cross-frame windows and plate glass sashes. The centre bay of the original block at the left features a four-light transomed staircase window above a porch opening onto terraced gardens. The bay to the right of this symmetrical section includes a quatrefoil window lighting a chapel in the gable above the two-storey bay. A damaged ironwork verandah with missing roof is located at the north end.

The east elevation rises three storeys with five gables. A large four-light single-storey square bay with a pierced quatrefoil parapet, probably original to 1855, displays the Tudor character of the first house. All canted bay windows to the original house were added during the 1878 building programme; the map of 1869 shows them as square bays. All gables are coped with ball finials, and tall multi-flued stacks rise throughout.

The interior was not inspected at resurvey. The existing list description has been reused with new information published in 1998 by The Friends of Insole Court. The early Gothic character extends throughout the interior, which is especially distinctive for its varied chimneypieces and doorcases. Many doorcases feature elaborate Geometric tracery and linenfold panelling. Features survive from various building phases, though the 1906-9 work removed much of the Seward Burges-style work from the 1870s.

The entrance opens into the 1855 hall, which was remodelled and opened out, probably during the 1906 work. The lobby with stained glass doors and a foliated archway survives from the 1870s. A fine marble chimneypiece features diapered spandrels and a tall overmantel including emblems of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The ceiling is coved and panelled with ribbing. The stone staircase, dating from 1878, retains a marble newel and a segmental underarch, though its balustrade has been removed (though stored below). A stained glass stairwell window features a stilted rear arch on marble colonnettes, with a Gothic plaster vault over the landing.

The single most important room is the Smoking Room, built in 1878 and altered in 1906, located to the left of the hall. It retains a canvas frieze depicting the four seasons in a late-Bruegel/Pre-Raphaelite manner, signed by Fred Weekes (discovered during cleaning in 1995). The coved and ribbed wooden ceiling is striking. At the west end, a marble-faced stilted segmental arched opening frames a remarkable High Victorian Gothic sideboard-cum-bookcase, designed for the house, probably by George Robinson in imitation of work at Cardiff Castle. An incongruous Edwardian Classical chimneypiece with Ionic columns was added to this room during the 1906-9 work.

A large reception room to the right of the hall features a Penarth alabaster chimneypiece and marble columns to the bay, with painted foliage capitals. This room was formerly two separate rooms, one of which is said to have been the Library. The Dining Room has three-quarter height wainscotting, bracket cornice, and a thinly ribbed ceiling in Jacobethan manner. A similarly styled pilastered chimneypiece is flanked by arched recesses, with a stepped architrave and segmental pediment to the doorcase. A hatch opposite leads into a corridor and lift.

The Withdrawing Room beyond contains a good Georgian fireplace surround with an Edwardian overmantel and a lugged doorcase. A long corridor leads to service rooms, including the kitchen with retaining ranges. A polygonal room at the end has a canopy over its doorcase and houses two large fireproof safes. On the first floor, the landing features a tripartite arch including sedilia. A pointed arch door opens into a bedroom, from which a deep Gothic doorway leads to a private toilet. The corridor to the library contains an exceptional and highly ornate late-Gothic style archway. The library itself has a pointed waggon roof, ribbed and panelled with gilding, pastel-painted foliage, and lettered scrolls. Octagonal columns support the chimneypiece, with truncated columns flanking an arch into the bay window, which displays stencilled decoration. Winding stone stairs within the tower contain water tanks. The cellar, accessed from outside beneath the south side, has a tiled floor.