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The administration of the hamlet has always been in the form of a lease. The first such leaseholder was Cynwrig ap Hywel in 1307, who passed it to his heirs until 1469 when it came to Thomas Mathew through marriage.
At this time there were two large manorial houses in Radyr: the original Radyr Isha, near the Church; and Radyr Ucha, on the site of the entrance to Radyr Comprehensive. A new manor house, Radyr Court, was then built to the east of the Church, near the road to the ford over the Taff and Radyr Isha was destroyed to make way for a deer park.
Radyr Court was very impressive, similar in size, and possibly style, to The Van at Caerphilly. It was two storeys around a central courtyard, with a large gateway. It was demolished in 1830, probably by fire, and the surviving wings turned into a farmhouse, now the Radyr Court Inn. Substantial foundations of the old house still remain, however.
By 1625, the Mathew family, whose emblem was the heathcock, was suffering from declining fortunes. This was partly due to the need to provide dowries for 21 daughters within two generations, and the development of the deer park, dispossessing tenant farmers and losing their income.
This park occupied the area boundered on one side by the river and Heol Isaf on the other, running from the manor house to Woodfield Avenue. A wall, seven feet high, existed where the railway now runs and from the Churchyard to Llantrisant Road, where a cottage named Ty Parc stood. This is now a garden in Heol Aradur.
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