Insole Court in Cardiff

Stunning Cardiff Wedding Venue – Insole Court ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ As a South Wales wedding photographer, I always love shooting at Insole Court in Cardiff. This Victorian Gothic mansion is full of character – the grand architecture and beautifully kept gardens make it a dream location for timeless wedding photos. Inside, the light-filled rooms are perfect for capturing real, emotional moments throughout the day. Outside, the gardens are magical – ideal for romantic portraits, golden hour shots, and relaxed couple time away from the crowds. The venue team are always welcoming and professional, helping the day run smoothly so couples (and suppliers!) can just enjoy the experience. If you’re looking for a Cardiff wedding venue with history, charm, and loads of photo potential – Insole Court is a fantastic choice. – Carl Woodward Photography

Heritage Centre which holds a variety of courses and activities. I attended a weekend talk for French speakers. The grounds are pleasant, there is also a nicely renovated old kitchen garden. The Butler's pantry has become a book repository great place to find or leave any books.

This charming little house may have a modest exterior, but its stunning interior speaks for itself — making it an exceptional choice for a wedding venue. Entry fees are impressively affordable: £5 per adult, £2.50 for under 16s, and £3 for all-day parking. Simply pay in the Mansion’s foyer, and you’ll gain access to one of Llandaff’s most peaceful, budget-friendly back gardens — a hidden gem in the heart of the city. As Insole Court operates as a charity, those unable to afford the fees are granted free entry. However, if you’re able, why not contribute what you can? Every donation helps restore this historic house to its former glory. With renovations ongoing as of March 2025, every bit of support makes a difference. Overall: a solid 8/10 experience — well worth a visit.

Fantastic historic place to visit. A good sizes historic stately home with scenic garden walks, and plenty to explore inside. The history of the place is fascinating and the staff inside are often happy to tell you more about the various artifacts and paintings. The parking is free too, with a suggested donation. Unfortunately it was under some minor renovations when I visited (scaffolding on part of the rear building), but normally it is very beautiful. When I visited there was a market on, selling various craft items and artisan food stuffs. The vendors said the market occurs every 3rd Sunday on the month. Worth a visit just for that!

We held an event here and it was perfectly executed. Highly recommend.

Great location and space to hold meetings. Clean and tidy and much improved. Staff and volunteers always very helpful and efficient

Love the coffee shop and green surroundings

Beautiful place. Coffee shop gorgeous food &such friendly helpful staff.

Went for car boot. Lovely house and gardens

Great experience at Insole court when we hired the dining room for a small family party. Staff were so helpful and accommodating of our request, room was beautiful, and great communication! We also used the Potting Shed Cafe for gluten free catering. Again, the staff were really accommodating and food was such high quality. Thank you - would definitely recommend!

Without a doubt, this 18th century Victorian palace is attractive to the eye and cozy. Admission is free to both the mansion and the gardens. In its time it belonged to the Insole family who gave it that Gothic and Renaissance touch. It later passed into the hands of the government, which temporarily converted it into a library. It is currently used for celebrations. It has a cafeteria and gift shop.

Wonderful house tour A hidden gem with so much history

First time visiting and for a ghost hunt of all occasions! Fabulous night! Stunning venue! Can't wait to return in day light!

Easy to book, helpful, good clean space, great ambience.

Beautiful space, I always love coming here with my speaking with confidence clients and for meeting friends for a coffee!

Hired the dining room for a surprise tea party event. The staff/volunteers were brilliant and the food was lovely. The event went really well. Would recommend.

Beautiful place to visit. Make sure to buy a book in the mini book room. Great gift shop 👌

I booked The Drawing Room for a surprise 90th birthday party in November and it was perfect. Heledd was so friendly and helped to make the party a perfect celebration for my Mum. Lovely location and lovely staff. Would recommend.

Rented a stunning room here for a birthday party, was easy to organise and everything we needed was provided. Highly recommend

Father Christmas experience really not good, whole family left feeling disappointed after seeing a Santa without a beard who set a timer for the duration of the visit. Even my 6 year old was not convinced. Tickets advertised as including a hot drink but no drink included. Also pre-filled questionnaire about the children was not used. I would not recommend.

Lovely house. Went to Xmas craft fair. Cafe fair . Staff friendly. Nice grounds

Nice architecture and grounds. I went for the Christmas market was OK lots of independent traders with various offerings food clothes jewellery etc.

Beautiful hidden little spot in Cardiff. Nice little coffee shop and lovely gardens to walk around. Highly recommended in the summer.

What a fantastic house with lots of history associated with the Welsh coal industry. Try the self guided tour, it's very good

Lovely place to hire for my daughter’s baby shower. Staff really friendly and accommodating

I had my wedding here at Insole Court last month and nothing was too much trouble. Every detail was planned to perfection, I couldnt recommend Insole Court enough. They have incredible grounds, amazing staff such as Heledd and such a beautiful building. You can also walk your dogs here, there Is also a coffee shop and gift shop for a well deserved break and browse.

The experience was good and the staff was great help, would recommend Insole Court. The only aspect of the condition that struck me as severe is £50 per person overstay.

Car park was busy cafe absolutely fantastic great cake and coffee

A great facility in the heart of Cardiff.

Lovely venue for a wedding or just to go and visit. There is an excellent coffee shop too

Insoles court is a fantastic venue. We hired rooms for a training day, they had very good IT, were spacious and appropriate. Staff were extremely helpful and accommodating. The main building and grounds are beautiful, there is ample parking and an overall calm feeling. I would definitely recommend Thank you

Lovely sedate venue. Great for sketching and wandering. Not massive but very well kept.

Absolutely amazing venue! We hired 3 rooms for a drinks reception, dinner and party after our registry office wedding and it was perfect. Staff and volunteers were helpful but very relaxed and we could decorate and use the spaces exactly as we wanted. The grounds are a fab backdrop for photos too!

Great day to photograph this peaceful pretty place aaahhh!!! The Library was hosting a high tea on Friday and it had been laid out beautifully

Great place for a coffee. Interesting and beautiful murals inside. Choir classes, yoga classes etc

Beautiful location. Inside and out.

Only 3 rooms to see, very dingy, dark and unfurnished, the grounds were better for a short walk round, there is a cafe, but did not try this as it was almost our evening meal time.

Fantastic wedding ceremony last week

Beautiful - lovely place to walk the puppy. Nice little coffee shop and very friendly staff especially for a Sunday! Plenty of parking too.

Beautiful gardens, a lovely place for a stroll.

Didn't go inside the house but to a plant fair in the garden. Lots of lovely plants and a great setting. The garden is basically a city park with open grassed areas for little ones to play ball games. It's a great place for hide and seek! Lots of rhododendron, azalea and magnolia plus conker trees!

Beautiful location for a wedding.... Highly recommend.

I love this place, it’s a perfect space for a Wedding or Special Occasion…

Lovely venue to celebrate weddings and events. I am a wedding photographer and there are so many photo opportunities in this place. I particularly love the back gardens for group and couple photos. Get in touch for wedding photography: www.nuriasernaphotography.com

We used the Drawing Room for a corporate afternoon event for the second year running: all attendees loved the venue - we were blessed with sunny weather and the opportunity to use the gardens for photos were an extra bonus! The staff on site were extremely helpful and on hand at all times. We had teas and coffees and cakes from on site which were delicious.

Beautiful house run by volunteers who couldn't be more welcoming and accommodating. We held our registry wedding here in August and hired the Reading room out for drinks and nibbles for our guests, and were able to take photos around the grounds. It was pretty quiet in the afternoon so felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. Both the staff at Insole Court and Registrars for our wedding were so lovely, and the day ran so smoothly. Thank you so much for having us!

We had the most incredible wedding here! It exceeded my expectations. If you want a DIY wedding Insole Court is absolutely perfect. Very grateful to Heledd for helping us plan it all and the wonderful volunteers. Also wonderful food & drink in the coffee shop and a lovely place to walk the dog. Absolutely love visiting here!

I highly recommend using Insole Court for any function. The staff are very friendly and great to deal with for bookings; explaining and showing facilities and communicate promptly. Room hire is very reasonable and we were able to drop off drinks to be chilled the day before and Insole provides set up, glasses and tidy away. The building and grounds are stunning and the rooms provide a beautiful backdrop and wonderful atmosphere for any function.

We recently hired Insole Court for our wedding and reception- and were so glad we did. Heledd and her team helped us create a beautiful, relaxed and stylish space for us to hold our event. The team were organised, friendly and it felt like we were really being looked after on special, but sometimes nerve wracking day. We'd really recommend Insole Court to anyone planning an event. This is a beautiful historic building and grounds, but doesn't feel stuffy at all. Thank you to all the staff for making our day such a special one.

We had our wedding day here and it was honestly the best day of my life. The staff handled everything with ease, were really helpful and the house and grounds are just incredible.

Free entry for beautiful garden. Unfortunately, there was a wedding party that was taking over off must garden free spaces. We couldn't go to : The cafe , inside the Church and some garden parts because was with the wedding party guests' groom and bride. Living us not able to go there.😠

Beautiful house and gardens, coffee shop and restaurant pleasant too. Grounds are well tended and staff generally very friendly. Parking is free.

An absolute gem, delightful grounds and great building.

We got married at Insole Court, gorgeous venue with beautiful grounds. Lots of different rooms to choose from. Parking is available but it can get quite busy so take this into consideration with guests - there's usually space available on the main road.

Lovely venue and gardens , street food pop up on weekends too

For 4 pounds we had a fascinating tour from a very pleasant young man and an audio visual display - house gardens and the history are well worth a visit for. Good to compare with the main castle and also castell coch which were decorated by the same artist - all paid for by the sweat and toil of ill paid Welsh workers and this was saved from the council by the community! Cafe but we didn't partake. Free parking and entry and a good 2nd hand book shop!

Lovely visit nice cafe with cakes and snacks and drinks 🥤

Excellent service from all of the staff involved in helping us to put on a baby shower for our daughter. Many thanks

Another excellent hiring of motor house down and lovely tasty lunch for our productive team awayday. All the staff super helpful from admin booking to handling our lunch order and serving the food. Fab surroundings always helped by the sunny weather, sitting outside was very relaxing in between sessions. Thank you all very much, looking forward to our next visit, thank you.

Hired a room for a meeting. great service, room all set up on arrival and the food from the potting shed was amazing! Beautiful setting and great for a wellbeing walk half way through the day.

Attended a pre wedding tea. The setting is do delightful. The buffet was very good and plentiful.

We held my daughter's 5th birthday party here - It was a big hit with all the attendees. A pleasant place and lovely destination for a walk with children, dogs or alike. Lovely little coffee shop too.

Stunning grounds, beautiful building, perfect setting for a wedding!

Not a massive house but it needs urgent maintenance to the interia paper hanging off walls plaster flaking because of the damp. If the place is brought up to scratch it could be a lovely place, the gardens were a lovely surprise, nice to walk around. Still it was an enjoyable day out and will go again to see if any improvement in the future.

A beautiful gothic-revival house, finally receiving the care and attention it deserves. It's a splendid building - the 'Reading Room's is especially wonderful. The gardens are beautiful too and the outbuildings often have interesting events on too, exhibitions etc. Also, the Potting-Shed cafe is really very good indeed. Well worth a visit.

Amazing place for my wedding, so beautiful and atmospheric

Enjoyed my weekend there. It was fun.

A lovely house and gardens. We had a perfect wedding ceremony here.

A wonderful mansion house with lovely gardens & an excellent bookshop! Cafe on site too & always lots of events in the calendar.

House and park within Fairwater, little gem did not know it was there also a little bit of history thrown also on visit.

Lovely cafe serving a selection of gluten and dairy free options. I went for the caramel chocolate brownie and black decaf, will be back. 😘

It's a really lovely place for a wedding

Not a lot to see here although the coffee in the cafe was excellent.

Insole Court is a lovely place with beautiful gardens, nice cafe and easy parking.

Absoloutley love Insole Gardens & this is thanks to the brilliant volunteers , who make it so beautiful . Such a pleasure to walk around with my lovely dog , Willow . . My “happy “ place . Thank you 🤗

A great place to walk the dog lovely gardens and good seats for resting 😀

A bijou masterpiece. Not a grand house but very homely.

Found by accident as I was looking at the nuclear bunker. Great place well worth a visit. Stunning.

Gorgeous place, so beautiful done up! Gorgeous garden around it, and lovely teashop! Nice place, we spend around 1 to 2 hours. Also the vegetable community garden is worth a visit! Once a month there is a farmer's market, every last Sunday of the month from 9 till 1, delicious bread, cheese, meat plants, spices, chocolates, craft beers and ciders. My favourite was fermented vegetables, delicious! This time there was a craft fair, lovely homemade stuff there. The Lady in Insole court told us that to go upstairs cost £5 to go round and with an audio you listen to the history of the building and the people who used to live there. Definitely do that one day. We had excellent coffee and yummy carrot cake.

Amazing hidden gem in the middle of cardiff, even if there's no events on the house and gardens as well as a lovely coffee shop make a pleasant vist.

Another great selection of plants from local sellers. Some unusual and some indoor plants. Always a great cup of coffee in the cafe and the vegan sausage breakfast bap was terrific

Easy to park pleasure to walk around lots of interesting plants and flowers

Beautiful venue for weddings. As a photographer I love taking pictures here, the rooms and gardens are lovely.

Visited Insole court to look at the function rooms. Lovely place very well maintained. I was taken around by a very pleasant and helpful person. Had coffee and cake at the cafe. Both excellent.

Lovely place, especially on a sunny day. Free parking, though they appreciate donations. Dog friendly cafe with nice coffee. Inside and outside seating. Nice place for a picnic and a great place for little ones to run around. The building itself is open to visitors and they have a good 2nd hand bookshop there. Not a place for a full day out but nice to while away some time.

It's interesting how much is being done to preserve old mansions. The large garden is definitely worth a visit in summer when everything is in bloom.

Really beautiful building. When I went on a Sunday morning there was a plant sale happening outside — so nice. Highly recommend checking out if you’re nearby.

Was a bit disappointed I expected more the house was smaller than expected and no furniture. The paid tour is just listening to a tape that drones on the rooms have paper hanging off the walls. Honestly, it wasn't worth paying for. The gardens from what we saw looked nice enough, but due to the weather didnt get a chance to view them. I would say the gardens are better than the house, and the gardens are also free.

Lovely place with a calming atmosphere to drink a coffee and eat a cake with a friend. You can also buy flowers and vegetables in pots on site. Sitting inside or sorrounded by nature.

Very nice old building, great garden that is definitely wonderful in summer. He was still more or less in hibernation. In any case, we will come back and visit it at another time of the year.

Went on a dark tours wales tour it was very interesting and beautiful building

Great local facility that is free entry. Lovely old house and gardens. Ideal for events, activities, meetings or just a visit with rooms to hire, a lovely gift shop and cafe and regular markets.

Potting shed (coffee shop): Nice place, good coffee and cakes, staff are friendly. Wish they didn't use paper cups though

Visited here briefly yesterday with friends who live locally. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to properly explore and enjoy this beautiful Grade II listed mansion, as we were doing a whirlwind tour of Cardiff - plus they were preparing some of the rooms for various events happening later that day. But I would love to return and really explore the mansion and its grounds. Whilst visiting I saw they were holding a Tai Chi class in the garden - which (even in the rain) looked fabulous. I also got to see the wonderful little secondhand bookshop within the mansion, with a fabulous selection of books at great prices. Highly recommended.

Amazing heritage venue. Great place for meeting!

We hold our Cardiff Translators' Unconference here every year (now in the third year). The venue is amazing!

Too many dogs off there leads, my poor puppies were petrified.. thought I could come here for a nice quiet walk with them, such a shame.

Absolutely fabulous place - full of heritage - well worth a visit. Staff are friendly and welcoming.

Lovely house, free to visit worth doing the House is a stage tour for £5 😁

What a hidden gem. Beautiful grounds. Awesome house, and within a library that you can purchase the books. Great Caffè with really delicious food. Will be visiting another. At that time there was no entry fee.