5: victorian villages - The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead

A. DESCRIPTION
Location/distribution of type
Early Post-War Suburbs (to 1960) are
distributed throughout the Royal Borough,
often adjacent to the Inter-War Suburbs.
Large scale early post-war estates are seen
in the settlements of Windsor and
Maidenhead.
Physical Influences
The underlying geology and soils do not
generally influence the character of the
townscape due to the ornamental nature of
the planting. However, geological and soil
characteristics of the landscape are
occasionally expressed through remnant
structural landscape features such as belts of
Scots Pine on the Bagshot Beds, or mature
oaks or limes on London Clay, or more
rarely on Chalk. Topography underlying
these suburbs tends to be flat or gently
undulating and therefore does not influence
the layout of roads or building.
Human Influences
Development evolved extremely rapidly
from c.1950-1960, representing the growth
of settlements in the post-war period, and
consequently these suburbs display
considerable stylistic and visual unity. Some
of the earlier developments recall aspects of
inter-war suburban development.
Townscape Character
Land Use/Image
Land use is predominantly residential, but
includes schools built in the same period,
and relatively large areas of amenity
greenspace.
Urban Form
Urban form is defined by a distinctive
network of curvilinear streets (roads,
avenues or drives), with dead end roads
(closes) and cul de sacs. Roads are typically
unmarked, or may contain central white
lines.
Typical street pattern of curvilinear streets and deadend
roads. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey
information with the permission of The Controller of
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, Crown Copyright,
Licence Number 10001926.
The block pattern is created by two storey
semi-detached dwellings and short terraces
on regular plots, resulting in a medium
density surburb with uniform building line
and rhythm along the street.
Streets are of generous proportions,
typically in the ratio of approximately 1:5
(comparable to inter-war streets in terms of
scale).
Typical street cross section.
Built Form & Architecture
Architectural style is unified and simple,
using a limited palette of materials and
finishes. Two storey semi-detached
properties and short terraces are faced with
dark, wire cut or sand faced brick laid in
stretcher bond, set under gabled or hipped
roofs tiled with dark concrete tiles. Façade
detailing is sparingly used with simple metal
casement picture windows (increasingly
replaced with modern uPVC units), and
simple concrete roofed porches (open or
enclosed). Occasional feature gables mark
the ends of terraces. These features
provide a regularity and rhythm to the
streetscape.
RBWM Townscape Assessment 50 Final Report 2010: Volume 3