Semi-detached Housing, Lacy Street, Stretford
See also John Bowden (qv) for work before 1906
Following the death of John Bowden in 1905, the practice was continued by his son, Ernest Newton Bowden, under the style John Bowden and Company. Thus, the construction phase of this housing project was left in the hands of the latter. Although approval had been granted for 112 semi-detached dwellings, by 1912 only 62 of these had been completed, the work having been carried out in two phases; 40 houses in 1906 and 22 houses 1909. These comprised 8 houses in Crossford Street, 32 houses in Lacy Street and 22 houses on the west side of Cooper Street. By reference to OS maps it would appear that subsequent housing in Cooper Street and Crossford Street did not take place until after 1919. Dwellings still in the ownership of the local authority in the mid-1970s were subject to a housing improvement scheme which included the application of render to all external walls. However, a few survive as originally built. These are of common brick in English garden wall bond with Accrington brick dressings and slate roofs.
STRETFORD, URBAN DISTRICT COUNCIL - The Stretford Urban District Council invite tenders for the erection of twenty pairs of semi-detached cottages in Lacy-street. Stretford. Plans, form of tender etc. may be seen, and bills of quantifies obtained, at the offices of the architects. Messrs. John Bowden and Company, 14, Ridgefield, Manchester, upon payment of £1 which will be returned on receipt of a bona fide tender. Tenders to be sent to the Chairman, Sanitary Committee at the Council Offices, Old Trafford, on or before the 20th July 1906, endorsed “Tender for Cottages.” [Manchester Guardian 9 July 1906 page 1]
HOUSING AT STRETFORD - COUNCIL'S GARDEN CITY PLAN. - Tenders are about to be let by the Stretford District Council for the erection of houses on the lines suggested by Mr. T. Robinson, chairman of the Sanitary Committee, to provide for the increasing working-class population. A few years ago, the authority adopted the tenement system of housing the working classes, but the new scheme for the erection of 110 houses at a cost of £25.000 is on the garden city plan. The site in Lacy-street. Stretford, has been purchased at a cost of £4,500, and the sanction of the Local Government Board has been obtained for the repayment of the capital loan in 58 years. For the present only 40 houses are to be built, and these will be of the semi-detached villa type, having gardens in the front and rear of the buildings. They will be lighted by electricity, and have baths and other facilities of comfort. Although these houses will adjoin the present property of the Council, they will be of an improved class at higher rentals, to appeal to the artisan classes. In the tenement dwellings the average rental is 3s. 3d. a week. whilst in the proposed new property the rent will be about 5s. weekly. The object of the Sanitary Committee in carrying out the scheme is to meet the immediate requirements necessitated by the removal of the back-to-back property in the village area of the district. The cost of land purchase has been defrayed, but a further loan is to be raised for the erection of the houses. [Manchester Guardian 7 July 1906 page 5]
STRETFORD, COTTAGES - The Stretford U.D.C. invite tenders for the erection of an additional eleven pairs of semi-detached cottages in Lacy-street. Stretford. Plans, etc. may be seen, and bills of quantifies obtained, at the offices of the architects. Messrs. John Bowden and Company. 14, Ridgefield, Manchester, upon payment of £1. Tender return September 14th. [Builder 4 September 1909 Page 274]
HOUSING AND GARDEN SCHEMES - Stretford's housing schemes, partly because they have proved self-supporting. have attracted the attention of several local authorities. The chief scheme is under part 3 of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, and the first two instalments, comprising 62 houses. have been completed. Situated off Chester Road beyond the Stretford Town Hall, in Crossford-street, Lacy-street, Nelson-street, and Cooper-street, the covering 23,580 yards. on which the houses are erected was bought outright for £3,750. The cottages are semi-detached, and each house contains three bedrooms. a living-room, kitchen, scullery, coalhouse etc. The gardens occupy 96 square yards, and the weekly rent, inclusive of rates and taxes. is 5s. £235 was the cost of each house, inclusive of land and street forming, or £173 exclusive of these two items. The estimated cost of the erection of 112 semi-detached dwelling-houses is £25,015 made up thus - land £3,750, buildings £18,765, and street works £2,500. [Manchester Guardian 5 September 1912 page 9]
Reference Manchester Guardian 9 July 1906 page 1 - contracts
Reference Building News 21 September 1906 Page xvi Tenders
Reference Builder 4 September 1909 Page 274 - contracts
Reference Building News 3 September 1909 Page 368 - contracts
Reference Building News 10 September 1909 Page 274- contracts