VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0

Topography and the Built Environment Francis Boorman

COMMUNICATIONS Roads [by David Viner] The Cirencester United Roads Trust was established by a Consolidating Act of 1825 which amalgamated the various Turnpike Trusts into one body to ‘maintain and improve certain roads leading to and from the town’.1 The new trust was responsible for the turnpike roads from Cirencester to the Town Bridge at Cricklade (total length 6¾ miles, starting from the brewery in Cricklade Street); the London Road to St. John’s Bridge at Lechlade (total length 13 miles, starting from the end of Dyer Street); the Gloucester Road to Birdlip (responsible for 9 miles measured from the Salutation tollhouse); the road to Stroud at or near the Anchor Inn (total length 14½ miles); to Charlton Kings and Cheltenham on the newly created route from the Salutation Gate at Stratton (total length 13¾ miles); and on shorter lengths of road from Spittle Gate to Baunton via the Whiteway, to Ready Token (the junction with the Bibury Turnpike Trust at Dancey’s Fancy), and Lewis Lane, Querns Lane, and Sheep Street Lane to the corner of Castle Street in Cirencester.2 In the same year the Cirencester Town Act empowered the town commissioners to look after and repair the parish roads.3 The turnpike to Wootton Bassett via Siddington was excluded from the amalgamation as it was not finished and ended in a field. When complete in 1830 it came under the jurisdiction of the Cirencester and Wootton Bassett Turnpike Trust.4 The turnpike to Bath and the Fosse Way were also excluded. Before 1825, Cirencester was poorly served by direct road links to Cheltenham. The local network of roads and tracks took travellers along Ermin Street to Beech Pike to pick up the easterly route via Cubberley (Coberley); or along Goose Acre Lane or the Whiteway towards Baunton or Perrott’s Brook before turning north to High Cross via Woodmancote and Elkstone. Access to Cheltenham was considerably enhanced by the construction of a new turnpike road along the valley of the River Churn from the Salutation toll gate at Stratton, through Rendcombe and Colesbourne in 1825.5 The new road was opened to vehicular traffic on 19 April 1827.6 The former route along Goose Acre Lane to Baunton was effectively closed to wheeled traffic, when the trustees ordered the construction of a side gate at the entrance to Gooseacre Lane from Gloucester Street to prevent evasion of the toll at the Salutation Gate for travellers hoping to use the old trackway to Baunton past Bowling Green Farm.7 In 1859 the gradient of the road to Stroud at Kill Devil Hill was reduced at the expense of Lord Bathurst to provide relief work during a hard winter.8

1 6 Geo.IV, c. 143. 2 GA, HB7/V/1; D1442/box11105/3; D1442/box2531/3. 3 See Local Government. 4 1-2 Wm IV, c.41; GA, Q/RUm/123. 5 6 Geo.IV, c. 143; VCH Glos VII, 137-8, 150-1, 175; GA, Q/RUm/96, D2637/1. 6 Chelt. Chronicle, 19 Apr. 1827. 7 GA, D10820/C7-1-h. 8 W. Scotford Harmer, ‘Cirencester Present and Past: old streets and houses’ in Baddeley, Cirencester, 324;

Page 1 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0

An Act to create a further term in the Cirencester District of Turnpike Roads was passed in 18629 and the trusteescontinued to maintain the turnpikes by farming tolls with users contributing to their upkeep.10 The Cirencester Highway Board, established in 1863, was responsible for the repair of the parish (as distinct from turnpike) roads within the tithings of Barton, Chesterton, Oakley, Sperringate and Wiggold, and the surrounding parishes within its area of jurisdiction.11 The board appealed for surveyors in July 1863 to prepare separate maps of the highways in each of the 32 parishes and places comprising the district, a total length of 235 miles, the distance from point to point to be stated on the map at a scale of 8 inches to the mile, with maps to be mounted on canvas to fold uniformly.12 The distinction between turnpike and parish roads with respect to responsibility for funding and repair continued until 1869 when an agreement was reached between the two bodies and the highway board received a contribution per annum from the turnpike trust to maintain the turnpike roads within the town.13 In 1876 the newly instituted Cirencester Local Board took over the repair of all highways in Cirencester.14 In November 1879 the Cirencester District of Turnpikes Roads was wound up.15 The tollgates were removed and tenders were invited for the purchase of the materials of the tollhouses, gates and rails.16 The sum of £216 9s. was achieved, while the total assets amounted to £620 1s. 7d., of which £150 was paid to the Clerk in compensation. The remaining balance was payable to the road authorities in proportion to the mileage of each road within their highway district. Cirencester Highway Board with 2745 chains of road received £255 11s. 9d., and Cirencester Local Board with 417 chains received £38 16s. 10d.17 Under the 1888 Local Government Act the Board decided to retain their powers and duties as regards roads within their district repairable as main roads (Tetbury Road, Stroud Road, Cricklade Road, London Road, Burford Road, Whiteway Road, Querns Lane, Lewis Lane, Sheep Street, and Siddington Road) and those they considered were main roads (Gloucester Street, Thomas Street, Park Street, Dyer Street, Castle Street, Somerford Road, Querns Hill, Dollar Street, Gosditch Street and Cricklade Street).18 In 1889 the County Council paid the Local Board £972 per annum to maintain main roads within the district but declined to adopt the latter group.19 Housing development within the town from the mid-19th century necessitated the creation of roads to serve the new houses built on the former Ashcroft estate (Ashcroft Road, Ashcroft Villas, and St. Peter’s Road).20 Housing expansion at Watermoor, to the south of Lewis Lane and Querns

GA, D2525/P164. 9 GA, D10820/C7-1-i., 25 & 26 Vic. c. 13; GA, D1442/box2529/11. Wilts & Glos., 24 May 1862. 10 GA, D1442/box2529/11. 11 GA, HB5; D181/box96592/1-2. 12 Wilts & Glos. 18 July 1863;. GA, D181/box96597/1; D181/box96597/30. 13 GA, D181/box96592/1, 5 July 1869; DA4/100/2, f. 479. 14 See Local Government, Local Board. 15 GA, HB5/V/1. 16 Wilts & Glos 4 Oct. 1879; GA, D1442/box2529/9. 17 GA, HB/V/1. 18 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 9. 19 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 63, 165. 20 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 274.

Page 2 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0

Lane, led to the adoption of newly-built roads as public highways: The Avenue, between Tower Street and Watermoor Road21; King Street22; City Bank Road23; New Road, later renamed Victoria Road24 with Queen Street providing the link to Watermoor Road, to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee; and Purley Road.25 In 1910 the Urban District Council failed to persuade the County Council of the merits for constructing a new road from Grove Lane to the end of Gloucester Street to relieve traffic seeking a north-south route through the narrow streets of the town.26 Discussions resumed in 1923 and approval for the scheme received grants from the County Council and Ministry of Transport.27 The route of 507 yards through the Bomford allotments and Shepherd’s Piece was officially opened in August 1925 and named Abbey Way.28 The new concrete bridge over the River Churn was successfully tested with three steam rollers passing over it, while Mr W.C.T. Paternoster was the first to drive a motor-car along the new road.29 Upgrading of Grove Lane was completed in 1928.30 Traffic management included the introduction of one-way systems, and speed limits. In 1933 west- east traffic in the Market Place was confined to the north side, with east-west movement to the south of a double-row of parking bays.31 This layout persisted until 2016 and the reconfiguration of the Market Place by Cirencester Town Council.32 Coaches and Carriers In 1840 Cirencester was served by 18 coaches providing links to Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cheltenham, Dursley, London, Oxford, Stroud, Gloucester, Painswick, Edgeworth, Southampton and Wootton-under-Edge.33 Coaches continued to operate later in the century, but the arrival of the railway led to a slow decline in passenger traffic. Robson’s Directory for 1839 lists 63 destinations within a 20-mile radius, with individual carriers operating from 13 hostelries, in addition to the long- distance routes of Budd & Co., and Tanner & Baylis. The Sun (11), Bear (8), Fleece (7) and King’s Head (5) were the more favoured collection points, with other carriers working from the Black Horse (3), Salutation (2), Crown (4), Nag’s Head (1), Three Horse Shoes (4), White Hart (3), Three Cocks (1), Wheatsheaf (3) and Bull (1).34 In 1894 there were 48 destinations served from 20 public houses, with the Bear (15) and Wheatsheaf (11) dominating the trade ahead of the Waggon and Horses (6), Sun (6) and Three Compasses (6).35 The

21 GA, DA4/100/7, f. 125. 22 GA, DA4/100/9, f. 365, GADA4 100/10, f. 431. 23 GA, DA4/100/11, f. 373. 24 GA, DA4/100/4, ff. 268, 333-4. 25 GA, DA4/100/16, f. 7-8. 26 GA, DA4/100/12, ff. 152, 168. 27 GA, DA4/100/17, f. 311; DA4/100/18, ff. 3,11, 30, 52. 28 Chelt. Chronicle, 1 Aug. 1925; GA, DA4 100/18, ff. 126, 134. 29 Chelt. Chronicle, 1 Aug 1925. 30 GA, DA4 100/19, f. 95. 31 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 219. 32 Wilts & Glos., 7 Mar. 2017. 33 Robson’s Commercial Directory (1840), Cirencester. 34 Robson’s Commercial Directory (1839), Cirencester. 35 Kelly’s Directory for Gloucesterhire (1894), Cirencester.

Page 3 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 rise in personal mobility for shopping and the decline in carrier’s work is reflected in the 1935 figures for 20 destinations served by 24 carriers from only eight locations: Market Place (11), Wheatsheaf (7), Red Lion, Three Compasses, Fleece, Crown, Waggon and Horses, and Fleece (one each).36 In 1897 the Great Western and Midland Railway companies co-operated to test the viability of a service between Cirencester and Fairford, using a steam motor engine pulling a truck for goods and a carriage with up to 20 passengers.37 A bill to build a light railway between the two towns was rejected in 1901.38 The Cirencester & District Motor Omnibus Company, ran a steam bus service between Lechlade and Cirencester between 1904 and 1906.39 The idea of a light railway between Cirencester and Fairfiord was revived in 1906 and 1923, but did not materialise.40 In 1921 motor bus services began beween Cirencester and Cheltenham (Bristol Tramways & Carriage Co. Ltd.41), Faringdon (National Omnibus & Transport Co. Ltd.42) and Lechlade (Norton Motor Services43). Family firms previously reliant on horse-drawn carrier’s wagons reverted to motor buses to continue operating a local service from neighbouring parishes.44 The Cirencester- based bus operator, G.H. Miller & Son Ltd., introduced a service to Tetbury in 192745 and Oxford in 193246. By 1939 there were frequent bus services to Stroud, Bristol, Chalford, Cheltenham, Colesborne, Fairford, Gloucester and London.47 Thames & Severn Canal [by David Viner] Coal was the principal bulk commodity unloaded at the wharf. 48 In 1877 Messrs. Cole & Lewis proudly announced the importing of 300 tons of ice from Norway for their Cotswold Bacon Factory.49 In 1888 the Sanitary Inspector reported to the Local Board that 17 vessels, mostly old boats, had made 94 trips between them in the previous year, their cargoes consisting chiefly of Bristol road stone, sawdust, bricks, and gravel with some of the boats returning laden with timber. Problems with the water level meant the weight of load was limited.50 A further decline was noted in 1892, when the Sanitary Inspector reported only seven boats, making 24 trips.51 Despite long and expensive periods of closure for dredging, repuddling, and lock and tunnel

36 Kelly’s Directory for Gloucesterhire (1935), Cirencester. 37 Glos. Echo, 24 Dec. 1897; GA, B602/48833GS. 38 Glouc. Journal, 11 May 1901. 39 Wilts & Glos., 15 Oct. 1904 & 27 Jan. 1906. 40 Glouc. Citizen, 12 Jan. 1906; 2 July 1923. 41 Glos. Echo, 23 Aug. 1921; GA, DA4/100/16, f. 421. 42 Faringdon Advertiser, 24 Sept. 1921. 43 GA, DA4/100/16, f. 421; Chelt. Chronicle, 29 Aug. 1931. 44 The PSV Circle, PGL2 (2006), 71-2. 45 Chelt. Chronicle, 27 Aug. 1927. 46 Glos. Echo, 7 Nov. 1932. 47 Kelly’s Directory for Gloucestershire (1939), 123. 48 D. Viner, 'The Thames and Severn Canal in Cirencester' in MacWhirr, Cirencester, 136-40; D. Viner, The Thames & Severn Canal (2002) 28, 122-9; GA, TS/142; TS/152. 49 Wilts & Glos, 28 Apr. 1877. 50 Wilts & Glos., 28 Jan. 1888. 51 Wilts & Glos., 30 Jan. 1892.

Page 4 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 maintenance, the fortunes of the canal did not improve.52 In March 1904 a 37 ton cargo of coal for Frank Gegg arrived at the Cirencester wharf, the first such load for more than 15 years and the largest of its kind for 45 years.53 Following the closure of the canal in 1933, the wharf passed into the ownership of Cirencester Urban District Council as the town’s municipal depot and fire station.54 Much of the branch cut was infilled in the course of the development of the Love Lane industrial estate, while the wharfhouse was demolished in 1975 as part of the realignment of Sheep Street and Quern’s Hill following the construction of the inner relief road.55 Railways [by Nigel Bray & Jan Broadway] In 1836 the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway Act authorised the building of a line from the broad gauge Great Western Railway at Swindon via Cirencester and Gloucester to Cheltenham.56The first stretch from Swindon to Cirencester opened on 31 May 1841.57 The railway station, which still survives, was designed by I. K. Brunel.58 In July 1843 the CGWUR was taken over by the GWR.59 In May 1845 the section from Kemble to Gloucester opened and Cirencester became the terminus of a branch line.60 In 1865 the station was served by eight trains to and from London and Cheltenham on weekdays, the number being reduced to three on a Sunday.61 When improvements to the passenger accommodation At Cirencester station were sought during GWR works on the station in 1870, it was claimed that the company gained £30,000 p.a. from the town.62 In the 1880s the GWR was unwilling to increase its services on the Cirencester Branch, where the timetable was little changed from 1865.63 A range of excursion trains ran in the summer.64 The Edwardian service on the branch line to Cirencester remained at a similar level to the Victorian,65 while excursions at special rates continued to be offered to destinations including seaside resorts, exhibitions, racecourses.66 The old Great Western terminus was known as Cirencester Town from 1924.67 The continued importance of freight and parcel traffic is indicated by the rebuilding of the goods shed with longer loading bays in 1938.68 The Swindon, Marlborough & Andover Railway (SMA), which put Cirencester on a north-south

52 H. Household, The Thames and Severn Canal (1969), 176-195. 53 Glouc. Citizen, 23 Mar. 1904; Wilts & Glos., 26 Mar. 1904. 54 GA, CTS/18/8/1, 1927; DA4/100/18 f. 352. 55 Viner, 'The Thames and Severn Canal in Cirencester', 136; Viner, The Thames & Severn Canal (2002), 122-128. 56 6 William IV, cap. 77; GA, Q/RUm/146. 57 Chelt. Looker-On, 5 June 1841. 58 Verey & Brooks, Glos.I, 277. 59 E.T.McDermot (revised C.R.Clinker), History of the the Great Western Railway, Vol. I 1833-63 (1964), 85. 60 Chelt. Examiner, 14 May 1845. 61 Wilts & Glos., 25 July 1885. 62 Wilts & Glos., 10 Sept. 1870. 63 F. Booker, The Great Western Railway (Newton Abbot, 1977), 86,100-7; Bradshaw's Railway Guide (1887), 34-6. 64 Wilts & Glos., 25 July 1885. 65 Wilts & Glos., 22 June 1907. 66 Wilts & Glos., 21 July 1906, 18 June 1910. 67 Glouc. Citizen, 25 Oct. 1924. 68 M. Oakley, Gloucestershire Railway Stations (Stanbridge, 2003), 53; Bray, The Cirencester Branch, 43.

Page 5 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 route, obtained its parliamentary act in 1873 but was not completed until 1882.69 The SMA had to plan its own extension towards Cheltenham via Cricklade and Cirencester due to the hostility of the GWR, which led to the incorporation of the Swindon & Cheltenham Extension Railway (SCE) in 1880.70 The Swindon to Cirencester section opened in late 188371and was celebrated in Cirencester with a public luncheon.72 In June 1884 the SMA and SCE merged to form the Midland & South Western Junction Railway (MSWJ), but the new Company went into receivership by December after its engineer sued for payment of a debt.73 The opening of the line until 1891, when five trains a day ran each way except on Sundays.74 In 1892 the London & South Western Railway seconded Sam (later Sir Sam) Fay to become General Manager of the MSWJ. Fay managed the line from an office at Cirencester and by 1897 he had taken the Company out of Receivership.75 A small workshop for repairing locomotives was established adjacent to Watermoor station in 1895.76 A loan from the Midland Railway enabled the MSWJ to double its line from Cirencester to Andoversford (where it joined the GWR Banbury & Cheltenham Direct line) between 1900 and 1902.77 Under the Railways Act 1921 the MSWJ was absorbed by the Great Western in 1923,78 after which it was designated as Cirencester Watermoor.79

Urban Development and Suburban Expansion Victorian development Clearance in the market place was the only major development in the town centre of Cirencester for some time after 1825. However, the drainage and sale of land in Watermoor to fund that clearance began the steady development of land to the south of the town. Joseph Randolph Mullings completed Watermoor House in 1827.80 The next major construction project was the building of the Union Workhouse, completed in 1837.81 Holy Trinity church was opened in Watermoor in 1851 and soon afterwards several new roads were laid out. The Nursery was sold for building plots in 1853 and Tower Street laid out on the land.82 Few plots were sold in the first five or six years but then buildings sprang up rapidly until 1870. Corin Street and New Road (renamed the Avenue and Victoria Road) followed in 1859 and Chester Street and Church Street were laid out in 1861.83 In 1880 development in the New Road accelerated when three villas and a project of the 69 36 & 37 Vic. c. 194; VCH Wilts. IV, 289. 70 Chelt. Chronicle, 16 Nov. 1880. 71 Chelt. Examiner, 21 Nov. 1883. 72 Gloucester Citizen, 9 January 1884. 73 47 & 48 Vic. c. 64 (Local Acts); VCH Wilts. IV, 290. 74 Wilts & Glos., 12 Sept. 1891. 75 ODNB, Fay Sir Samuel (Sam). 76 See Economic, Locomotive Works. 77 Wilts & Glos., 2 Feb. & 1 Mar. 1902. 78 Chelt. Chronicle, 8 Sept. 1923; GA, JR14.16GS. 79 Glouc. Citizen, 24 Dec. 1923.. 80 GA, C/DC/F/43. 81 GA, G/CI/8a/1. 82 GA, D1388/SL/4/23. 83 Beecham, Cirencester, 187.

Page 6 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0

Cirencester Improved Dwellings Company were begun.84 A further project of the Cirencester Improved Dwellings Company was approved in 1881.85 A new street and footpaths at the bottom of New Road was named Victoria Street, which in 1887 became the name for the whole of New Road.86 The street was then renamed Victoria Road, from the junction with London Road to George Henry Andrews’ house and the other portion called Queen Street.87 The arrival of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in 1883 helped to spur further development, not least to house railway workers. Commercial buildings were also authorised in the New Road, including a slaughterhouse in 1885.88 A new footpath was made from the end of the Improved Dwellings Company’s cottage in School Lane to Cricklade Road in 1887.89 Another road was suggested, running from School Lane to Workhouse Lane to connect the stations in Sheep Street and Watermoor, but construction was deferred pending further consideration.90 A new street was planned stretching from Corn Street to Watermoor Road and approved by the board against resistance from the responsible sub-committee.91 Some additions were made to the town centre during the 1880s. Earl Bathurst’s plan to erect six cottages in Cricklade Street was approved in 1884, as were a further seven houses there and in Lewis Lane in 1889.92 A proposal was made in 1884 to widen Cricklade Street at its narrowest point.93 In 1887 plans were also approved to build an independent Congregational chapel and schools in Dyer Street.94 In the north of the old town, a plan was approved to widen Thomas Street in 1889.95 The Ashcroft Estate was redeveloped during the 1890s and a proposal was made to lay out two new streets with a cross street at the top on Ashcroft field and to widen Sheep Street.96 Another new street, from Sheep Street, near the cattle drinking troughs and through the Ashcroft estate towards Cricklade Street, was approved in 1890.97 Erection of a house on the Ashcroft Estate, four new cottages in Ashcroft Street and a scullery for Ashcroft House were approved in 1891.98 Then a series of new streets were proposed and approved, including one from Sheep Street to Cricklade Street called Ashcroft Road, together with an extension of a new street under construction called Ashcroft Villas and another from the end of the extension into Ashcroft Road.99 The first section of

84 GA, DA4/100/3, f. 471, 479, 485, 488, 497 and 508; DA4/100/4, f. 25, 75. 85 GA, DA4/100/3, f. 556. 86 GA, DA4/100/3, f. 520; DA4/100/4, f. 268. 87 GA, DA4/100/4, ff. 333–4. 88 GA, DA4/100/4, f. 131. 89 GA, DA4/100/4, f. 292. 90 GA, DA4/100/4, f. 323. 91 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 188. 92 GA, DA4/100/4, f. 87; DA4/100/5, ff. 16–7. 93 GA, DA4/100/4, f. 90. 94 Wilts and Glos., 23 Oct. 1886; GA, DA4/100/4, f. 285 and 297. 95 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 17. 96 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 164 and 170–1. 97 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 190. 98 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 260? and 272. 99 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 274 and 285.

Page 7 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0

Ashcroft Villas was adopted by the board in 1891.100 Plans were approved for houses, villas, offices and a warehouse in Ashcroft Road, which was itself completed early in 1892.101 Ashcroft Gardens and the second section of Ashcroft Villas were also completed in 1892 and adopted as public highways.102 Stables, a coach-house, and a house were all approved in Ashcroft Gardens, while a warehouse was approved in Ashcroft Road in 1892.103 Six houses were approved in Ashcroft Gardens in 1893.104 In 1894, plans were approved for six houses in Ashcroft Villas and two new villas in Ashcroft Road.105 A plan from Lord Bathurst to erect ten cottages in Watermoor Road was approved.106 A plan to widen Querns Lane was agreed in 1891.107 Improvements to Cricklade Street that affected several businesses and properties were approved in 1892.108 A scheme to widen Castle Street was conceived in 1895, which would include the provision of municipal offices in which the UDC could be centralised.109 A new post office was also built on part of the site of the Ram Tap and stables.110 Capricorn Street was renamed Victoria Road in 1897.111 In 1897 a proposal was made to widen the pavement in the Market Place and plant trees there.112 The Avenue was adopted as a public highway between Tower Street and Watermoor Road.113 Problems were mounting with the old buildings in Cirencester town centre in the late 1890s, as a common lodging house in Gloucester Street and numbers 112–15 Cricklade Street were deemed unfit for human habitation.114 A common lodging house was provided at the corner of Gloucester Street and Barton Lane in 1898.115 In 1902 a temporary sleeping shed was set up at the workhouse, for people who could not find a place in a common lodging house.116 Early 20th Century Limited expansion continued after 1900 with a new street in Watermoor constructed opposite the schools in 1903, King Street adopted as a public highway in 1904 and improvements in Sheep Street and Castle Street made in 1905.117 In 1906 there were complaints that Cirencester had too few houses and the provisions of the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 had not been

100 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 302 and 314. 101 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 309, 313, 329 and 343. 102 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 358. 103 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 385, 394 and 410. 104 GA, DA4/100/6, f. 3. 105 GA, DA4/100/6, f. 103. 106 GA, DA4/100/6, f. 267. 107 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 275. 108 GA, DA4/100/5, f. 382. 109 GA, DA4/100/6, f. 308. 110 GA, DA4/100/6, f. 326. 111 GA, DA4/100/7, f. 90. 112 GA, DA4/100/7, f. 113 and 122–4. 113 GA, DA4/100/7, f. 125. 114 GA, DA4/100/7, f. 121, 135–6, 164–5, 208. 115 GA, DA4/100/7, f. 322–3. 116 GA, DA4/100/9, f. 26, 39. 117 GA, DA4/100/9, f. 139–40, 337 and 365; DA4/100/10, f. 202.

Page 8 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 implemented,118 leading the council to compile a report on the accommodation for working men.119 Complaints about the keeping of pigs in Watermoor Road suggest conflict between residential and agricultural land use.120 An extension to King Street was completed in 1907 and was extended again in 1909, following the opening of the Bingham Hall.121 Bingham Street was named in 1909, when City Bank Road was also adopted as a public highway.122 These developments were insufficient to alleviate overcrowding in the town centre, reported in Castle Street and Cricklade Street in 1910.123 To the south Lord Bathurst sold a field of around 2.5 a. adjoining Gas House Lane and Siddington Road for building 20 cottages under the Housing Acts.124 A West Market Place Improvement Committee, formed in 1910, proposed to pull down houses to widen the street, with a loan from the Local Government Board to pay for costs.125 The County Council contributed £100 to the scheme and land was purchased from the church.126 Work was authorised to begin in 1913.127 Purley Road and Purley Avenue were approved by the UDC in 1913 and the former adopted as a public highway in 1919.128 Reports of overcrowding in Gloucester Street continued and in 1913 a proposal to build more workmen’s houses was brought before a committee of the whole council, although little progress was made during World War One.129 The only major decision to be made during the war was to give consent to an improvement plan for Cricklade Street at Bishop’s Corner.130 After World War One From late in 1918 plans were made to build houses on council land in Siddington Road and land acquired from Earl Bathurst in Chesterton.131 Building began in 1920 with the assistance of a £28,000 loan from the Ministry of Health.132 The Siddington Road houses were built of brick, not the traditional stone.133 Another loan was required to complete the developments in 1923 and rents were reduced on the existing council houses.134 Further houses were built in Somerford Road by the Cirencester and Cotswold Building Company in 1922.135 Allotments were also established in Burford Road and Whiteway Road soon after the war.136

118 GA, DA4/100/10, f. 400. 119 GA, DA4/100/10, f. 429. 120 GA, DA4/100/10, f. 403, 408. 121 GA, DA4/100/10, f. 431; DA4/100/11, f. 422. 122 GA, DA4/100/11, f. 139–40, 373, 383, 395. 123 GA, DA4/100/12, f .37, 63 , 97. 124 GA, DA4/100/12, f. 153, 165, 362, 364. 125 GA, DA4/100/12, f. 167, 183 198, 293. 126 GA, DA4/100/12, f. 222 and 237. 127 GA, DA4/100/12, f. 117, 131, 253. 128 GA, DA4/100/13, f. 237; DA4/100/16, f. 7–8. 129 GA, DA4/100/12, f. 298, 300, 310. 130 GA, DA4/100/14, f. 32, 78, 90–1, 107, 124, 155, 138, 173. 131 GA, DA4/100/14, f. 292, 369–70, 381–2, 393–4, 408. 132 GA, DA4/100/14, f. 424–5; DA4/100/16, f. 9, 26, 62–3, 76, 82–3 133 GA, DA4/100/16, ff. 313–4. 134 GA, DA4/100/17, f. 216, 229, 242. 135 GA, DA4/100/17, f. 207. 136 GA, DA4/100/14, f. 422; DA4/100/16, ff. 136–7, 147, 230.

Page 9 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0

Further development occurred as improvement schemes were carried out during the 1920s in Grove Lane in the north of the town and Siddington Road to the south.137 A new road was also approved from Gloucester Street to Grove Lane.138 From 1923 housebuilding in Chesterton and Purley Road accelerated with the help of subsidies from the Ministry of Health.139 Whilst building took place on the outskirts, closing orders were issued for several properties in poor condition in Castle Street and Gloucester Street from 1925 to 1927.140 1930s Further housing was built to the south of Cirencester during the 1930s. A site adjoining Siddington Road and Bridge Road was purchased for 34 new houses called Kingsmead Cottages, the resulting cul-de-sac becoming Nursery Road.141 One of the schemes established to provide work for the unemployed in the area involved the widening of Bowling Green Lane, where 50 new homes were constructed on land acquired from the Chester-Masters by 1934.142 An additional 23 homes were planned for the same site, on the new Bowling Green Avenue, Bowling Green Road and Bowling Green Crescent.143 From 1933 many new houses around Cirencester, but particularly in the Mead Housing Estate, were purchased with assistance under the Small Dwellings Acquisition act.144 In the same year a slum clearance scheme was proposed and the UDC divided Cirencester into five improvement areas.145 The first area, designated in 1934, included Gloucester Street, Dollar Street, Gooseacre Lane, Barton Lane, Spittalgate Lane, Thomas Street and Coxwell Street.146 A second area was designated in 1935 and clearance of slums in Cricklade Street began later in the year.147 An additional 50 homes were to be provided for people displaced by the clearances under the Housing acts 1930-35 and a planning scheme was prepared for the whole of Cirencester under the Town and Country Planning Act 1932.148 A site for the new houses was found in School Lane.149 In 1936 the clearances in Cricklade Street continued, while the Bowling Green, Abbey Way and Mead Housing Estates were officially opened by Earl Bathurst.150 The housing scheme in Purley Road and Purley Avenue was also completed.151 Further clearances in the third improvement area were carried out in Watermoor Road, where eight new houses were built.152 There were further significant housing developments in 1937 as the council purchased just over 2 a. from Earl Bathurst in Siddington Road to be called Ermin Place and over 13 a. in Chesterton

137 GA, DA4/100/17, ff. 44–5; DA4/100/19, f. 4, 95. 138 GA, DA4/100/17, f. 311, 321 and 333. 139 GA, DA4/100/17, f. 322 and 410; DA4/100/18, f. 2, 39 140 GA, DA4/100/18, f. 156, 314, 355 141 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 46–7, 60–1, 89, 94, 97. 142 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 139, 140–2, 144–5, 148–9, 151–2, 156, 158, 161., 204, 218, 223, 235 143 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 269, 275 and 283; DA4/100/21, f. 7. 144 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 188, 205–6, 211, 214, 227, 232, 243. 145 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 197, 215–6. 146 GA, DA4/100/20, f. 220, 225, 234, 256 147 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 8, 57–8, 92. 148 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 49, 58. 149 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 64, 69, 71, 73, 76. 150 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 73, 77–8. 151 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 114, 131. 152 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 134, 143–4, 152, 176. Page numbers restart from 1: f. 41.

Page 10 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 adjoining Chesterton Lane and Fox’s Lane.153 The latter site was intended for a development of 150 houses, supervised by the Cirencester and Tetbury joint planning committee.154 Also in 1937 Institution Lane was renamed Querns Road and part of Gosditch Street, the West Market Place and part of Dyer Street became the Market Place.155 In 1938 an RAF Equipment Unit opened at Kemble and a new housing development was needed at Chesterton Fam to accommodate the influx of service personnel.156 Chesterton Close was renamed Chesterton Grove in 1939, when the council also took over the new St Johns Road.157 World War Two Overhill Road was taken over by the council in 1940, when the Chesterton housing scheme was also completed.158 A plan was developed to use allotment land to provide a further 50 houses for the Air Ministry.159 The council adopted Berkeley Road in 1941 and the Waterloo was widened outside the Bingham Library in 1943.160 Work on increasing the housing stock began again in 1944 when 60 homes were planned for the Chesterton housing estate and work began on a project on London Road, where prisoners of war were used to help with construction in 1945.161 Temporary houses were also put up in Chesterton in 1945 and two pairs of experimental brick and concrete houses were built.162 The council decided to set aside 75 per cent of new housing stock for returning ex-servicemen, although the Ministry of Health refused to approve some schemes, including conversion of the Cirencester Army Hospital huts into dwellings.163 Finally, Ashcroft Villas was renamed St Peter’s Road.164

Rural Settlement and Country Estates The Beeches Following a bankruptcy in 1843, the buildings at the Beeches were described as a dwelling house with workshop and yard occupied by Tipper, the Unicorn public house occupied by Thomas Locke and two cottages, one occupied by Charles Locke and one untenanted.165 Joseph Sewell purchased the Beeches sometime before 1851 and left it to his two sons in 1891, one of whom died in 1893, leaving Edward Clare Sewell in full possession.166 A plan of proposed additions in 1891 shows the main three-storey building with a dining room and library either side of the entrance and servants’ quarters on the ground floor. There was a drawing room, nurseries and bedrooms on the first floor and further bedrooms on mezzanine and second floors. The proposed extension on the east wing 153 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 152, 156, 242, 252; Page numbers restart from 1: f. 19. 154 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 259 and 264. Page numbers restart from 1: f. 6, 8, 14, 24. 155 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 159, 169, 177. 156 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 19, 34–5, 37, 46 157 GA, DA4/100/21, f. 80; GA, DA4/100/22, f. 11, 20. 158 GA, DA4/100/22, f. 70 and 82. 159 GA, DA4/100/22, pagination restarts from 1: f. 7, 9. 160 GA, DA4/100/22, f. 10, 137. 161 GA, DA4/100/22, f. 224, 238–9, 249–50, 256; DA4/100/23, f. 3, 18, 26, 35, 39, 43, 45, 49, 55, 58. 162 GA, DA4/100/22, f. 300; DA4/100/23, f. 4, 19, 22, 49 163 GA, DA4/100/23, f. 15, 49. 164 GA, DA4/100/23, f. 40–1. 165 GA, D181/box98114/4. 166 GA, DA4/150/3.

Page 11 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 of the building included a single storey shed with toilet and a two-storey addition incorporating a scullery and night nursery. Further W.C.s were installed and repairs were made later in the decade.167 Several parcels of land, purchased from the Chester Masters, were added to the Beeches Estate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Major Victor Ferguson purchased the Beeches in 1923, but sold it on in 1925 to Col. Bartholomew Price. At that time the Beeches Estate included the main dwelling, a coaching house and stable yard, two cottages at 1 and 2 Beeches Road, land to the east and west of Beeches Road, part of the Churn or mill stream, and land to its east that incorporated a kitchen garden and croquet ground. Requisitioned for the war in 1942, the UDC purchased the Beeches in 1946.168 A plan of the Beeches from 1952 shows the main building stretching from Beeches Road to the Churn and halfway between two footbridges. Additional buildings are adjacent to the north.169 Chesterton House Chesterton House, a three-bay three-storey house on Chesterton Lane, was built in 1813 for Devereux Bowly. It remained in the Bowly family and was extended by C.W. Lawrence between 1870 and 1877.170 It was sold in 1902 to Charles Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak, who added further extensions in 1902 and 1912–13.171 The house was converted to a hotel before World War Two. It was extended again sometime between 1960 and 1970. It was converted into a residential care home by Mr and Mrs Norman-Thorpe who bought it in 1992.172 Watermoor House on the east of Watermoor Road was built in 1825–7 for the solicitor Joseph Randolph Mullings by William Jay of Cheltenham and was a three by four-bay two storey ashlar villa.173 Sometime before 1835 a large, higher addition was made to the north. Mullings let Watermoor to Admiral Sir Richard Talbot from 1842, who bought it in 1854 and extended the grounds to around 12 a.174 Thomas Kingscote acquired Watermoor and V.A. Lawson designed extensions in 1908, including a chapel and a ballroom. The Gloucestershire Old People’s Housing Society bought it in 1952.175 The Querns, a Gothic villa of 1825–6, was built by P.F. Robinson for the solicitor Charles Lawrence on the Tetbury Road on land leased by Earl Bathurst.176 A plan of the house from around 1840 shows a hall leading to a large drawing room and an eating room. The rest of the floor was made up of servants’ quarters, including servants’ hall, kitchen, pantry and brewhouse. Upstairs there were five bedrooms, two dressing rooms, a nursery, a day nursery and a linen closet.177 Lawrence added a large extension to the Querns, shown on a plan of 1864. The three floors included a

167 GA, D2593/2/568. 168 GA, DA4/150/3. 169 GA, D181/box96716/8. 170 GA, D2593/2/215; D2593/2/336. 171 Wilts & Glos., 25 Jan. 1902. 172 N. Kingsley and M. Hill, The Country Houses of Gloucestershire 3 (2001), 273; GA, RR79.112GS. 173 GA, D1388/box17070/7; C/DC/F/43. 174 Kingsley and Hill, The Country Houses of Gloucestershire 3, 303. 175 GA, RR79.123GS. 176 GA, D2525/C10. 177 GA, D2593/2/40.

Page 12 of 13 VCH Glos. Cirencester 1825-1945 – Topography Draft 1.0 kitchen, pantry and outhouse at ground level, nurseries on the first floor and attics above.178 Lawrence renewed his lease from Earl Bathurst in 1865 and died in 1882.179 Earl Bathurst built a lodge at the Querns and Hon. E.H. Pierrepoint built a house there in 1913.180 On Somerford Road, Highfield house was built in 1868.181 Oakley Hall was built around 1890 and enlarged in 1903 by V.A. Lawson for Lord Grantley. A stable block was added in 1919.182 In 1907 a committee was appointed to revise bye laws so that cottages could be erected in outlying parts of the urban district under the same conditions as in the rural district.183 The 1938 revised OS map shows how the town had spread, absorbing many of the outlying houses into the urban area. Buildings lined Gloucester Street, running north from Cirencester up to Gloucester Street Bridge, and new streets had been laid out close to Bowling Green Farm. Moving clockwise around the town, Whiteway Farm remained isolated to the north-east and the Beeches was on the eastern edge of the built-up area. Golden Farm was still separated from the town by a branch of the Churn and the disused New Mills were separated by the train line. Watermoor had extended south beyond the station and houses were being built on Siddington Road. In Chesterton the streets and housing were being laid out to the border of Cranhams Farm, with the Cranhams and then Chesterton Farm beyond, the latter separated by around a mile of fields. To the south-west and west of the Querns, the V.W.H. kennels, Bartonbury and then the Royal Agricultural College were scattered, along with the associated veterinary hospital, farm and dairy.184

178 GA, D2525/P137. 179 GA, D2525/T127. 180 GA, DA4/100/13, f. 271. 181 Verey & Brooks, Glos I, 279. 182 Verey & Brooks, Glos I, 278. 183 GA, DA4/100/11, f. 107. 184 OS Map 6 inch, Glos. 51 (1949).

Page 13 of 13