Cheltenham Civic Society
@CheltCivicSoc
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PROMOTING high architectural and planning standards, PROTECTING features of historic and public interest and EDUCATING on Cheltenham’s heritage.
Joined March 2016
As the local elections approach, we have launched a new Town Centre Manifesto. We’re petitioning councillors and candidates for @CheltenhamBC to restore the civic pride in Cheltenham’s town centre. We’re appealing to councillors of @GlosCC to do the same.
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Isn’t it wonderful when gardens are prepared and planted for the summer ahead? These hanging baskets, tubs and beds in Oriel Road look amazing!
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Every new street should be tree-lined as a matter of course.
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Simple elegance. 1, North Place although it faces (and adds much-needed beauty to) Albion Street. c1820-50. Grade II.
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Man interviewed on the news about #CrookedHouse condemns the council for not protecting local heritage. Wake up folks! That’s why the civic movement was formed. If you are concerned about your area’s planning and heritage JOIN YOUR LOCAL CIVIC SOCIETY!
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An example of the ongoing fad of producing flats and houses that are easily confused with bland, anonymous office blocks. Is this really what our town (and our people) deserve? Are developers and architects so bereft of imagination?
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Theme and Variations by Barbara Hepworth, her last commission. Sited on the former headquarters of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society.
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Some of the most beautiful ironwork in town - and that’s saying something! Garrondene, St George’s Road c1820-50, Grade II listed.
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We’re frustrated by the state of the town centre so we’ve launched our 10-point Town Centre Manifesto. We are asking all councillors and candidates to sign up to it. Do you think they will? Will you challenge yours to sign it? #LocalElections
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Cheltenham vs Bath. Spot the difference. It’s a tricky one so do your best.
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The fantastic @MalmaisonHotels in Bayshill. Villa (‘Glenlee’) built in 1847 by Samual Onley. Conservatory dates from c1870-80. Grade II listed. Stunner!
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How about a bit of Regency grandeur to go with your coffee?
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In the small German town of Herrnhut they are actively working to shake of decades of communism&modernist architecture. And as a center of the Moravian Church they focus a lot on social work&the next generation. When expanding their popular schools this is what they do (thread).
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Cheltondale was demolished in 1982. This monstrosity of a hospital wing replaced it. 🤢
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The house on the right has just had new windows and been repainted to look like ashlar. What do we think?
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Let’s talk pavements. They’re one of our campaign priorities. We’re annoyed by constant tarmac cowpatting by @GlosCC, utilities and contractors.
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“The experts said that having artificial grass in your garden could decrease your home’s value by almost £15,000 because some see it as unpractical.”.@Shitlawns @PlanningShit .
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Georgian sashes and a Victorian bay, stucco and Cotswold stone ashlar, blind boxes and fanlights, parapets and cornices, pilasters and plain fronts, all United with railings. Every house is different yet the design coherence makes an enormous contribution to the street. Pittville
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Gate piers don’t just frame entrances to houses. They frame entrances to streets too.
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Alma House, an imposing Grade II* listed villa from 1838. The conservatory dates from c1905 in Art Nouveau style by George Walton. HH Martyn made it at Lansdown Industrial Estate, an important heritage asset that we’re trying to save from demolition:
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Modern needn’t mean mundane. The Broadwalk, Cheltenham.
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The 60s and 70s were disastrous for Cheltenham. Misguided planners, destructive architects and egregious property owners tore so much apart and replaced it with rubbish. Here’s North Street before and now.
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🌳 Albion Street is just crying out for trees! 🌳
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Cheltenham’s architectural struggle in one image.
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Part of Cheltenham’s main electricity supply plan, this sub station was built 1894-5. Probably designed by Joseph Hall, the Borough Engineer, in Italian Gothic style, inspired by Strozzi Palace, Florence (1489), hence its contemporary name. Grade II listed.
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Interesting gabion fillings at Gloucestershire Energy from Waste (EfW) facility, which many pass on the M5.
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Here’s a relatively new development on Gloucester Road. Look at the great expanses of tarmac. Look at the ubiquitous boxes that have no connection with Cheltenham’s vernacular. This is what we’re swamped with and what the planners are content to sign off unchallenged.
Why are Britain's newbuilds so ugly? And what can we do about it? Good to see our work and arguments covered so fulsomely in today's @Telegraph - also a great photo of @SCP_Hughes .
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Cheltenham town centre today. Yet more newly laid tarmac infill. A high street to be proud of? The best preserved Regency town in England? Seriously @CheltenhamBC @GlosCC!
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This block right in the town centre could make superb housing. It looks tired and the landlord seems concerned only with retail rents. But renovated and with housing on the uppers its mid-century style could make a great civic contribution. Could get another storey on top too.
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This Grade II* building in Montpellier has 2 empty upper storeys because environmental health officers said it would be too noisy to convert to flats with a pizza restaurant underneath. Isn’t it time to review rules such as these to help tackle the #HousingCrisis?
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Some of our more recent housing. Mock-RegenGeorgiVictoriEdwardian in a fetching shade of stain and grime. All 9-15 years old, built by Laing Homes, now @TaylorWimpey.
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It’s hard to describe to councillors how our conservation areas, the character of which we should be acknowledging and conserving, are negatively affected by buildings that have no aesthetic roots in them.
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Oriel Lodge c1820-25 in Tudor Gothic style by Edward Jenkins for Capt Charles Timins, late of the East India Company. Grade II.
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Cheltenham Town Hall, 1962 to 2022. What has changed in 60 years?
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Examples of workmanship of @GlosRoads @GlosCC @Ringway_UK. Conservation Area so the lines should be 50mm wide. Can’t be bothered to sweep or remove weeds before lining. What does it matter if you dribble paint all over the place? No checks. No care. No pride. Not good enough!
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Have we learnt anything? Here’s High Street in 1963 and the same site today. They are wanting to pull it all down again, including the pretty Victorian gabled building on the right, and replace it with an ugly 5 storey box. Who wants to visit ugly town centres?
The 60s and 70s were disastrous for Cheltenham. Misguided planners, destructive architects and egregious property owners tore so much apart and replaced it with rubbish. Here’s North Street before and now.
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Our Chairman talking on @itvnews about our Town Centre Manifesto and the appalling state of our high street.
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These pretty but sturdy silver birches add huge value to the street. Every street needs trees and they should be compulsory on new builds, front and rear.
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Look at these beauties! New railings being erected around Imperial Gardens to replace those sacrificed, like so many, for the war effort. Lovely job! Now we just need to sort out the tatty tree pits.
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The original ashlar would have been preferable but can’t fault this very smart exterior refurb in Cambray Place.
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Something regal to start with today. Beautiful Bayshill.
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Montpellier Spa Road. Nos 38-62 were built in 1995 to match nos 10-36, c1823, which are Grade II listed. They did a very creditable job, we reckon. What do you think?
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We support an application to convert the uppers of the 3 central buildings here into flats. Sadly they want to rip out the original timber sashes and the rather nice Victorian shopfronts. As usual, owners seduced into thinking uPVC is best. It’s not. We’ve opposed that part.
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Look up. Theme & Variations by Barbara Hepworth (1972) on the facade of Cheltenham House (1970-72), which was the head office of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society. Grade II listed in 2019 after a campaign led by @C20Society and supported by us.
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The scaffolding is off Cornerways. It’s looking very smart.
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This thoughtless and inappropriate garden conversion appalls us. Yet parts of Cheltenham are suffering the same fate. That’s why we’re drafting a guide for front garden conversion, which takes a helpful pragmatic approach while protecting our built heritage and natural resources.
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Our beautiful former Burton building. Now in need of a scrub. Wouldn’t the uppers make the most stylish flats?
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This is Gareth. He’s been using his daily exercise to pick up litter - lots of it. This is the sort of generosity of spirit and citizenship we can all appreciate. Our Chair has just given him a year’s free membership of the Civic Society to say thank you. Well done, Gareth!
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For the first time, we’re inviting nominations for ‘Uncivic’ awards - those NEW buildings that fail to sit politely in their settings, that do not contribute positively to their neighbourhoods, that are just plain UGLY! Let us know your thoughts.
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One of the most beautiful terraces in Cheltenham is in Priory Street, built c1820-50. All slightly different yet united by coherent details. Grade II listed.
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Cheltenham’s Crimean War Memorial dates from the 1850s. The east panel ‘Taken at Sevastopol 1856’ refers to the cannon that once sat on top, which succumbed to the Second World War’s metal salvage efforts. Now adorned with the flag of #Ukraine as a symbol of support🇺🇦 ❤️
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We’re used to converting Victorian schools in order to repurpose fine buildings. Why don’t we do it with structures from other periods? Why do we not acknowledge and preserve more recent good architecture? @C20Society @mod_in_metro @modernistsocLDS.
Cantonian Municipal Secondary School, Cardiff, originally opened October 1907 in Canton. Destroyed in the bombing raids of 1941, the school was rebuilt in Fairwater. Designed by John Dryburgh, Cardiff City Architects Department, the new complex opened 1962. #ModernistMonday 1/2
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Here’s a little gem for you, tucked into the back of 99-119 The Promenade at the bottom of Montpellier Street. Grade II*.
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The beautiful Montpellier Grove. Look at the unusual Victorian window ornamentation here.
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The magnificent Grade II listed @LloydsBankBiz on High Street/Rodney Road. Built 1900 by Walker & Son on site of Assembly Rooms. Double height banking hall with rich plasterwork guaranteed to impress.
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Aren’t the back lanes every bit as interesting as the showy fronts of smart houses?
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Still the best book to explore the history and design of the terraced house? Cheltenham features quite a few times. Funny that it took a German to catalogue such a British phenomenon! What is your recommended reading on architecture or planning?
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1. How often do we wonder how ugly or inappropriate buildings were permitted?
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Electricity sub station, Lansdown and Westal Green, 1928 by Healing & Overbury. Ashlar faced, Tuscan pillars, balustraded parapet, panelled rusticated end elevations, locally listed. Why can’t we do this any more to accommodate essential but potentially ugly infrastructure?
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The new bollards across the top of the Prom. We welcome this first step in transforming the Prom into a people-orientated public space. The broken flagstones and tarmac infills should be repaired soon.
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The University of Glos recently sold Cornerways, a Grade II villa, built 1839-50 by Samuel Daukes that was reputedly to be the zoo keeper’s house. The zoo never materialised in The Park. Soon to become a private dwelling once more.
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Our original Post Office Map of Cheltenham, July 1820.
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Wellington Street. Backs of Georgian buildings can be pretty too.
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This evening’s walk is of lost pubs of Cheltenham. By sheer chance, we’ll be finishing at one that’s still open…
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The Queen’s Hotel looking majestic in this evening’s dusk. Note the empty Crimean memorial plinth on which once sat a Russian cannon. It was fruitlessly sacrificed for the last war effort. We’re supporting a project to replace it.
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Congratulations to @TheLuckyOnion for their Highly Commended Civic Award for their Refurbishment & Renovation of No 131 The Promenade. At the awards last night, the Mayor pointed out that it was also Arthur Negus’ former residence - perhaps it needs another blue plaque?
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Crescent Terrace is slowly being converted back to houses from offices. Nice to see. Hopefully the Muni will follow.
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We support this idea. Cheltenham already has many old and more modern news. They’re efficient, popular and make a positive civic contribution.
Today at Create Streets we offer a new policy. Giving locals the powers to replace dilapidated alleys with new mews streets, keeping control & the lion's share of the upside, could deliver hundreds of thousands of walkable, sustainable new homes
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Broadlands House, The Park, originally Fulwood House, c1833-60 probably by Samuel Daukes. Originally intended to form a crescent of grand villas, inspired by White’s and Nash’s Regent’s Park (1809-11). Grade II listed. Note the sliding shutters. Now part of @uniofglos.
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Snapped street trees. Dirt. Litter. Scattered street furniture. Unnecessary and inappropriate sheds. Our Town Centre Manifesto seeks improvements in standards of presentation, maintenance and beauty. Is that too much to ask for?
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Why are these streets so picturesque? Traditional architecture, enclosure, local materials, human scale, coherent variety, rhythm, drawing one’s eye. Note that they’d mostly be illegal to build now too. Time to change the rules?
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We are delighted to announce the purchase of a new HQ! 26 Cambray Place is a Grade II listed Regency villa in the heart of the town. Read more here:
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Can anyone recommend a good app for self guided tours please? We’re looking at options for our blue and green plaque tours.
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Well done @CheltenhamBC for the prompt repair of the bridge in Pittville Park. Reported to us 18 Nov 22, passed immediately to CBC and reinstated by Jan 23. Lovely job, thank you!
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As usual, @CheltenhamBC’s Parks and Gardens Team are doing a magnificent job with spring planting. Here are Imperial Gardens bringing some brightness on a dull day.
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The former Haines & Strange site, now Regency Place, c.2013-15. 4-6 storeys. Gentle density of and appropriate, desirable design on town centre infill site. This is the sort of proposal we should see on the former Black & White site.
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The Italianate Lypiatt Terrace looking majestic in the sunny/rainy/stormy* light. * Adjust as necessary every 2 minutes.
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