Old Probate Registry, Llandaff
{{Short description|Probate registry in Cardiff, Wales}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name = Old Probate Registry
| image = Old Probate Registry, Llandaff.JPG
| caption = "by John Prichard, the pre-eminent Victorian architect of South Wales [and] possibly his finest secular design"
| locmapin = Wales Cardiff
| map_relief = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|51.4934|-3.2191|display=inline,title}}
| location = Llandaff, Cardiff, Glamorgan
| area =
| built = 1860-1863
| owner =
| architect = John Prichard
| architecture = Gothic Revival
| governing_body =
| designation1 = Grade II* listed building
| designation1_offname = No.49 Cardiff Road, Llandaff, The High Court of Justice, Probate Registry of Wales, South Glamorgan
| designation1_date = 19 May 1975
| designation1_number = 13648
| designation2 = Grade II listed building
| designation2_offname = The Old Registry
| designation2_date = 19 May 1975
| designation2_number = 13649
| designation3 = Grade II listed building
| designation3_offname = Front garden wall
| designation3_date = 19 May 1975
| designation3_number = 13650
}}
The Old Probate Registry is a former probate office in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. Dating from 1863, it was designed by John Prichard, the diocesan architect for Llandaff, and has been described as his finest secular building. The Old Probate Registry is a Grade II* listed building while the Old Registry next door, designed by Prichard as the registrar's house, is listed at Grade II, and the composition is completed by an enclosing garden wall, also listed at Grade II. The Probate Registry was converted to commercial office us in the 1990s. In 2024 plans were submitted to convert the building to private residential use.
History
Until the mid-19th century the registration of wills and the administration of probate was an ecclesiastical function, undertaken in Cardiff by the Diocese of Llandaff.{{Cadw|num=13648|desc=Old Probate Registry|grade=II*|access-date=27 March 2025}} The Old Probate Registry also served as the national probate office for the whole of Wales.{{Coflein|num=31808|desc=Court of Probate, Cardiff Road, Llandaff|access-date=27 March 2025}} The design of the registry was undertaken by John Prichard (1817 - 1886), who served as diocesan architect and was responsible for the major restoration of Llandaff Cathedral undertaken between 1844 and 1857.{{cite DWB|id=s-PRIC-JOH-1817|last=Ellis|first=Megan|title=John Prichard|access-date=27 March 2025}}{{efn|John Prichard is buried in Llandaff Cathedral churchyard.}} Cadw considers Prichard "the pre-eminent Victorian architect of South Wales" and describes the Old Probate Registry as "possibly his finest secular design".
The registry moved to new, purpose-built offices in 1990 and the building was converted to commercial offices and an art gallery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.inyourpocket.com/cardiff/off-the-wall-art-gallery_161908v|title=Off the Wall Art Gallery|publisher=InYourPocket Guides|access-date=27 March 2025}}{{efn|Probate records from 1568-1857 which were held at the Old Registry are now part of the archive of the National Museum of Wales.{{cite web|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/950f929d-b190-4b98-a182-25e7f7102338|title=Welsh Probate Records, Diocese of Llandaff|publisher=National Archives|access-date=27 March 2025}}}} By 2024 all of the offices had been vacated and plans to convert the empty building to three private houses were submitted to Cardiff City Council.{{sfn|Holland|2024|p=3}} The adjacent Registry Office had been converted to a private residence around 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/welsh-homes/inside-former-register-office-posh-24858962|title=Inside the former register office in a posh suburb transformed into a dream home|first=Joanne|last=Ridout|date=August 26, 2022|work=Wales Online|access-date=27 March 2025}} The buildings stand within the boundary of the Llandaff conservation area.{{cite web|url=https://www.caerdydd.gov.uk/ENG/resident/Planning/Conservation/Documents/Llandaff%20Conservation%20Area%20Appraisal.pdf|title=Llandaff Conservation Area Appraisal|publisher=Cardiff City Council| access-date=27 March 2025}}
Architecture and description
The Old Probate Registry is built of Pennant Sandstone with Bath Stone ashlar dressings.{{sfn|Newman|1995|pp=257-258}} It is of two storeys with attics. The style is Gothic Revival. The architectural historian John Newman, in his Glamorgan volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, describes it as being constructed to an "Early English T-plan.{{sfn|Newman|1995|pp=257-258}} Newman shared Cadw's admiration; "to see what John Prichard could achieve as a secular architect one need only [view] his Probate Registry, an excellent example of the 'true picturesque'".{{sfn|Newman|1995|pp=257-258}} The Old Probate Registry is a Grade II* listed building. The adjacent Registry Office and the fronting garden wall both have separate Grade II listings.{{Cadw|num=13649|desc=Old Registry|grade=II|access-date=27 March 2025}}{{Cadw|num=13650|desc=Front garden wall|grade=II|access-date=27 March 2025}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Sources
- {{cite book
|last=Holland|first=Edward
|title=Old Probate Registry, No. 49 Cardiff Road, Llandaff
|url=https://docs.planning.org.uk/20240719/163/SGQ4J7ECFRF00/hfpj1ry7uzhhc5ta.pdf
|year=2024
|location=
|publisher=Holland Heritage
}}
- {{cite book
| last = Newman
| first = John
| author-link=John Newman (architectural historian)
| year = 1995
| title = Glamorgan
| series = The Buildings of Wales
| url = https://search.worldcat.org/title/33858574
| publisher = Penguin Books
| location= London, UK
| isbn = 978-0-140-71056-4
}}