gosforth conservation area character statement - Newcastle City ...

size and varied between richly decorated
terraces and large scale semi-detached
housing. One of the principle
developments in this period was the
Graham Park Estate. The estate is the
most significant domestic work
undertaken by architect William Hope of
Hope and Maxwell Architects in North
Shields. The estate was being developed
by James Frazer and took the form of a
series of impressive and imposing
terraces and large semi-detached villas
including Graham Park Road, Elmfield
Road (south side), The Poplars, and the
elaborate terraces on The Drive,
Oaklands, Moor Place and Leslie
Crescent. Hope designed a number of
the terraces and villas and typical of his
work are The Poplars (1906) in the Queen
Anne Revival style with decorative
porches. Brookside (1906), Moor
Crescent, is probably the best of his villas
with an impressive south view over the
moor. The estate was completed by
Andrew Kerr Tasker who persisted with
the Queen Anne Revival style.
In addition, development expanded
eastwards towards St Nicholas Church
along The Grove.
1920’s onwards
Initially there was a period of infill
development between the High Street and
Kenton Road. The west side of Kenton
Road was developed as a planned estate
– The Kenton Park Estate. This proposal
was first put forward in 1905 by architects
Newcombe and Newcombe. The estate
plans were revised again in 1913 and in
1923 with building commencing shortly
afterwards. The houses were built on a
piecemeal basis as builders bought plots
of land and built to individual
specifications. Further changes were
made in 1932 to the street pattern and
Adeline Gardens was created parallel to
Osbaldeston Gardens.
Procter and Gamble
The Procter and Gamble complex to the
east of the High Street was developed in
the 1950’s. Hedley House, the principal
building in this complex is c.1953 and was
designed by Sidney Burn, staff architect to
Thos. Hedley & Co. soap manufacturers in
association with consultant architect
Anthony Chitty who had previously been
involved with the Festival of Britain. Later
additions to the site include a computer
block by Sir Basil Spence (1963/4). The
principal characteristic of this site is the
landscape setting, designed by B Hackett.
The site became vacant in 2001 when
Procter and Gamble relocated out of the
city.
2.5 Recent Changes in
Gosforth
Gosforth continued to develop over the
course of the later C20th. One of the
principle changes was the enlargement of
the City of Newcastle to include Gosforth
within its boundary.
Development has largely taken the form of
infill detached properties along street
frontages. There have been two principle
changes, the development of modern flat
complexes and the development of a
modern shopping/commercial core.
The flat complexes were built between the
1930s and 1970s on either previously
undeveloped sites or on the cleared site of
Victorian Villas. Avondale and Ferndene
on Moor Road South are a good example
of the clearance of Villas to make way for
modern development. The High Street
has seen one fundamental change – the
demolition of early C19 houses and later
shops to facilitate the construction of the
shopping centre in 1978 by Bellway.
Recent residential development has taken
the form of new build houses on the
cleared sites of former villa type
16 Gosforth Consevation Area Character Statement