Mexborough and Swinton Times September 16, 1927
Wombwell Municipal Houses
Over 500 Erected
Completion of the Schemes
A Public Duty Well Done
In a recent report, Mr DH Roberts (picture), architect of the Wombwell Urban District Council, states:
“Since my last report 46 houses have been completed on the Kings Road housing site; the remaining 20 houses and the whole of the work on this site will be completed by the end of the month.”
This means that a great task of been accomplished. It is possible that at some time the Wombwell Council will go into the housing business again, but at the moment they rest in contemplation of an achievement – something attempted, something done.
The Wombwell Urban District Council embarked upon a great task of providing houses for the people in 1919. At the very outset they set a limit to their plans, and the original scheme has been rigidly adhered to.
The Kings Road and the Hemingfield housing estates, as seen today, are the revelation of an ideal long cherished and steadily pursued. In relation to local needs the Council has discharged a heavy responsibility with commendable energy. The need for additional housing accommodation has been met, and the housing problem in its more acute form may now be virtue regarded as a thing of the past.
Over 500 houses
Altogether the ratepayers of the Urban District of Wombwell are the proprietors of 521 houses. The first was erected 1919 and the last is in course of construction.
Industrial and economic conditions have fluctuated considerably over the period of eight years. While six of the first houses built cost £1000 each, the last contract was let at about £375 pounds per house. Whereas houses of the non-parlour time cost the council £848 in 1919, the same type today is been erected at a cost of since £375, or considerably less than half.
The Wombwell Council erected their houses on two sites, on land adjoining Kings Road, Wombwell, and in Hemingfield Road, Jump. Both sites are well suited to the purpose, and the Council have been complemented frequently on their choice. The Kings Road site covers about 40 acres, and the jump in Hemingfield site about 4 ½ acres.
The contracts for the erection of the houses have been let as follows:
Kings Road
Messrs A Taylor and Sons 114, Mr Sam Dryden 20, Mr E Thompson 12, Messrs FB Ward and sons 30, Mr F Swift 60, Messrs T Barker and Sons (Loughborough) 76, Mr Frederick Bate (Doncaster) 82, Messrs Edward Auckland and sons 66; total 460.
Jump and Hemingfield
Mrs W Johnson and Sons, 61
In framing their housing schemes, the Wombwell Council Have had their minds on the special needs of the district. There is not a house on the site with less than three bedrooms, and each of the houses has a separate bathroom. 24 of the houses are of the parlour time the rest of the non-parlour time. The accommodation is as follows:
Parlour type: living room, parlour scullery, larder, WC & coalhouse, three bedrooms and bathroom.
Non-parlour type: living room, scullery, bathroom, larder, WC, callout and three bedrooms.
In the non-parlour type houses the bathrooms are on the ground floor.
Honoured Names
The houses are built 12 to the acre, needs drawing as a separate garden. Chestnut fencing was used in the first instance, but in the case of the houses built recently, dwarf walls, post and rail fencing and privet hedges have been introduced. It may be said to the credit of the tenants that many of the gardens and the Kings Road housing are visions of delight.
In the name of the streets of Wombwell Council pay compliment to prominent men (past and present) in the municipal life of the town.
The streets on the Kings Road housing site are Mellor Road, Hall Street, Roebuck Street, Hadfield Street, Jardine Street, Elliott Avenue, Pickup Crescent, Thompson Road, Goodyear Crescent, Wright Crescent. One of the streets as yet to be named.
The streets on the Jump and Hemingfield site have been named after Councillors Preston and Hallsworth.
Pleasing Features
The development of the Kings Road housing scheme has been carried out under the supervision of Mr David Henry Roberts, a well-known architect. He is naturally proud of what Wombwell as accomplished in the matter of housing.
Interviewed by a representative of the “Mexborough and Swinton Times” this week, Mr Robert said: “I think that taking all things into consideration the Wombwell housing scheme is a very good one. The site was well chosen in the first place. With a natural gradient the problem of drainage has not been a difficult one. Moreover, the houses have been built on high ground and in a healthy locality.
“Simultaneously with the erection of the houses the gas and water services have been laid on and to follow them up afterwards will be an easy matter. Another pleasing feature of the scheme is a proximity of the houses to the park. Apart from the large open spaces provided under the scheme unlimited facilities are available in the park for fresh air and recreation.
“I think in the matter of interior accommodation the houses are eminently suitable for miners families. This factor has been studied right from the commencement, and the idea was in mind when it was decided to have the bathrooms on the ground floor. This makes the daily bath more handy than would otherwise have been the case. In the matter of workmanship I consider the houses will bear favourable comparison with anything in the surrounding districts.”
A Hustle in Housebuilding
There is a specially noteworthy feature about the manner in which the contract for the last batch of houses on the Kings Road site at Wombwell has been executed. To get these houses erected before the amount of subsidy allowance was reduced was a problem the Wombwell Council had to contend with. Very little time was available, and when the contract was let in May to a local firm, Messrs Edward Auckland and Sons, it was stipulated that the houses should be ready for occupation by the end of September. As a matter of fact several of the houses were completed within four weeks, and by this weekend practically the whole lot will be tenanted. This will not only ensures the council against a any difficulty of the subsidy, but also brings in considerable unestimated revenue in rents and rates.
Quite a big feature of the housing scheme at Wombwell has been the making of the roads. Altogether there are some 2 ½ miles of road. The work is being carried out under the supervision of Mr W Quests, surveyor to the Wombwell UDC, the Kings Road scheme by direct labour and Hemingfield scheme by contract.
The Architect
Mr David Henry Roberts, who has acted as architect for the Wombwell Urban District Council in connection with their housing scheme, was educated at Bebington College, Cheshire, and was articled to Messrs Dickens, Lewis and Haynes, Shrewsbury. Subsequently he served on some of the leading architects in England. When still quite a young man he was appointed second surveyor at the estate office of the Earl of Lancaster and Lord Carrington at LLanrwst, North Wales, he later became assistant at the county education estate office of Cardiganshire at Aberystwyth.
He came to Wombwell in 1912 as an architect and surveyor in association with the late Mr John Robinson, whom he succeeded in practice. During his 15 years in Wombwell, Mr Roberts has been engaged for many important undertakings in South Yorkshire.
Mr Robert supervised the laying out of the public park and the miners welfare sports grounds at Wombwell.