Kingsholm

Kingsholm, 1220

This area of Gloucester may seem like just another suburb, but its name really sheds light on its location. There was once a temporary Roman fort located at the top of Kingsholm Road. Which was the precursor to the establishment of Roman Glevum or Gloucester. Kings stand for the very position, outlining the land that would have once belonged to the crown under the control of a male monarch. Holm is from Middle English for a water meadow. Which from a topographic point of view is perfectly justified due to the old course of the River Severn passing through the western side of the district. However, the area is now better known for its rugby stadium and the famous Gloucester Rugby team. 

Alvin Street 1822-25

Originally called Fete Lane, Alvin Street takes its name from the Alvin Gate which was in Worcester Street. This was probably part of the original Roman fort of Glevum built in the second century AD. The street has existed for nearly 200 years having been laid out in 1822 by George Worrall Counsel a local attorney. The original lane was built over with artisan housing for the city’s working-class population. Alvin Street was originally known as Fete or Vete Lane in c1220. 

Cooks Orchard 1960-62

Built by Robert Hitchins, adopted by city council in 1968.

Dean’s Way

One of the more unusual streets within Kingsholm. Originally the street was laid out in 1903 as a residential street leading diagonal from St. Oswald’s Road to the field boundary. The ground street was built within the confines of the Kingsholm Roman fort and feet away from a dried-up tributary of the River Severn. The housebuilding began in 1904 with the construction of 4 houses by Messrs A. Lewis & Co. The street developed and the building halted in 1915 with the development of one house by Mr. J. Harris. The road could have ended there, but in 1927 the street was linked up with Dean’s Walk to form a local authority housing estate. This was built by Morgan Bros and completed in c1928-29. 

Hudson Close, Nicholls Way & Wadey Close
Designed by Planning Prospects Ltd, built by Redrow Homes. GCC 02/02/2020

Kingsholm Square

This delightful little neighborhood is one of the most historic parts of Gloucester. It may not appear so. In 48-49AD Roman Gloucester was established for the first time and this area laid right in the centre of the wooden palisade. This was the predecessor of Roman Glevum before its foundation in 97AD. After this occurred Kingsholm became home to Roman cemeteries which were in use for 300-400 years. 

Edwy Parade, 1851

Formally known as Snakey Lane, Edwy Parade was once a farm road. First recorded on the 1769 Map made by Henry Mutlow though unnamed. By the Causton 1843 map, the street was named with its predecessor's name. It was first mentioned in the local press in 1851 with regards to the turnpike from St. Mark's Church to Snakey Lane and its distance between the tollgate on the corner of what is now Sandhurst Road.  The name Edwy Parade is thought to have been derived from the fact King Edwy might have stood within the grounds at some time during the Saxon era of England. Overlooking the disused Roman fort which stood originally on Kingsholm Square. Development began in 1851 with title deeds from No.1 existing as a good starting point. 

Topographically this would make sense due to the foundation of St. Mark Street next door laid out in 1852. It didn't take long before five new houses were advertised for sale in 1853 on 5th July. Nos. 2-6 were tenanted at £15 (£962.23) per annum. (GJ 02/07/1853). By 1856, Nos. 7-11 had been constructed and were up for auction along with Nos. 2-6 once again (GJ 21/06/1856). 

Hampton Court, Lansdown Road 2010-12
A select development of 16 houses with its own green space. Designed and constructed by New Dawn Homes. GCC.

Heathville Road 1864-

Heathville is a delightful street built in the mid to late Victorian era which was designed to be an upper-class neighborhood within Gloucester's growing residential scene. In 1863 a newspaper article declared that the Heathville Estate was staked out with a prize design. Plots were sold by W. Matthews GC 15/08/1863. To make way for the carriage way known as Heathville Road, the lodge baring its name was taken down and its materials were sold for purchase to fellow developers GC 27/02/1864. 

Plans for this street can be traced back to Medland & Maberley's practice within Gloucester itself. One of the architects J.P. Moore designed three houses, one in 1880 and two more in 1899. Another plan exists for the erection of a house built for R Fortt, designed by Fulljames & Waller in 1871-72.

Healey Mews, London Road 2003-05

Designed by ASTAM. 

Henry Road

Running parallel to Oxford Road, Henry was laid out in 1876-77. It formed part of the Heathville Estate which was built for a more middle-class development sandwiched between the 1820s working-class suburb of Clapham and the 1864 upper middle-class Heathville estate. Oddly the records from the Gloucester Borough Records houses being built from 1886 onwards. Even though there was development before that. 29 houses were built between 1886-97 by the following developers: R.J. Godwin, R.H. Wood, J. Clutterbuck, Messrs Symmonds & Worth, J. Freeman, J. Kilminster, J. Wright and W. Smart. Most of the houses have name plates which give you an idea of how the Victorians took pride in their homes and what place names were popular with developers at that time.

Hillfield Court Road (Nos. 19-22)

Four terrace properties were developed in 2009-11, designed by Architecnics of Cheltenham and built by Homeward Properties Ltd. GCC.

Oxford Street, 1823-25

Originally constructed on one plot of land belonging to attorney John Bowyer. Oxford Street was constructed in two stuccoed terraces which are listed by Historic England as architectural interest. This is one of the only remaining streets that have original 1820s three-story villas, the sort that you might find in towns like Cheltenham or Brighton. Due to their regency style. The name of the road suggests that the street was a one-off development for the middle class, as Oxford is a highly desirable city with much acclaim for its educational values. 

Oxford Road 1876-1933

First established as part of the Heathville Estate, Oxford Road was first laid out in 1876-77. This was part of a more middle-class neighborhood adjoining the upper-class Denmark and Heathville Road areas. The estate was divided into building lots and then purchased by local developers and residents, plots were sold for £30 each (1,878.27) GC 08/05/1877. Houses were said to be £14 (£876.53) in value then. Developers were many and varied, the first for Oxford Road was Mr R Morse for 1 house in 1877. Construction continued with the building of 44 houses between 1877 to 1887. Developers included: J.W. Sherwood, J. Harvey, W. Williams, C. Lewis, J. Kilminster, W. Herbert & E. Tanner. 8 houses were built in 1933 by Swindon developer A.J. Colborne. 

Lansdown Road

Originally called Pedmarsh Road the original length of Lansdown used to stretch from the junction with Denmark Road (Gallows Lane), to just past the Denmark Road School field eastern boundary. The old name of Pedmarsh dates from c1240 and probably means Pēoda's marsh. The name Peoda is saxon in origin and is also seen in the name Pedwardine from Herefordshire. Only Nos. 2-8 (Hill Cottages) were marked on the early OS map making them the oldest dwellings on the street. The name Lansdown was adopted around 1897 when Hinton, Malvern & North Roads were laid out. This is when the residential development started officially. The road was later extended for further development. The road was officially adopted by the City Council in 1966.

Lansdown Road (Nos. 96-131)

A development of 11 houses were built by Phelpson Ltd. GRO (GC 05/11/1964)

Longhorn Avenue, Dexter Way & The Stockyards 2005-09

Designed by RPS Design, developed by Westbury & Persimmon Homes. GCC.

North Road

This road was laid out 1897. 

Seabroke Road c1910-35

Originally marked as a footpath, Seabroke appeared in local press from Gloucester Chronicle on 29th November 1911. Surprisingly the street has the least amount of houses within the entire Kingsholm neighbourhood with only 4 houses in total. No.8 was the earliest to be constructed dating from around 1910-1914. Nos 2-6 were all constructed in 1934-35 by local residents. These included: Mrs W. H. Bubb, Mr. H. Constance & Mr A. B. Camm. Architects were employed to complete the projects including Maurice Gorton and the agency of Stratton Davis, Yates & Dolman. The name comes from Abbot Seabroke (1450-57) of Gloucester Abbey who built our current cathedral tower. 

Sebert Street

Just off Kingsholm Road is Sebert Street which is a mixture of mid-Victorian and 1920s residential estates. Several buildings and streets within Kingsholm were named after Anglo-Saxon names. Sebert comes from German and Northern French with elements sigi meaning victory and berht meaning bright and famous. The first Christian King of Essex was called Sebert so this could be the connection. As Gloucester was both described as a bright fort and a place of Christian worship. The street is first recorded from 1854 with the sale of one of the houses. There were 16 houses recorded on the 1861 census and this had increased to 21 houses by 1871 and 24 by 1881. In 1927 work began on extending the street with the building of a new set of council homes. This is another street that is not listed within the planning logs, probably due to the boundary changes in 1874. 

Serlo Road

Named after the first Norman abbot of St. Peter’s Abbey now the cathedral. The road was developed as a residential during c1895-96 as artisan housing for the Kingsholm working class. A plan for several houses was submitted in 1895, but helpfully the original developers weren’t mentioned. A set of 6 houses called Prospect Terrace were erected in 1895. Two plans were submitted in 1907 for a cottage and 3 houses (Nos. 1, 3 & 5) by Mr Gane and Mr N. James. Then there was a long pause until 1937 when six houses were constructed by Smith & Choyce (builders). 

St. Mark’s Street, 1852

Named after the local parish church of St. Mark’s, this street was laid out in 1852 for the building of smaller working-class housing. Our first record is noted on 27th March of that year as Nos.4 to 5 being sold as new properties. In this article, St. Mark’s Street was described as a new road. So, this is the oldest reference to this street from the Gloucester Journal we have to the development of this area. Development continued in 1853 with the development of numbered plots Nos.12 to 25 & Nos. 30 to 38. Built houses included the sale of No.2, 3, and a set of cottages Nos.1-2 Annan Cottages  (Cooke, 1853). No. 39 was developed by Henry Weaver (builder) who used to live at No.41.

Swan Road, c1895

The road was laid out in the 1890s. Development began in 1895 with the building of 2 houses by Mr R. Goscumbe. Built on land known as Swan Piece. The whole development was completed by 1911 with the building of a shop by Mr Dashwood.

The Strand, London Road 2001-03

Designed by DDM Planning. Built by Future Homes (Gloucester). GCC 31/07/2001

Tudor Court, Alexandra Road

Built by Robert Hitchins, GC 20/11/1986

Vine Terrace 1964-66

Reconstructed with 6 bungalows by Todd & Company (Contractors). Extension to the street added with 4 more dwellings. These were constructed by New Dawn Homes in 2006-08.

Welsh Harp Court, Oxford Terrace 2010-13

Built by T. Waldron. GCC 21/02/2010

Worcester Parade, 1851

This stuccoed terrace was constructed on nursery lands belonging to James Cheslin Wheeler. Development was started in 1851 with a newly built house constructed by Thomas Smith (builder), which was numbered 12. A newly built house was advertised for sale in 1852 by Henry Bruton. When Gloucester’s sewage map was published there was a set of seven terraced houses on the northern section (Nos. 12-18), and the southern section had 7 houses (Nos.1-7) with a gap in between. Another house was up for letting in 1854. Nos. 1-5, 6-9 & 11 sold by R.W.Holtham on 14th July 1859. William Jones was heavily involved with the construction of the Worcester Parade. In his will it was noted he owned Nos. 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22 all probably built by himself. 

Worcester Street, 1822

Worcester Street was constructed as a new road to relieve pressure on Hare Lane and Alvin Street which were the original routes north of the city. The project was launched by local MP John Phillpotts. The construction of this new carriageway was wide enough to follow better traffic to flow more quickly into the center of the city. Without being thwarted by a narrow and winding lane. The project started in 1822 and coincided with the building of the artisan estate on Alvin Street by George Worrell Counsel. 

The laying out of this new street started a trend of development which saw local developers starting to buy up plots and build residences on land adjoining the road. hence the development of a community began around it which is the Kingsholm we know and love today. Many of the oldest houses are built around the junction with Gouda Way dating from the 1820s onwards. Building control was introduced in 1850 with the earliest houses being mentioned including: 2 houses built in 1853 by William Wingate.