Tŷ Mawr, then

Persimmon buys Ideal Homes, with the unsold plots.

Press snippets; Persimmon appears on the HM Land Registry file in March 1996.

Last house at Church View Close sold.

Press snippets.

(search extract)

… It enabled the council to pay contractors working on the nearby Great House Farm housing development to improve the grassed area …

Leckwith and Llandough woods pass to South Glamorgan County Council.

Press snippets disagree on whether this was a gift or a sale.

House sales at Church View Close (first buyers by January 1995).

Press snippets.

Transfer of the woodland to Forest of Cardiff, title WA735527.

The title register is held; the transfer deed and plan are not.

Transfer of the woodland to Forest of Cardiff, title WA735527

The register for WA735527 records a transfer with plan to Forest of Cardiff dated 10 November 1994 (land tinted blue and pink). The reported chain runs Western Ground Rents → BP → Ideal Homes (3 December 1993) → Forest of Cardiff. The deed and plan have not been obtained; price, consideration and which parts are the 1955 north forest are not established.

(search extract)

… between Leckwith Hill [and] Llandough including 18 acres of special scientific interest …

GGAT to the council, 18 May 1994:

“spot scheduling this rare and important site of national significance”

The developer’s agent to the council, 4 February 1994, citing counsel’s opinion that condition 18:

“has been discharged and that the approval of the detailed plans and the notice issued by your council are decisive as to that”

“Llandough Farm”: village green planting plan

Planning drawing received 12 January 1994: the site titled “Llandough Farm”; the “LLANDOUGH VILLAGE GREEN … to be maintained by LLANDOUGH COMMUNITY COUNCIL”. Ideal Homes Wales had bought the site from BP on 3 December 1993; the 20 houses of Church View Close followed.

GGAT to the council, 13 and 15 December 1993:

“has not been fulfilled and cannot be discharged by your Authority”

GGAT to the council, on condition 18, December 1993:

“a Breach of Condition notice is issued immediately”

Woodland title history: BP to Ideal Homes, 3 Dec 1993. The deed is not held.

Chain as reported in the woodland assessment.

Sale of the merged title (house and fields) for housing. The transfer is not held.

The 1994 excavation at Great House Farm was carried out on behalf of Ideal Homes Wales, which built Church View Close.

GGAT to the council, 27 July 1992 (planning file 92/00671):

“demonstrated conclusively that significant archaeological deposits exist within the proposed development area … including a quantity of human bone”

(search extract)

… in Llandough and Leckwith from the Land Authority for Wales …

Seven woods in Llandough and Leckwith, from the Land Authority for Wales

Reservoir Wood (Llandough), Coed Sion Hywel, Coed Cwm Cydfin, Coed Creigiaidd, Coed y Stofer, Factory Wood and West Hill Wood: the seven woods the South Wales Echo reported passing to the county council from the Land Authority for Wales; 127 acres by the report of 7 November 1994.

(search extract)

… The woodland was sold to the LAW by BP Pension Fund which owned it until 1988 …

William (Billy) Buckler

The Williams / Buckler family announces the passing of William (Billy) Buckler, formerly of Great House Farm, Llandough.

Outline permission 89/01396/OUT, 13 March 1990, condition:

“no development shall take place until a field evaluation survey and archaeological assessment report has been carried out by a qualified archaeologist to the satisfaction of the Local Planning Authority.”

Reported by the South Wales Echo, 23 February 1990:

No objection has been made by Llandough Community Council but they [… want?] the land registered as village green

(front page)

… company chiefs are bidding [to] build homes on land where battling South Wales farmer Billy Buckler fought unsuccessfully to stop bailiffs evicting him … Great House Farm Llandough … a legal wrangle stretching back 33 years …

The council “wanted the land registered” as a village green

South Wales Echo, 23 February 1990, p.1: the community council “wanted the land registered” as a village green. The ground south-east of the farmhouse is registered as VG41.

(advertisement)

… Lewis Road Llandough … acres of Prime Residential Building Land For Sale by Private Treaty …

To the South Wales Echo, 1989:

“They have taken everything from me and my family. I have lost my livelihood.”

From farm to a bus

SOUTH Wales farmer Billy Buckler, whose home was demolished last year after a 40-year-old row over ownership, now plans to live in an old bus which he is converting into a mobile home.

Decision on application 14464/88, 14 April 1989:

Application declared inadmissible: the fair-trial complaint was not substantiated; the loss of the home was lawful and justified to protect the owner’s rights; there was no “possession” in law because the courts held the property belonged to another.

The Llandough resurvey list is issued, four months after the demolition

Cadw records 13430 (Pound Cottage) and 13431 (the former National School and School-house) carry the designation date 6 April 1989, “Original list description of 1989”; 13432, the Church of St Dochdwy, 4 June 1989. Cadw wrote on 21 May 2026 that Great House Farm and the barn were “assessed and rejected for listing in the 1988 community survey of Llandough”.

To the South Wales Echo, 24 March 1989:

“I will fight on to the death.”

[…] farmer freed

FARMER BILLY Buckler vowed to continue his fight over the loss of his historic family home and more than 70 acres of land […]

Evicted farmer freed after pleading guilty

A FARMER who lost his family home at Great House Farm, Llandough, when the premises were demolished at the end of last year today admitted two […]

(search extract)

[…] to the ground by BP Properties following a 30 year legal battle over ownership between the company and farmer Mr Billy Buckler. The lorries moved onto the site at 7.30am today and the operation is likely to take several days. Mr Buckler has been unable to […]

Charge against evicted farmer dropped

AN [ACCUSATION] that South Wales farmer Billy Buckler used threatening words and behaviour at his former home last year was withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service at Barry magistrates court yesterday.

Bail change for evicted farmer

EVICTED South Wales farmer Billy Buckler, whose Llandough house was demolished late last year, has had bail conditions changed on charges of assault, [damage to property] and wanton or furious driving. Buckler, aged 40 […]

Reader’s letter

I WAS concerned to read the report headlined Bulldozed Before Breakfast (Echo, December 6). How awful for the unfortunate Buckler family …

To the South Wales Echo, 13 December 1988:

“All I’ve got left are the clothes [I] stand up in.”

(search extract)

… who lived at Great House Farm, Llan-dough, near Cardiff […] Mr Buckler, evicted from the farm house by BP Properties, who demolished the building a week later […]

(search extract)

[…] Buckler, aged 40, who lived with family at Great House Farm, Llan-dough, until [it] was demolished by BP Properties this week, was freed on bail by magistrates yesterday. He faces charges […]

(search extract)

[…] a bid to stop BP Properties profiting from the demolition earlier this week [of] an 800-year-old farmhouse on the outskirts of Cardiff. A small group of Llan-dough villagers met local councillors last night to express their anger at the way BP had demolished […]

(search extract)

… a Vale of Glamorgan councillor and BP pensioner said the decision by BP Properties to flatten the buildings was ‘disgusting’. He plans to write to them in protest. Mr Billy Buckler’s family had battled for 33 years to prove they owned […]

Tears flow as 800 year-old farm house is razed at last

THE FINAL chapter in the 35-year battle over the ownership of Great House Farm in Llandough ended early yesterday when a team moved in to demolish the 800-year-old farm house.

Reported by the Western Mail, 6 December 1988:

A spokesperson there told the Western Mail the house was not of sufficient architectural merit and the land on which it stands was not of sufficient archaeological interest.

(search extract)

… Her husband’s family have been battling for more than 30 years to prove they owned the historic farmhouse at Llandough. That fight came to an end yesterday afternoon in the High Court in Cardiff and within hours owners BP Properties …

Farmer fails in final eviction hearing

A FAMILY’S long and bitter battle for an historic farmhouse appeared to be over last night after a High Court decision went against them and the Welsh historic monuments organisation decided to take no action.