Architecture
William Whiteley, the founder of the village that takes his name, put much thought into the needs of older people. His will states that the chosen site “..be in as bright, cheerful and healthy spot as possible..” and that the buildings themselves were to be “..of good and substantial character and of a plain and useful design and shall be well lighted, ventilated and drained and so placed as to be protected as far as possible from the north and east winds.”
The Trustees of his will found the perfect site and chose William Cave as their consulting architect. At his suggestion a competition took place in which many of the leading architects of the day were invited to submit plans for the Village. The designs were so strong that it proved impossible to pick one winner and eventually William Cave and six other architects were chosen to design the eight blocks of cottages that survive to this day.
They were built in the Arts and Crafts style – one of the key designs and architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The ethos of the Arts and Crafts style called for buildings to be created using local materials and traditional styles that would not jar with their surroundings, but were at the same time, modern and distinctive and pruned of unnecessary decoration. One hundred years later, the exteriors of our cottages look as good as they did when first built and are a testament to the skill and clever designs of that group of architects.
The interiors of the original cottages, however, are now in need of refurbishment to bring them up to today’s standards and work has been going on for some years to achieve this. However, the Trust has a shortfall of £6 million needed to complete its modernization programme, which is the subject of the current Appeal.
