An Introduction to English Garden Cities

A Garden City Movement

In 1900 over three-quarters of people in Britain lived in cities. Many people were forced to live in poor quality and unhealthy conditions. To counteract this and rural depression, the Garden City Movement emerged to create a radical approach to urban planning.

Ebenezer Howard

The visionary behind garden cities was Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928).

Howard was interested in social reform. He idealised a way of living combining the best characteristics of the city and the countryside to create self-sufficient settlements for around 32,000 inhabitants.

Inspirations: Bedford Park, Port Sunlight and Bournville

Howard's vision drew on several sources, including new suburbs and model villages that had been built by property developers and benevolent patrons. These include a former textile merchant at Bedford Park, and factory owners at Port Sunlight on the Wirral and at Bournville in Birmingham.

Bedford Park

Bedford Park is considered to be the first garden suburb and an inspiration for garden cities.

It was developed from 1875 by the cloth merchant Jonathan Carr (1845-1915) as a middle class London suburb. Carr was himself influenced by Arts and Crafts values and promoted Bedford Park as 'the healthiest place in the world.'

Read the National Heritage List entry for 7 Woodstock Road.

Port Sunlight

Port Sunlight model village on the Wirral peninsula was begun in 1888. Created by William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), it was built for his soap factory workers as a 'healthy settlement laid out with all possible artistic thought'.

Read the National Heritage List entry for The Dell, The Diamond and The Causeway public open spaces at Port Sunlight.

Bournville

Bournville was created for employees of the Cadbury cocoa and chocolate factory.

This aerial photograph shows streets of houses with back gardens, open spaces and leisure facilites, all in close proximity to the Cadbury factory.

These houses were built on the Bournville estate in c 1902.

Letchworth: the first garden city

Howard's vision to create a new community was first realised at Letchworth in Hertfordshire.

Construction began in 1903 to create a place that would bring together the best of town and country: jobs, transport, infrastructure, open spaces, fresh air and access to nature.

The plan for Letchworth Garden City

The master plan for Letchworth was developed by Arts and Crafts enthusiasts Barry Parker (1867-1947) and Raymond Unwin (1863-1940).

The plan took into consideration the topography of the site. Zones were created for residential, industrial and amenity areas. Building standards were set and generous open spaces were formed.

However, there were difficulties. Development was slow and a civic core was never built.

Read the National Heritage List entry for the Garden City Corporation Offices.

Welwyn Garden City

The second of Howard's garden cities was built at Welwyn, thirty-two kilometres north of London.

In 1920, Louis de Soissons (1890-1962) was appointed town planner and architect for the project. It was his firm's first major commission.

Garden city homes

Garden cities provided an opportunity for innovation in the layout and construction of urban dwellings.

Garden cities revolutionised the standard of house design. Sixteen years after the founding of Letchworth, the 1919 Housing Act placed a duty on local authorities to provide working-class houses on garden city lines.

Read the National Heritage List entry for 1 to 24 Westholm at Letchworth Garden City.

7 to 17 Lytton Avenue, Letchworth Garden City

Based on vernacular models, this terrace of award-winning cottages by CM Crickmer was built in 1907.

Read the National Heritage List entry for 7 to 17 Lytton Avenue.

The Nook, Cross Street, Letchworth Garden City

The Nook was built as part of the Cheap Cottage Exhibition of 1905, established to demonstrate that good housing could be provided for £150.

The White Cottage, Croft Lane, Letchworth Garden City

This detatched house of 1906 demonstrates the revial of the rustic cottage ornée style that emerged during the fashion for the picturesque in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Read the National Heritage List entry for The White Cottage.

106 Handside Lane, Welwyn Garden City

This detached house was built for the 1922 Daily Mail Home Model Village. Using a timber-frame system, it was designed to be a labour-saving cottage.

Knightsfield Flats, Welwyn Garden City

Following the Second World War, Welwyn was designated a New Town - a place where people could relocate from poor or bombed-out areas.

These flats were built in 1955 as part of Welwyn's post-war expansion.

Read the National Heritage List entry for 82 to 102 Knightsfield.

Garden city industry and commerce

For garden cities to be self-sufficient, employment was crucial. There needed to be accessible places of work and opportunties for workers to spend money locally.

The most famous manufacturer at Letchworth was Spirella. Established in the United States, Spirella made patent corsets using aluminium.

Spirella's attitudes towards its emploees matched those of the Garden City Movement. They moved into temporary premises at Letchworth in 1910 and built a purpose-built factory between 1912 and 1920.

Other Letchworth industries included Edmundsbury Weavers, an enlightened firm that gave its employees two weeks paid holiday.

Read the National Heritage List entry for the Spirella Building.

Like Letchworth, Welwyn Garden City included an industrial zone with large plots and good transport links.

The Shredded Wheat Factory at Welwyn was built in 1924-5. Its cylindrical silo has become a landmark for the city.

Its original trade name was Welgar - derived from WELyn GARden.

Read the National Heritage List entry for the Shredded Wheat Factory.

Garden city amenities

The garden cities were associated with liberal ideas and old-fashioned festivities. Community buildings for entertainment, education and religion flourished.

Temperance was decided by local referenda in Letchworth. The Skittles Inn (now The settlement) offered locals a skittle alley and bar, but no alcohol.

Read the National Heritage List entry for The Settlement.

The Cloisters, Barrington Road, Letchworth Garden City

The Cloisters was built in 1906-7 for the Quaker, Annie Jane Lawrence (1863-1953), as an adult residential School of Psychology. It also hosted meetings of the Alpha Union Society, led by its founder and local resident, the Christian Socialist, Reverencd John Bruce Wallace (d 1939).

Read the National Heritage List entry for The Cloisters.

Howardsgate, Welwyn Garden City

Howardsgate connects Welwyn's main axis, Parkway, with the town's railway station. Situated at the heart of the town centre, Howardsgate accommodates much of Welwyn's retail provsion.

As well as the buildings, Louis de Soissons designed the poster display stand and lamppost visible in this photograph.

Church of Holy Family, Welwyn Garden City

The garden cities were home to orthodox and less mainstream religious practices. This striking Roman Catholic church opened in the Shoplands area of Welwyn in 1967.

Friends' Meeting House, South View, Letchworth Garden City

The Society of Friends was active in Letchworth and Welwyn. The Meeting House at Letchworth, called 'Howgills' was built in 1907. Its design is influenced by the 17th-century Friends' Meeting House at Brigflatts, the third oldest of its kind.

Read the National Heritage List entry for Howgills.

Places influenced by Howard's ideal

Howard's ideas helped to inspire other social reformers and the development of new towns and suburbs in England and further afield.

Although it is not a garden city, Hampstead Garden Suburb realised much of Ebenezer Howard's ideals.

It was founded in 1907 by Henrietta Barnett, who wanted to create a suburban community where people of all classes and wealth could live in a beautiful and healthy setting.

Parker and Unwin, who had worked at Letchworth, were commissioned to prepare a plan for Hampstead. They were supported by Edwin Lutyens, who designed several of the suburb's buildings.

One of Lutyens' Hampstead buildings is The Free Church. Built in 1908-10, it is one of three civic buildings placed around the suburb's green Central Square.

Read the National Heritage List entry for The Free Church.

Moor Pool, Birmingham

Moor Pool was established as a garden suburb in Birmingham in 1907 by housing reformer John Nettlefold (1866-1930), who was the chairman of the City Housing Committee.

It provided low-density housing, green spaces and community facilities, including a hall, allotments, tennis clubs and green spaces. Six different designs were used to build over 500 homes.

Wythenshawe

Wythenshawe is an example of a municipal garden city scheme. It was designed as a satelite to Manchester, with a green belt separating the two.

In 1931 Barry Parker created a plan that included a town centre, industrial zone, neighbourhoods with community facilities, open spaces, and high-speed arteries, or 'parkways'- a concept inspired by recent American planning.

This aerial photograph from 1933 shows Wythenshaw's Princess Parkway under construction.

Milton Keynes

The 1960s New Town of Milton Keynes was also inspired by garden city ideals.

The scheme for this self-sustainign regional centre is based on grid roads running between residential areas, with a central commercial district and extensive parkland and green spaces.

Around a quarter of Milton Keynes is made up of parks, lakes, woods and green spaces.

It is hard to imagine that Campbell Park, pictured here, is situated in the very heart of a town with a population of almost a quarter of a million people.