By the turn of the last century Wolverton had taken the shape that many of us would recognize,but there is still a way to go, as we can see from these maps. Windsor Street marked the end of the LNWR in the town’s residential development. The next section (seen here in partial development) was undertaken by the Radcliffe Trust who had come to the conclusion that there was more money to be made in developing the land themselves rather than sell it to the railway company. Hence, Peel Road, Jersey Road and Anson Road were all named after Radcliffe Trustees – and very prominent men they were too! After that the Wolverton Urban District Council took over.
Wolverton in 1905- The Western End |
Wolverton in 1905 – The Eastern end |
By the turn of the 20th century the works had claimed al the land north of the Stratford Road and Gas Street and the ast houses in Bury Street were pulled down. The southern “little streets” remained until the 1960s. with the exception of the north side of Glyn Square which had been taken down to build a laundry. The Gables (at that time a large house in its own grounds for the Works Manager) had been built in 1886. The new doctor’s house and surgery at the bottom of Green Lane, known as The Elms, was built shortly after this map was drawn.
The old school on Creed Street, much expanded since 1840, was operating as a Girls and Infants School at this time. When the new school opened on Aylesbury Street the building functioned as a Market Hall on Fridays until the Agora was opened in 1980. Parts of the building have been demolished and it now serves as a Library and Town Meeting Room.
One further comment. In 1900, possibly as a consequence of this development, Wolverton decided to adopt a rational numbering system for its houses. That is, houses were assigned sequential odd numbers on the left hand side (facing south or west) and even numbers on the right hand side. The Stratford Road, which had been numbered from west to east, changed its numbering to start from the east. Up to this time Number 1 had been what is now 44, but with the westward expansion this was no longer feasible. By the way, the Stratford Road was numbered sequentially from 1 upwards without the odd-even split – it being felt that there was no future possibility that anyone on the north side would need an address. Circumstances do change!