The Watling Estate is in

Burnt Oak Burnt Oak is a suburb of London, England, located northwest of Charing Cross. It lies to the west of the M1 motorway between Edgware and Colindale, located predominantly in the London Borough of Barnet, with parts in the London Boroughs of Br ...

, in the

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northwest London. It was an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex east of the ancient Watling Street in what is now the London Borough of Barnet but it is now informally considered to cover a wider area, inc ...

district of the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

. It was one of twelve

London County Council cottage estate London County Council cottage estates are estates of council houses, built by London County Council, in the main between 1918 and 1939. Council-built housing The City of London Corporation built tenements in the Farringdon Road in 1865, but th ...

s built between the wars to provide "

homes fit for heroes A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Constru ...

". There are 4032 homes set in .

Location

In the 1850s,

referred to no more than a field on the eastern side of the Edgware Road (

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

). By the 1860s plans were in place to build three residential streets: North Street, East Street, and South Street. The area was generally known as Red Hill until the opening of

Burnt Oak tube station Burnt Oak is a London Underground station in Burnt Oak, North London. It is located on Watling Avenue, off the A5 (the Edgware Road, originally a Roman Road known as Watling Street). The station is on the Edgware branch of the Northern line, b ...

on the

Northern line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground linearound 340million in 2019making it the bu ...

of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

on 27 October 1924. It was on farmland to the south-east of the community in Edgware Road, that London Transport constructed a new road, Watling Avenue, and

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

built the Watling Estate housing estate. In September 1931 Jack Cohen opened his first

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

store at 54 Watling Avenue, Burnt Oak.

History

The Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890 ( 53 & 54 Vict. c. 70) encouraged the London authority to improve the housing in their areas. It also gave them the power acquire land and to build

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

s and houses (cottages). The

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

indirectly provided a new impetus, when the poor physical health and condition of many urban recruits to the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

was noted with alarm. This led to a campaign known as '' 'Homes fit for Heroes'''. In 1919 the Government, through The Addison Act (Housing Act 1919) the required councils to provide housing built to the Tudor Walters standards. It helped them to do so through the provision of subsidies. These were then removed by the

Geddes Axe The Geddes Axe was the drive for public economy and retrenchment in UK government expenditure recommended in the 1920s by a Committee on National Expenditure chaired by Sir Eric Geddes and with Lord Inchcape, Lord Faringdon, Sir Joseph Maclay a ...

of 1922, and partially restored by the Wheatley Act of 1924. Thus LCC was actively looking for suitable land when the

was extended in 1934, opening up a new transport corridor. LCC quickly purchased of farmland adjacent to the new

. The plans were drawn up by the LCC's chief architect,

George Forrest George Forrest may refer to: *G. Topham Forrest (George Topham Forrest, 1872–1945), principal architect for the London County Council *George Forrest (author) (1915–1999), American author and musician *George Forrest (botanist) (1873–1932), S ...

. He set aside for allotments and parks and for schools and public buildings. The rest was for housing.

Design

Planning the estate

In 1912

Raymond Unwin Sir Raymond Unwin (2 November 1863 – 29 June 1940) was a prominent and influential English engineer, architect and town planner, with an emphasis on improvements in working class housing. Early years Raymond Unwin was born in Rotherham, Yor ...

published a pamphlet ''Nothing gained by Overcrowding''. These ideas influenced the

Tudor Walters Report The Tudor Walters Report on housing was produced by the Tudor Walters Committee of the United Kingdom Parliament in October 1918. Its recommendations set the standards for council house design and location for the next 90 years. The committee Tu ...

of 1918. The report recommended housing in short terraces, spaced at at a density of 12 to the acre: and this defined the Watling Estate. The estate shows all the signs of the "

garden city movement The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with Green belt, greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, i ...

". Care was taken to exploit the undulating ground, offering vistas and long views. There are cul de sacs. The terraces are indeed short and stepped back at road corners to open up the space. Throughout the estate runs the Silk Stream, and the banks have been used to create parks and internal open-space. Silk Stream in Burnt Oak - geograph

Houses and flats

There were 4012 dwellings on the estate. Most were traditional brick; there were 252 'Atholl' steel and 464 timber-frame homes built as experiments. It was hoped that they would be cheaper and quicker to build. Most were larger family homes: there was a mix of parlour and non-parlour types. There were also around 320 flats, built in low-rise blocks.

The facilities

The main shopping parade on Watling Avenue was built in 1930. The first school opened in 1928, the large Watling Central School in 1931.

Community

The initial tenants were selected by London County Council. Like other estates, they were a relatively well-off though overwhelmingly working-class population with small families. 20% were skilled manual, 20% transport workers and 10% clerical with wages between £3 and £4 a week. Almost half of the incomers were under 18. The estate was seen as a threat by the older citizens of Edgware who dubbed it "''Little Moscow''". and likened the initiative to one of the "''raw, red tentacles of that housing octopus, the London County Council''".

Conservation area

The Watling Estate was made a conservation area in 2007.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * Quotes: Rubinstein, 1991, ''Just like the country''.

External links

{{Public housing in the United Kingdom Housing estates in the London Borough of Barnet Districts of the London Borough of Barnet