‘I call it the building that time forgot’
The derelict building at 312 Cowbridge Road East in Canton, Cardiff(Image: John Myers)
Over the last decade a five-bedroom Victorian house on the corner of a lively Cardiff shopping street has drifted firmly into eyesore status. Discarded cans and wrappers lie in a weed-choked front lawn beneath a window boarded with rotting wood and another shielded by rusting steel bars.
For years an upper window on the side of the address — where Cowbridge Road East meets Clive Road in Canton — has lacked not only glass but anything at all to hold back the elements. Underneath, much of the signage for the long-closed Tom Davies bike shop has peeled off.
Sprawling ivy obscures most of the house’s stone façade, though a sign advertising a 2022 auction still pokes out. A sale did go ahead that year but the buyer, a London-based investment firm with assets of almost £3.6million, has shown little interest in the upkeep of what was already a wreck. According to neighbours it has not been lived in for decades.
(Image: John Myers)
The company, Mayfair Estates Property Investment, recently secured planning permission to knock down the old Tom Davies premises for a new ground-floor shop with two studio flats above. The scheme also includes refurbishment of the house “to provide family accommodation across three floors”.
It is not clear when this will happen. One local claimed to have recently had a conversation with someone coming out of the house, who reportedly said the plan was to put it up for sale again following the planning application’s approval.
“I call it the building that time forgot,” said Glen Fraser-Hynard, who owns the CF5 Hair Design salon next door on Clive Road. “It’s an interesting wreck inside, but nevertheless it is still a bit of a wreck.”
The derelict building at 312 Cowbridge Road East in Canton, Cardiff(Image: John Myers)
The 58-year-old told us the bike shop was closed by the time he started trading six years ago, though he recalls it then reopened very briefly before suddenly shutting again.
“Before the building was sold I saw a workman in there and I thought I’d cheekily ask for a quick peek inside,” said Mr Fraser-Hynard.
“Upstairs it’s really terribly damaged but it has all original Victorian features — the fireplaces, doors, cornicing. The last time it was decorated was the 1940s but nothing was removed.”
Hairdresser Glen Fraser-Hynard and his patient customer Ann Devine, whose appointment was interrupted by the unscheduled arrival of a WalesOnline reporter asking questions about an empty building(Image: Conor Gogarty)
Mr Fraser-Hynard said the site’s neglect is “a bit” of a frustration, but added: “I am more bothered about when they start developing it because the building is attached to mine and I don’t want a wall to collapse when I’m not looking.”
Historic images from Google Maps show the house’s windows were boarded up as far back as 2008, which was the last time the street-view seemed to show the bike shop open.
A Google street-view image of the home from 2008(Image: Google)
On the Cowbridge Road East side, the derelict building is part of a row of a dozen charming stone houses dating back to the 1870s. Neighbours told us they were glad something was finally being done about the “sadly neglected” property but criticised the grey-brick look of the planned side-extension as “completely out of sync” with the rest of the terrace, which is among the oldest parts of the street.
The recent planning application prompted seven scathing letters from neighbours, largely directed at the “hideous” design, but the council found it was in line with planning policies. “What’s going in place of the shop is so awful,” said one woman, who asked not to be named. “It’s the modernist look. I know we have a Tesco and things like that nearby, but this terrace hasn’t changed until now.”
An artist’s impression submitted as part of the planning application for 312 Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff
She does welcome the prospect of it finally being lived in. “We’ve been here more than 20 years and the house was always just storage for the shop,” she added.
Why has the site been a mess for so long? Three years ago Mayfair Estates bought a 999-year lease on the property for £218,000, but the freehold is listed as being owned by a pair of Barry-based solicitors called Nicholas Crane and Timothy Crane. When we called, the latter told us: “We no longer have any interest in that property.”
Mr Crane said they sold the freehold in March this year and that he understood the leaseholder, Mayfair, to now also be the freeholder. But even when the Cranes were the freeholders, the terms of the lease made clear that upkeep was the responsibility of the leaseholder, he claimed.
“We were not involved in the day to day of it,” Mr Crane added. “We were only concerned in collecting the ground rent.”
The derelict building at 312 Cowbridge Road East in Canton, Cardiff(Image: John Myers)
We asked Mayfair director Robert Levin why his firm allowed the eyesore to fall into even worse disrepair following its 2022 purchase of the lease. We also asked about the rumour that the property would be going up for sale again, and when work can be expected to begin.
The 71-year-old replied with a brief text: “Thank you for your message. I am confident that the majority of local residents will be very happy with the eventual outcome.”
WalesOnline has asked the council if it will be raising concerns over the site’s upkeep with the owner.