Model village

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Almshouses in Saltaire, Yorkshire, typical of the architecture of the whole village Saltaire Almshouses.jpg
Almshouses in Saltaire, Yorkshire, typical of the architecture of the whole village

A model village is a mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. "Model" implies an ideal to which other developments could aspire. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally physically separated from them and often consist of relatively high-quality housing, with integrated community amenities and attractive physical environments.

Contents

Great Britain and Ireland

An example of houses at Port Sunlight. Houses on Greendale Avenue, Port Sunlight.jpg
An example of houses at Port Sunlight.
Typical local shopping parade in Bournville village BirminghamBournvilleShops.jpg
Typical local shopping parade in Bournville village

According to Jeremy Burchardt, the term model village was first used by the Victorians to describe the new settlements created on the rural estates of the landed gentry in the eighteenth century. As landowners sought to improve their estates for aesthetic reasons, new landscapes were created and the cottages of the poor were demolished and rebuilt out of sight of their country house vistas. [1] However, according to the Oxford English Dictionary (2024), the first use of the term model village is post-Victorian, dating to 1906.

Starting in the 18th century, new villages were created at Nuneham Courtenay when the village was rebuilt as plain brick dwellings either side of the main road, at Milton Abbas the village was moved and rebuilt in a rustic style and Blaise Hamlet in Bristol had individually designed buildings, some with thatched roofs. [2]

The Swing Riots of 1830 highlighted poor housing in the countryside, ill health and immorality and landowners had a responsibility to provide cottages with basic sanitation. The best landlords provided accommodation but many adopted a paternalistic attitude when they built model dwellings and imposed their own standards on the tenants charging low rents but paying low wages. [3]

As the Industrial Revolution took hold, industrialists who built factories in rural locations provided housing for workers clustered around the workplace. An early example of an industrial model village was New Lanark built by Robert Owen. [4] Philanthropic coal owners provided decent accommodation for miners from the early nineteenth century. Earl Fitzwilliam, a paternalistic colliery owner provided houses near his coal pits in Elsecar near Barnsley that were "...of a class superior in size and arrangement, and in conveniences attached, to those of working classes." [5] They had four rooms and a pantry, and outside a small garden and pig sty. [6]

Others were established by Edward Akroyd at Copley between 1849 and 1853 and Akroydon 1861-63. Akroyd employed George Gilbert Scott. Titus Salt built a model village at Saltaire. [7] Henry Ripley, owner of Bowling Dyeworks, began construction of Ripley Ville in Bradford in 1866. [8] Industrial communities were established at Price's Village [9] by Price's Patent Candle Company and at Aintree by Hartley's, who made jam, in 1888. [10] William Lever's Port Sunlight had a village green and its houses espoused an idealised rural vernacular style. [7] Quaker industrialists, George Cadbury and Rowntrees built model villages by their factories. Cadbury built Bournville between 1898 and 1905 and a second phase from 1914 and New Earswick was built in 1902 for Rowntrees. [11]

As coal mining expanded villages were built to house coal miners. In Yorkshire, Grimethorpe, Goldthorpe, Woodlands, Fitzwilliam and Bottom Boat were built to house workers at the collieries. The architect who designed Woodlands and Creswell Model Villages, Percy B. Houfton was influential in the development of the garden city movement.

In the 1920s, Silver End model village in Essex was built for Francis Henry Crittall. Its houses were designed in an art deco-style with flat roofs and Crittall windows. [12]

England

Almshouses at Ripley Ville, Yorkshire. Built 1881 and now the only remaining example of the architecture of the village Bowling Dye Works Almshouses - New Cross Street - geograph.org.uk - 638072.jpg
Almshouses at Ripley Ville, Yorkshire. Built 1881 and now the only remaining example of the architecture of the village

(Chronological order)

Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Europe

Czech Republic

Germany

Italy

Crespi d'Adda Crespi d'Adda (Ian Spackman 2007-007-32).jpg
Crespi d'Adda

Spain

Australasia

Australia

New Zealand

Asia

China

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saltaire</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Saltaire is a Victorian model village near Shipley, West Yorkshire, England, situated between the River Aire, the railway, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Salt's Mill and the houses were built by Titus Salt between 1851 and 1871 to allow his workers to live in better conditions than the slums of Bradford. The mill ceased production in 1986, and was converted into a multifunctional location with an art gallery, restaurants, and the headquarters of a technology company. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and on the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Earswick</span> Model village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England

New Earswick is a model village and civil parish in the unitary authority of City of York in North Yorkshire, England, near the River Foss, north of York and south of Haxby. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 2,812, reducing to 2,737 at the 2011 Census.

A semi-detached house is a single-family duplex dwelling that shares one common wall with its neighbour. The name distinguishes this style of construction from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced houses, with a shared wall on both sides. Often, semi-detached houses are built in pairs in which each house's layout is a mirror image of the other's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodlands, South Yorkshire</span> Model village in South Yorkshire, England

Woodlands is a model village 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village lies adjacent to Highfields and Adwick le Street within the City of Doncaster. The colliery village was designed and built in the early 20th century by the architect Percy Houfton as tied cottages for the miners of the neighbouring Brodsworth Colliery. In an era of model villages such as Saltaire, Port Sunlight and Bournville, Woodlands, with extensive open spaces, many different designs of houses, and overall living conditions excellent for their time, possibly represents the height of the model village movement. The village is a conservation area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Featherstone</span> Town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, England

Featherstone is a town and civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 it had a population of 15,244. Featherstone railway station is on the Pontefract Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bessbrook</span> Village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland

Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles (5 km) northwest of Newry and near the Newry bypass on the main A1 Belfast-Dublin road and Belfast-Dublin railway line. Today the village of Bessbrook straddles the three townlands of Maghernahely, Clogharevan and Maytown. Bessbrook is near Newry railway station. It had a population of 2,892 at the 2021 Census. The model village of Bessbrook, County Armagh is a visible memorial to the commercial endeavours of the Richardson family over a number of generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Company town</span> Town where stores and housing are owned by one company that is the main employer

A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets, and recreation facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Akroyd</span> British politician

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Akroyd (1810–1887), English manufacturer, was born into a textile manufacturing family in 1810, and when he died in 1887, he still owned the family firm. He inherited "James Akroyd & Sons Ltd." from his father in 1847, and he became the owner of one of the country's largest worsted manufacturers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackenthorpe</span> Village in South Yorkshire, England

Hackenthorpe is a village 5 miles south east of Sheffield’s city centre, now classed as a historic township of the city. Due to much expansion, the village became a part of Sheffield city during the 1950s. During much of the late 19th and 20th centuries the village was noted for its steelmaking, with the Thomas Staniforth & Co Sickle works being based at Main Street. Another prominent feature of the village is the 17th century Hackenthorpe Hall, built by John Newbould for the Hounsfield family, with James Hounsfield being a prominent land owner. The building is today used as a nursery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Unwin</span> English engineer, architect and town planner

Sir Raymond Unwin was a prominent and influential English engineer, architect and town planner, with an emphasis on improvements in working class housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pit village</span> Settlement for housing colliery workers

A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution where new coal mines were developed in isolated or unpopulated areas. Such settlements were developed by companies for the incoming workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brodsworth Colliery</span> Former coal mine in South Yorkshire, England

Brodsworth Colliery was a coal mine north west of Doncaster and west of the Great North Road. in South Yorkshire, England. Two shafts were sunk between October 1905 and 1907 in a joint venture by the Hickleton Main Colliery Company and the Staveley Coal and Iron Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akroydon</span> Model housing in West Yorkshire, England

The Akroydon model housing scheme is a Victorian-era model village at Boothtown, Halifax, in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It was designed in the Gothic style by George Gilbert Scott in 1859 for the workers at the mills of Colonel Edward Akroyd, who had bought, in 1855, the 62,435 acres (25,267 ha) of land on which the houses were to be built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiveton Park Colliery</span> Former coal mine in South Yorkshire, England

Kiveton Park Colliery was a coal mine in the village of Kiveton Park, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boothtown</span> Suburb of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England

Boothtown is a suburb of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, which falls within Town Ward, one of the 17 wards of Calderdale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharlston</span> Village and civil parish in West Yorkshire, England

Sharlston is a village and civil parish, situated 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, and includes the settlements of Old Sharlston, Sharlston Common and New Sharlston. Its population at the 2001 census was 2,756, reducing to 2,663 at the 2011 Census. The village lies in the City of Wakefield unitary district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Bolsover model village</span> Human settlement in England

New Bolsover model village is a village adjoining the town of Bolsover in Derbyshire.

The Joseph Rowntree School is a comprehensive school on Haxby Road in New Earswick in the unitary authority City of York, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ripley Ville</span> Former model village in West Yorkshire, England

Ripley Ville or Ripleyville was an estate of model houses for the working classes in Broomfields in the West Bowling ward of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentley Colliery</span> Former coal mine in South Yorkshire, England

Bentley Colliery was a coal mine in Bentley, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, that operated between 1906 and 1993. In common with many other mines, it suffered disasters and accidents. The worst Bentley disaster was in 1931 when 45 miners were killed after a gas explosion. The site of the mine has been converted into a woodland.

References

Citations

  1. Burchardt 2002, p. 58"Model villages, as their name implies, were rural in origin, and can be traced back to the eighteenth century (although the phrase itself was a Victorian coinage, reflecting the mid-nineteenth-century emphasis on the model village as an example set to other builders, architects and landlords."). Initially the main impetus to model village building came from the desire of landowners to improve and embellish their estates. The fundamental aim was aesthetic; social considerations were marginal or even absent.
  2. Burchardt 2002, p. 59
  3. Burchardt 2002, p. 60
  4. Burchardt 2002, p. 61
  5. Thornes 1994, p. 78
  6. Thornes 1994, p. 79
  7. 1 2 Burchardt 2002, p. 62
  8. Walker, R L (2008) When was Ripleyville Built? SEQUALS, ISBN   0 9532139 2 7
  9. Historic England, "Prices Village (1560975)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 10 May 2014
  10. Hartley's jam village made a conservation area, BBC News, 16 December 2011
  11. Burchardt 2002, p. 63
  12. Silver End - a window on the past, BBC, 22 July 2009, retrieved 20 June 2015
  13. Barrow Bridge Conservation Area (PDF), bolton.gov.uk, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2012, retrieved 28 July 2011
  14. Vulcan Village Conservation Area appraisal (PDF), St Helens Council, retrieved 4 January 2023
  15. Sharlston Colliery Model Village, Heritage Gateway, retrieved 13 August 2015
  16. Historic England, "Port Sunlight (1362582)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 10 May 2014
  17. Historic England, "The Model Village (929805)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 10 May 2014
  18. Historic England, "New Bolsover Model Village (613327)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 10 May 2014
  19. The garden village of New Earswick (PDF), Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust, p. 2, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2013, retrieved 10 May 2014
  20. A study of Woodlands Model Colliery Village 1907-1909, Royal Institute of British Architects, retrieved 10 May 2014
  21. "Tasmanian Industrial Village Successful Co-operative Building (1 November 1923)", The Australian Home Builder (November 1923), Herald and Weekly Times: 50, 1923-11-01, ISSN   0819-7008
  22. Pawson, Eric. "Wason, John Cathcart". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture and Heritage . Retrieved 31 July 2010.

Bibliography

  • Burchardt, Jeremy (2002), Paradise Lost: Rural Idyll and Social Change Since 1800, I. B. Tauris, ISBN   1860645143
  • Thornes, Robin (1994), Images of Industry: Coal, Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, ISBN   1-873592-23-X

Further reading