Architect and Estate Manager 1923-1991

The majority of files in this deposit date from 1950 to 1974. There are also a few files for the period after local government reorganisation in 1974 which saw Gloucester City Council supercede Gloucester Corporation. These were found with the pre-1974 files and are closely related to them and have therefore been listed here.

COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT AREAS

Westgate Comprehensive Development Area

Kingsholm Comprehensive Development Area

Other areas

HEALTH/IMPROVEMENT AREAS

Tredworth General Improvement Area

Other records

ESTATES (Land and buildings)

Guildhall, Eastgate Street

Other land and buildings

HIGHWAYS

HOUSING

Coney Hill

Podsmead Estate

Matson Estate

Tuffley Estate

Robinswood Barracks Estate

Darwin Road, site 26

Stroud Road

Other housing

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

Brunswick Buildings (library, museum, college of art)

MARKETS, QUAYS AND BATHS

The Quay

Barton Street Baths

New cattle market

PARKS AND CEMETERIES

Hillfield House and gardens

Gloucester Park

Cemeteries

Kingsholm recreation ground

St Oswald's priory

River Severn riverside

PLANNING

General

Eastgate redevelopment

Eastgate market

King's Square redevelopment

STAVERTON AIRPORT

MISCELLANEOUS

Local government reorganisation

Management papers

Civic Trust Awards

Other miscellaneous papers

It was not possible to arrange the files rigidly according to their original departmental file reference for two reasons. Firstly it would seem that different systems of classification were used at different times. The earlier system is numerical, probably based on a running number, with subnumbering being used for a series of files relating to the same project. Some files were also marked with a "division" such as housing, health, which may have denoted the committee of the council which would be responsible for that particular project or matter. However, many files either do not carry such a reference or have that part of the file cover removed or missing. Latterly a classified system of reference was introduced, dividing files into categories such as housing (Hsg) and planning (Pl). There is also a small but significant number of files which either were not marked up with a file reference or had lost it through damage to the file cover. For the purposes of this catalogue therefore, files have been arranged under broadly thematic headings which reflect as closely as is practicable the divisions with which they were marked. Each file's departmental reference, where known, is recorded at the end of the description in round brackets.

The file titles given at the start of each entry are based on the original office file titles as written on the file cover, although these have sometimes been slightly rephrased in the catalogue to give consistency of wording. A small number of files have been retitled for the purposes of this catalogue, as the original title was felt to be unhelpful. In these cases the original title is given in round brackets with the original file references

<span class="wrapper"><p>Two small accessions of files received from the Gloucester City Planning Officer and Engineer were also appraised and listed during the same process. Although the files selected for permanent retention from these accessions have been catalogued separately (as DC124) to reflect their different provenance there is a degree of overlap with some of the Architect's files. Searchers are therefore also referred to the catalogue for DC124. Related items have been cross-referenced.</p> <p>The Victoria History of the County of Gloucester, volume IV, provides useful background to this archive, particularly the section on topography, 1835-1985 (pp. 221-241)</p></span>

THESE FILES ARE CLOSED UNTIL 31 YEARS OLD EXCEPT FOR 3/2/14 and 5/8/1 WHICH ARE CLOSED UNTIL 51 YEARS OLD

This collection comprises files which were received into the joint District and County Council's record management system between 1980 and 1985. It contains four separate accessions (M38, M235, M224, M357), by far the largest being M38 which originally represented nearly 200 archive boxes; the others filled only a few archive boxes each. The files in all four accessions were reviewed by Record Office staff during 2002 and those which were selected for permanent preservation are listed below.

In some cases large files which contained items of significance amongst a good deal of routine paperwork have been weeded to retain only the former. Such files have been noted in the catalogue

The archive spans a period of great architectural change for Gloucester. It documents a very active period for the provision of social housing which accompanied the slum clearance programmes following the Second World War and sheds light on social trends and attitudes of the post war era. New methods of construction were used on large local authority housing estates such as Matson and Tuffley and the development of Gloucester's suburbs, particularly to the south and south east of the city, took place on a vast scale.

Two areas of the city, Westgate and Kingsholm, were designated as comprehensive development areas, the former posing particular architectural challenges because of its proximity to the cathedral. The resulting development, centring on a cluster of tower blocks, divided opinion in terms of its aesthetic appeal; the flats themselves were dogged with problems including the use of high alumina cement which became a matter of national concern following the collapse in 1973 of a north London girls' school built of the same material.

The 1960s and 1970s saw major change in the central area of the city and some of the most informative and illuminating files in this archive are to be found in section 9 of the catalogue, where the architectural considerations of the redevelopment of the city centre are discussed in detail.

In 1961 consultant architect, G A Jellicoe, submitted to the City Council a comprehensive plan for the centre of Gloucester (see 9/1/3 and 9/1/5), his main proposals being incorporated into the provisional town centre map. However, Jellicoe's original plan, which was widely respected as being in sympathy with the historical buildings which still remained in the city centre, was later modified (some would say compromised) for several reasons including the different concerns of the development company involved.

Several of Gloucester's most famous and outstanding old buildings were demolished during this period. These included The Duke of Norfolk's house in Westgate Street (despite efforts to preserve it over a number of years and against the wishes of the Civic Design Group and many on the City Council) and the Bell Hotel in Southgate Street which was never satisfactorily replaced. This archive includes files containing detailed information about both these buildings and their eventual demolition (1/1/18 and section 9/2 throughout)

There are also series of files which document the construction of important municipal buildings such as the public swimming baths in Barton Street and the new cattle market on St Oswalds Road, the latter being regarded as one of the finest examples of its type in Europe when it was first built. In addition, there are files which relate to the maintenance and modification of existing buildings such as the Guildhall in Eastgate Street and the City Library and Museum in Brunswick Road which document some of the difficulties of adapting such buildings to modern day uses.

The records in this collection also provide an insight into the role of the City Architect which, in addition to the design of new buildings and oversight of their construction, involved negotiations in relation to letting and acquiring land and property. The job required close liaison with several other Council officers, notably the Town Clerk and City Engineer and Surveyor as well as the Housing Manager, with whom relations were sometimes strained. Only four people held the position of Borough/City Architect within a 50 year period. A Morgan, the earliest architect represented in these files, was succeeded by his deputy J V Wall around 1953. J R Sketchley was architect from 1964-1974 until the appointment of S A J Silvester in 1974.