Video 1 — ITV Cymru Wales report
Video 2 — Wales at Six archive headline fragment
About Video 2 — source, fragment and identification notes
Archive item: Wales at Six, HTV Wales broadcast dated 5 December 1988; published to YouTube on 25 July 2025. The player starts at 19:48 (1,188 seconds). The available subtitle cue at about 19:54 reads: “the Farm at the center of a 30-year legal row can be demolished, rules a judge.” The contributor identifies the woman shown as Mary Amelia Buckler and the items being loaded into vans as Williams/Buckler household furniture, with the farmhouse in the background. Those identifications and the furniture provenance are attributed identifications; this short fragment alone does not independently prove them. The associated full news package appears to be missing from this upload at this point: this is a headline fragment, not the complete report.
Open the archive upload at the 19:48 cue · Read the separate ITV report evidence record.
Video 3 — Tŷ Mawr, the Great House of Llandough: the story on the map
Read the case summary
Great House Farm (Tŷ Mawr) is recorded here as the historic home of the Williams–Buckler family, occupied by the family since at least 1667. The site’s working reconstruction of the property and its changing names is set out in the two-parcel account and timeline.
The reconstruction begins with the 1877 Bute–Thomas agreement, involving the Bute Estate and Daniel Thomas. It distinguishes Parcel A — the farmhouse, garden, buildings and associated land — from Parcel B, the eastern fields. Mary (Nancy) Williams’s c.1974 statement records that the last rent was paid to Alfred Thomas in 1928, after which her father “regarded the farm as his own” (Mary (Nancy) Williams testimony); her account of the final rent payment stands alongside the disputed Land Registry title records. The later chain involving Western Ground Rents and BP Properties is examined separately; the Wiki’s reconstruction sets out the case that BP’s title came to treat the distinct house parcel as part of a synthetic whole-farm title.
The family disputes repeated attempts to characterise Mary (Nancy) Williams’s occupation as permissive. The relevant record includes the 1955 possession order, 1962 possession proceedings and 1974 licence letters. SOURCE PENDING: reports that Mary underwent a leg amputation and that her water was cut off have no document or named witness on file yet. These are points to be tested against the missing-records register and surviving evidence.
Particular questions concern the 1982–83 registration and opportunity to object, the 1987 Land Registry amalgamation during the appeal, the BP Properties Ltd v Buckler litigation, and the 1988 demolition followed by redevelopment. The Wiki asks whether the sequence supports a case of lawfare, deception or human-rights violations, concealment or missing-records concerns, or improper public-authority involvement. The analysis is tested against the evidence library, sources and archives, records-access chronology and counterarguments; nothing here is presented as a finding already made by a court.
Great House Farm · title-chain map, c.1841 → 2026
GREAT HOUSE FARM · TITLE-CHAIN MAP
Tŷ Mawr, Llandough-juxta-Penarth. One line per title, in date order. A line shows a route of title or possession; on its own it is not proof of ownership.
Key: labels and lines
VERIFIED the record has been seen (scan, register, judgment, catalogue or press; the type is shown) TESTIMONY a named family member’s recorded statement, linked to their Testimony page SOURCE PENDING no document or identified speaker yet NOT YET SEEN reported, but the record has not been seen
THE LINES (left to right on the map)
Root freehold → Parcel B (far left): Bute → Mountjoy → WGR (1938) → BP (1969); from 1987 the merged title WA231076
Williams · Parcel A: splits off the root in 1877 (Mary (Nancy) Williams’s statement) and runs right of Parcel B. It fades one step each time a branch is taken off it: It never ends: still running past 2026.
Line 1 · Woodland: off Parcel A at 1949, dashed to the 29 Mar 1961 deed (terms and extent not inspected); the 10 Nov 1994 transfer of WA735527 from Ideal Homes Wales Ltd to Forest of Cardiff is a separate record, and no transfer from Cardiff City Corporation is on record
Line 2 · Green: off Parcel A at the 1958/9 attempt, dashed until the 16 Jun 1970 registration (VG41), bold after
Line 3 · BP house: off Parcel A at the 11 Dec 1962 possession order, dashed until BP’s 23 Feb 1983 registration (WA240304), bold after; only this line folds left into Parcel B, on 2 Feb 1987
Teal station: a Cardiff body is involved (1942 gift, 1958 inquiry, 1961 deed, 1967 tribunal, 1989 consultee). Where one line crosses another, the line underneath shows a small gap.
Line labels: each branch line carries the same three labels so the pattern shows: “REJECTED permissive occupancy ploy”, “usual 12-year waiting period” (with the measured gap) and “clandestine registration” (source pending). They are labels, not findings. Nothing on one line is drawn on another.
Reading the map
In the family’s case, three attempts to make Mary (Nancy) Williams’s occupancy permissive each failed: 1949, 1958/9 and 1974. Each was followed by a registration of part of Parcel A in another name: the woodland (the 29 Mar 1961 deed; Forest of Cardiff, WA735527, from 1994), the green (village green VG41, 16 Jun 1970) and the house (BP Properties Ltd, WA240304, 23 Feb 1983). Those three titles have been treated as valid, while no register has shown the Williams Parcel A title since 1987. The stations below give the record for each step. Permissive-occupancy claim · Three Parts of Parcel A
SCROLL DOWN · c.1841 → 2026 · TAP A STATION FOR DETAIL AND SOURCE
c.1841 · Tithe map
c.1841 · Tithe map: Bute owns; John Williams occupies the holding
VERIFIED · public copy
The tithe apportionment for Landough, Cogan and Leckwith lists the Bute estate as owner and John Williams as occupier of the Great House Farm holding.Source: EV-0215
1877 · Root title splits: A / B
1877 · Root title splits: Parcel A / Parcel B
A later statement (c.1974): the Bute Estate sold the farmhouse, buildings and about 10 acres to Daniel Thomas and kept about 9 acres (Parcel B). John Williams, the farmer at Great House Farm, took a tenancy from Thomas for quarrying (the statement dates his lease 6 November 1877), and “when the quarrying ceased the freehold should belong to [John Williams]”. The 1877 instrument itself is not held (EV-0006).Source: EV-0006 · The Two Parcels · Mary (Nancy) Williams testimony
1916 · Bute tenancy: J. Williams
1916 · Bute → John Williams (the son): yearly tenancy of the “whole farm”
VERIFIED · judgment
John Williams died in 1908 and his son, also named John Williams, took over the farm (Barry Dock News, 23 Oct 1908, EV-0243; a later statement, c.1974). The Court of Appeal’s history describes a February 1916 yearly agricultural tenancy of the “whole farm”. It covered Parcel A: the last tenancy of Parcel A, whose occupiers the Williams family had been since 1667. The tenancy (EV-0014) is not held.Source: BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2 · EV-0014
1923 · Esther Williams, Llandough
1923 · An Esther Williams signs the Llandough sheet of the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition
VERIFIED · archive record
The National Library of Wales holds the Llandough sheet of the 1923 Welsh Women’s Peace Petition (Petition 1/92): 36 signatures, and line 1.08 reads “Esther Williams”, “Llandough”. The other addresses on the sheet (Llwyn-yr-Eryr, The Gardens, The Post Office, Lewis Road, Cogan, “Llandough Brickworks”, the Toll House, “Llandough Near Cardiff”) place it in Llandough-juxta-Penarth. 1923 is the NLW catalogue date; the sheet carries no date. Our reading: this is the Mrs Esther Williams, wife of John Williams, whom the Court of Appeal records living at the farm in 1955. The petition is a peace petition, not a land document, and names no farm; the link to Great House Farm is our inference.Source: NLW Petition 1/92 (wayback WB-0039) · EV-0294 · CA 1987 para 7
1926 · Bute land → Mountjoy Ltd
1926 · Remaining Bute property becomes Mountjoy Ltd
VERIFIED · catalogue
Archive catalogue history: after 1900 the Glamorgan estate was divided; the remaining Bute property was incorporated as Mountjoy Ltd in 1926.Source: Glamorgan Archives DA catalogue
1928 · Last rent paid (Mary’s recollection)
1928 · Last rent paid, in Mary’s recollection: Parcel A becomes the Williams family’s; quarrying had ended by November 1925
Mary (Nancy) Williams, John Williams’s daughter, was born at Great House Farm on 10 August 1913. Her statement (c.1974): the quarry machinery was removed in 1928 and her father made the last payment of rent, about £4 a year, to Alfred Thomas. “After this my father regarded the farm as his own.” Neither the 1877 deed nor the 1928 receipt is held. Quarrying itself had ended by November 1925, when the quarry’s plant and tramlines were catalogued for sale (Glamorgan Archives DSA/12/4888, 10 Nov 1925).Source: EV-0016 · Mary (Nancy) Williams’s statement · Mary (Nancy) Williams testimony
1938 · Mountjoy / Bute → WGR
1938 · Mountjoy / Bute → Western Ground Rents Ltd (WGR)
VERIFIED · deed copy + press
Sale announced 17 May 1938 and completed 23 Dec 1938. Later WGR deeds deduce title from “a Conveyance on sale dated 25th December 1938” (EV-0216, copy held). The 1938 deed and plan (EV-0019) are not held: exactly which land it conveyed is the open question.Source: EV-0216 · EV-0019 · 1938 press report
1939 · WGR plan: Parcel B only
1939 · WGR → John Williams agreement: plan shows Parcel B only
VERIFIED · partly held
The May 1939 WGR agreement (Glamorgan Archives DBDT123/7) is a monthly let “as meadow or pasture land”; its plan shows the eastern fields (Parcel B) only.Source: EV-0023
1940–42 · Leckwith Woods gift
1940–42 · WGR gives about 109 acres of Leckwith Woods to Cardiff Corporation
VERIFIED · secondary + press
Cardiff Parks: “The Council acquired a part of Leckwith Woods comprising some 109 acres as a gift from Western Ground Rents Ltd … offered and accepted in 1940, though the transfer of ownership was not formally completed until April 1942.” The deed carries a recreation-only covenant. The Western Mail (18 Mar 1955) reports the woods were “bought by the corporation for a nominal sum in 1942”. Not seen: the 1942 deed and plan. The gift is of Leckwith Woods, which lies in Leckwith, not Llandough.Source: EV-0220 · Cardiff Parks page
1949 · Frederick’s yearly letting begins
1949 · Frederick’s yearly agricultural letting from Western Ground Rents begins (2 Feb 1949). No 1949 offer to Mary concerning Parcel A, or reply from her, has been found
VERIFIED · judgment
Frederick Buckler married Mary (Nancy) Williams in 1936 and, from 1944, ran the farm as manager for her father (her statement, c.1974). The Court of Appeal (1987) records that Mr Williams “fell into arrears with his rent in the mid-1930s and in the late 1940s. Because of that, agreement was reached for Mr Williams’ tenancy to be surrendered and for a new yearly agricultural tenancy commencing at February 2 1949 to be granted to Mr Williams’ son-in-law, Mr Frederick Buckler”. It records: “It was intended that Mr Frederick Buckler should have a written tenancy agreement, but this did not happen because Mr Frederick Buckler also failed to pay the rent.” The landlords’ agents wrote to their solicitors on 10 October 1952 “that they did not propose to proceed with the letting to Mr Frederick Buckler”. Mary (Nancy) Williams’s own statement (c.1974): “I have never had any doubt that I was entitled to do so nor have I ever paid rent to or acknowledged the title of anyone as landlord.” In November 1958 she told Glamorgan County Council’s planning committee that “the water was cut off from her house and grounds for nearly 10 years by order of Western Ground Rents” (Western Mail, 20 Nov 1958, p.7; newspaper-archive OCR, page image not seen).Source: 1987 judgment · GHF-E122 · Mary (Nancy) Williams’s statement (GHF-E196-01) · EV-0037 · Permissive-occupancy claim
WOODLAND · REJECTED permissive occupancy ploy
4 Jul 1955 · Parcel B repossessed
4 Jul 1955 · Possession of Parcel B, later misread and conflated with Parcel A; the woodland and the green were also seized, shortly after Mary returned from hospital with her leg amputated
VERIFIED · judgment
The Court of Appeal records that WGR obtained a High Court possession order against Frederick Buckler “in respect of the whole of the farm”, and: “On July 4 1955 that possession order was enforced, and possession was taken in respect of all parts of the farm except the farmhouse and garden.” It gives the reason: Mary “had recently come out of hospital after having had a leg amputated and was objecting very strongly to leaving the farmhouse.” What most likely happened: the order was made against Frederick, whose farm tenancy had ended, and the land WGR let is the eastern fields, Parcel B, on the 1939 WGR plan (EV-0023). On the 1947 Ordnance Survey (25-inch, Glamorgan sheet XLVII.6, revised 1941) the Ty-mawr house and yard sit between the wooded old limekiln and quarry ground to the north and the open ground to the south-east. The Three Parts of Parcel A page identifies those two areas as Parcel A’s woodland and green, with the farmhouse and garden as the third part. Taking “all parts of the farm except the farmhouse and garden” therefore took the woodland and the green along with Parcel B, and left Mary in the third part, the house. This station sits on Parcel B; the woodland and the green have their own lines. The order and execution return (EV-0032, EV-0034) are not held.Source: 1987 judgment · The 1955 Possession Order · EV-0023 · 1947 Ordnance Survey (sheet XLVII.6) · Three Parts of Parcel A · EV-0032 · EV-0034
7 May 1958 · Leckwith Common inquiry
7 May 1958 · Cardiff City Council’s Leckwith Common inquiry (Leckwith Common, not Great House Farm or Parcel A)
VERIFIED · press (OCR)
Mary appears in the press under her married name, Mrs Buckler. At the 6 May 1958 inquiry into Cardiff City Council’s plan to turn Leckwith Common into playing fields, the Western Mail (7 May 1958, p.7) reports: “Mrs. Mary Doreen Buckler, of Great House Farm, Llandough, said she did not oppose the proposal so long as it applied only to playing fields. About 130 years ago Lord Bute allowed her family ‘a slice of land’ which was now Leckwith Common.” The inquiry concerned Leckwith Common, not Great House Farm or Parcel A. Quoted from the newspaper archive’s OCR; page image not seen.Source: EV-0035
20 Nov 1958 · Mary’s public objection
19–20 Nov 1958 · Mary objects to Glamorgan County Council’s planning committee: her land “walked in and taken”
VERIFIED · press (OCR)
The Western Mail (20 November 1958, p.7) reports the planning committee meeting of 19 November 1958: “Mrs. M D. Buckler was objecting to further industrial development in the vicinity of her farm, Ty Mawr, Penarth Road, Llandough.” Land farmed by her family since 1667 had been “wrongfully appropriated”. “This is a Welsh case of Crichel Down,” said Mrs. Buckler. “The Glamorgan County Council, Penarth Urban and Cardiff Rural Councils and Western Ground Rents have walked in and taken …” “Mrs. Buckler claimed that the water was cut off from her house and grounds for nearly 10 years by order of Western Ground Rents.” Quoted from the newspaper archive’s OCR (search-result snippets; the sentence breaks off after “taken”); page image not seen.Source: EV-0037
1958/9 · Green: occupancy attempt
1958/9 · Green: attempt to make Mary (Nancy) Williams’s occupancy permissive, refused
VERIFIED · judgment
The Court of Appeal records that by 1959 Mary asserted title to Great House Farm through her grandfather, John Williams, and: “She was offered a tenancy of the farmhouse and garden by Western Ground Rents but refused to accept it. She was also later offered, and refused, alternative accommodation.” The green lies south of the house and garden, now the Church View Close park, and was registered as village green VG41 on 16 June 1970. The offer and her reply (EV-0039) are not held.Source: 1987 judgment · EV-0039 · EV-0044
GREEN · REJECTED permissive occupancy ploy
WOODLAND · usual 12-year waiting period · measured: about 12 yrs (1949 → 1961)
29 Mar 1961 · Woodland deed (terms not inspected)
29 Mar 1961 · Woodland: deed between Western Ground Rents, South Western Brick & Tile and Cardiff City Corporation, about 12 years after the 1949 attempt
VERIFIED · register held
The woodland register WA735527 (copy held) lists “a Deed dated 29 March 1961 made between (1) Western Ground Rents Limited (2) The South Western Brick & Tile Company Limited and (3) Cardiff City Corporation”; the land tinted pink is subject to the rights in it, and the register notes “Copy filed under WA231076”. The deed and its plan (EV-0040) have not been inspected, so its terms and precise extent, and what Cardiff City Corporation received, are not known. The 1994 transfer to Forest of Cardiff, from Ideal Homes Wales Ltd (register WA735527, entry 8), is a separate record; no transfer from Cardiff City Corporation is on record.Source: EV-0040 · EV-0169 · register WA735527
WOODLAND · clandestine registration · we say · source pending
11 Dec 1962 · Possession order
11 Dec 1962 · Possession order: farmhouse and garden. The BP house line starts here
VERIFIED · judgment
The Court of Appeal records that WGR sued Frederick and Mary Buckler in Cardiff County Court “for possession of the farmhouse and garden and mesne profits since 1955”, that “On December 11 1962 a possession order was made by Judge Temple Morris QC”, and that “nothing was done before 1974 to enforce the 1962 possession order”. The original order and plan (EV-0041) are not held.Source: 1987 judgment · EV-0041 · The 1962 Possession Order
1965 · Weekly tenancy offer
1965 · Further weekly tenancy offer; not signed, no rent paid
VERIFIED · judgment
Recorded in the Court of Appeal’s history: in March 1965 WGR’s agents offered Mrs Buckler a tenancy. Not signed; no rent paid.Source: 1987 judgment · EV-0039
1967 · Lands Tribunal v Cardiff
1967 · Lands Tribunal: WGR v City of Cardiff
VERIFIED · catalogue only
A compulsory-purchase compensation case, catalogued at The National Archives. Which land it concerned has not been read.Source: TNA catalogue entry
31 Dec 1969 · BP acquires
31 Dec 1969 · WGR → BP Pension Trust: BP takes WGR’s interest, including the 1962 order
VERIFIED · judgment
Conveyance recited as the root of BP’s title. The instrument and plan (EV-0043) are not held. The same conveyance carried Parcel B, so the station shows on both lines. In September 1974 BP applied for leave to enforce the 1962 order, so it held that order’s benefit.Source: 1987 judgment · EV-0043
GREEN · usual 12-year waiting period · measured: about 11–12 yrs (1958/9 → 16 Jun 1970)
16 Jun 1970 · Village green VG41
16 Jun 1970 · South-east ground registered as village green VG41 · about 11–12 yrs after the 1958/9 attempt
NOT YET SEEN
The date as recorded on the wiki. The application, map and ownership section of the VG41 file are not held; registration as a green does not by itself show who owns it. Llandough Community Council states that it “owns and maintains the village green”.Source: EV-0044 · community council website
GREEN · clandestine registration · we say · source pending
1971 · Ordnance Survey altered
1971 · BP house: Ordnance Survey alteration
SOURCE PENDING
An alteration to the Ordnance Survey’s “Ty-mawr” name for the farm in 1971; source pending until the 1971 OS sheet and its revision record are seen. On the earlier OS editions of 25-inch sheet XLVII.6 (1900, 1920 and 1947) the “Ty-mawr” name sits on the house parcel, Parcel A. The one 1971 record known on this line is BP Pension Trust’s 1971 abstract of title, known only from later recitals and not held (EV-0045).Source: EV-0045 · OS sheet XLVII.6, 1947
1974 · Attempt to extinguish fails
1974 · BP house: BP’s attempt to extinguish Mary (Nancy) Williams’s ownership claim fails
VERIFIED · pressNOT YET SEEN · court papers
On 15 April 1974 Mary opened the farmhouse to the public and said: “my solicitors tell me I have a valid claim to it” (Daily Telegraph, 16 April 1974). BP brought a fresh county-court action for possession; on 3 July 1974 the hearing was adjourned part heard for a formal defence; Mary’s defence then pleaded that she owned the house parcel, relying on the Limitation Act 1939. It was never listed again. BP also obtained leave on 19 Sep 1974 to enforce the 1962 order; Mary’s solicitors appealed because she had not been given notice, and after BP’s licence letters of 31 Oct 1974 the landlords’ solicitors withdrew the warrant, at a date before 25 Nov 1974. The court papers are not held (EV-0049).Source: EV-0048 · EV-0049 · The 1974 Licence Letters
31 Oct 1974 · BP licence letters
31 Oct 1974 · BP letters offer continued rent-free occupancy of the house
VERIFIED · judgment
The letters were one-sided: the judgment records that Mrs Buckler “never expressly accepted or rejected the terms of the two letters”. In July 1974 her defence had asserted that the claim was barred by adverse possession. The Court of Appeal (1987) held: “whether she liked it or not, from the time of her receipt of the letters, Mrs Buckler was in possession of the farmhouse and garden by the licence of BP Properties Ltd, and her possession was no longer adverse” (Dillon LJ).Source: EV-0050 · EV-0080
BP HOUSE · REJECTED permissive occupancy ploy
30 Nov 1982 · BP applies: farm
30 Nov 1982 · BP Properties Ltd applies to register WA231076 (the farm)
VERIFIED · HMLR
Application date from HM Land Registry’s file schedule (30 items).Source: EV-0170 · Land Registry titles
BP HOUSE · usual 12-year waiting period · measured: 8 yrs 4 mths from the 1974 letters; 13 yrs 2 mths from 31 Dec 1969; about 12 yrs from 1971
23 Feb 1983 · BP applies: house
23 Feb 1983 · BP Properties Ltd applies to register WA240304 (farmhouse and garden) · 8 yrs 4 mths after the 1974 letters
VERIFIED · HMLR
HMLR’s schedule dates the Form 1C and first register edition 23 Feb 1983; examination continued to May 1983. Mary (Nancy) Williams died on 26 Mar 1983.Source: EV-0066 · EV-0063
BP HOUSE · clandestine registration · we say · source pending
2 Feb 1987 · WA240304 merged in
2 Feb 1987 · WA240304 merged into WA231076: the house branch joins Parcel B
VERIFIED · HMLR
Amalgamation recorded during the appeal; the application and plan (EV-0078) are not held.Source: EV-0078 · 1987 amalgamation
31 Jul 1987 · Court of Appeal
31 Jul 1987 · Court of Appeal: BP Properties Ltd v Buckler [1987] EWCA Civ 2
VERIFIED · judgment
The appeal concerned the farmhouse and garden only. The Court of Appeal (1987) held: “whether she liked it or not, from the time of her receipt of the letters, Mrs Buckler was in possession of the farmhouse and garden by the licence of BP Properties Ltd, and her possession was no longer adverse”, so the adverse-possession claim to the farmhouse and garden failed. From here no register shows the Williams Parcel A title; the line runs on unregistered.Source: judgment (BAILII) · EV-0080
Nov–Dec 1988 · Eviction, demolition
Nov–Dec 1988 · Eviction, then demolition (6 Dec 1988)
VERIFIED · press
Possession was enforced at the end of November 1988 (forced entry reported for 30 Nov). BP demolished the farmhouse in the early hours of 6 December 1988.Source: 1988 demolition · EV-0108
1989–90 · Outline planning
1989–90 · Planning 89/01396/OUT: Cardiff Bay Development Corporation consulted
VERIFIED · scan read
BP Properties’ outline application (received 8 Nov 1989; granted 13 Mar 1990). The planning officer’s report lists among the consultees: “Cardiff Bay Development Corporation: No objections – however, the Corporation would hope that the trees on the slope of the site facing north-west are retained and that the public right of way which runs through the site will be retained.” This is Cardiff Bay Development Corporation, not Cardiff City Council. The full response is outstanding; it was requested from the Vale on 18 Sep 2026.Source: EV-0201 (report scan, p.1) · EV-0124 · request to the Vale
1992 · Reserved matters
1992 · Reserved matters 92/00671/RES: 20 houses; no Cardiff body named
VERIFIED · scan read
Ideal Homes Wales’ Form D (14 May 1992) names no Cardiff City or Cardiff Bay body. It answers “No” to felling trees and “No” to altering or diverting a public right of way. The GGAT letter of 27 Jul 1992 (EV-0128) is not held.Source: EV-0127 (form scan) · EV-0128
3 Dec 1993 · BP → Ideal Homes
3 Dec 1993 · BP → Ideal Homes (farm site and woodland)
NOT YET SEEN
Recorded in the woodland title history on the wiki; the houses became Church View Close. Forest of Cardiff states that it bought the woodland from Ideal Homes (now Persimmon) “after due diligence”. Deed not seen.Source: Forest of Cardiff review
10 Nov 1994 · Change of hands
10 Nov 1994 · Woodland changes hands: transfer to Forest of Cardiff, title WA735527 · change of hands / new proprietor (or further synthetic-parcel creation), not the 1961 deed
VERIFIED · register held
Transfer with plan to Forest of Cardiff, registered as WA735527. The current register copy is held (EV-0169); the 1994 transfer itself (EV-0136) is not. Forest of Cardiff’s accounts to 31 Mar 1995 show no land as an asset. The register (B1) enters Forest of Cardiff as proprietor on 25 Nov 1994. It recites a 23 May 1975 conveyance of part (“the land tinted blue … and other land”) from The British Petroleum Pension Trust to B.P. Properties Ltd, and notes copies of earlier deeds as “filed under WA231076”. It is a separate event from the 1961 deed.Source: EV-0169 · EV-0136
WOODLAND · change of hands / new proprietor (or further synthetic-parcel creation) · not the 1961 deed
2005–06 · WA735527 part sold
2005–06 · Part of WA735527 sold to Goldsworthy Homes: £20,000 · change of hands / new proprietor (or further synthetic-parcel creation)
VERIFIED · Companies House
A 2005 transfer excised land from WA735527 (EV-0139, not held); register entry A4 dated 22 Dec 2005 records the excised land being registered under a new title. Forest of Cardiff’s audited accounts to 30 Jun 2006 record “Sale of Land – Leckwith Road, Llandough £20,000”.Source: EV-0217 · EV-0139
WOODLAND · change of hands / new proprietor (or further synthetic-parcel creation)
Gap chart: the usual 12-year waiting period, line by line
Usual 12-year waiting period: each line’s gap, to scale
Coloured bar = REJECTED permissive occupancy ploy → clandestine registration, on each line. Purple bracket = 12 years from the attempt (the limitation period for adverse possession of unregistered land, Limitation Act 1980 s.15; 1939 Act before it). Real gaps shown, not rounded to 12.
19501960197019801990
Line 1 · Woodland
1949 attempt → 1961 deed: about 12 years. 1949: the surrender and re-grant of 2 Feb 1949 (1987 judgment); 1961: the 29 Mar 1961 deed recited on WA735527. Source: EV-0040 · 1987 judgment
Line 2 · Green (VG41)
Line 3 · BP house (WA240304)
On each line the registration came about 12 years after the rejected attempt. SOURCE PENDING Whether Mary or the registry was told, until the full registry files are seen.
2026 · Where each line stands
2026 · Where each line stands today
VERIFIED · registers
Merged title WA231076 (house third + Parcel B): built over as Church View Close. Forest third: Forest of Cardiff, WA735527. Green third: village green VG41. Parcel A: the Williams line runs on, unregistered. HM Land Registry copies of the 1982–83 files are on order.Source: Land Registry titles · EV-0169 · EV-0044
2026 · Parcel A: Williams title
2026 · Parcel A: Williams title, not extinguished and not sold
VERIFIED · judgment + registers
No deed of sale by Mary (Nancy) Williams is on file, and the 1987 appeal decided the farmhouse and garden only. Since 1987 no register has shown the Williams Parcel A title, about 38 years, while the three branch titles have been treated as valid. SOURCE PENDING A sale c.1965 reported in a cousin’s written account (held privately) is unidentified.Source: Parcel A / B claim · Three Parts of Parcel A
The Parcel A line continues past 2026.
What cuts against this reading
What cuts against this reading: the Court of Appeal records that the possessory-title claim to the rest of the farm failed on the facts and was not appealed, and it held that the 1974 letters made the house occupancy a licence. No record yet links the three registrations to each other. 1987 judgment
A wider plan?
A wider plan?
Shown as a question.
QUESTION Was there a wider plan for the land on which the Williams family were not consulted? This is not established. Records that bear on it:
- Oct–Nov 1988: BP’s pension fund sells about 1,300 acres of Welsh land to Intercontinental Land & Development (Cardiff) Ltd; the Land Authority for Wales buys sites from Lavernock to Leckwith NOT YET SEEN · press snippets
- 21 Oct–25 Nov 1988: Land Authority for Wales board papers (TNA WA 9/49), open at Kew NOT YET SEEN · catalogue only, not read
- 9 Nov 1989: Land Authority advertises building land at Lewis Road, about 270 m from the farmhouse, the same week 89/01396/OUT went in NOT YET SEEN · press snippet
- 1989: Cardiff Bay Development Corporation consulted on 89/01396/OUT VERIFIED EV-0201
- Nov 1994: Land Authority gives 127 acres between Leckwith Hill and Llandough to the county council NOT YET SEEN · press snippet
Reading rule and notes
Reading rule: the decisive test is each deed, order and registration plan laid over the same three Parcel-A areas. Local history only, not title events: Marconi’s wireless trials at Lavernock, May 1897 (EV-0011); Peerless Jim Driscoll’s first fight in the barn NOT YET SEEN · date unknown. Map rebuilt 19 Oct 2026; the previous version is kept in the template’s revision history. Change log · Three Parts of Parcel A