Monument record 1160/0/439 - King's Heath Estate

Designed by J L Womersley, then Borough Architect, in 1950. Planned for 5,000 inhabitants.

{1} Shows original extent of the estate.

{2} Designed by the Borough Architect JL Womersley in 1950. It was planned for 5,000 inhabitants and has a symmetrical, kidney-shaped plan. The central area is a green. Two nursery schools planned at the curved ends and to its north two schools, of which so far only one has been built. Further north on the right a Home for Old People and at the north end the Church Hall of St Augustine. At the south end is St Margaret's Church (RC) of 1960. Very successful shopping centre is in the middle axis to the south of the green. The shopping centre is flanked along the green by flats and these carry on along the curved ends of the green as well as to the south of the green to form the main approach.

{3} The shopping centre described by Cherry in 1973 {2} is now a dismal, bleak boarded-up affair. The nicely designed terraces give the estate its character, which still survives. The fact that Womersley's houses and blocks stand almost without alteration says something for his concept of the estate.

<1> Ordnance Survey Map (Scale/date), 1:10,560/1969 (Map). SNN112944.

<2> Pevsner N.; Cherry B., 1973, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p. 357 (Series). SNN1320.

<3> Bailey, B, Pevsner, N, and Cherry, B, 2013, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, p. 485 (Book). SNN111989.

Record last edited

Feb 25 2025 7:02PM