The story of Leicester’s New Parks estate begins in the 19th century, when Leicester City Council, then known as Leicester Corporation, started to buy land in the New Parks area. But it was not until many decades later, half way through the 20th century, that the neighbourhood started to be built.
The earliest plans showing the proposed development of the estate were drawn up in 1944, but real construction started after the end of the Second World War in 1945. In the immediate post-war years, the city’s housing situation was in crisis due to returning service people and slum clearance, and simple prefabs – or prefabricated – homes were seen as the solution.
They were built from 1946 in many areas of the city, including New Parks, Stocking Farm and Mowmacre Hill, Thurnby Lodge and Eyres Monsell. In New Parks, they went up in Aikman Avenue. There were 570 in total across the city, including 120 in Aikman Avenue, the first street on the estate to be developed.
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In 1970, the council was renting them to tenants at £2 a week, equivalent to about £38.50 today. Despite being loved by many people who lived in them, the prefabs in New Parks were removed around 1980, although they were only designed to last 10 years.
An example of the prefab homes, these ones were off Hinckley Road, Leicester, in 1970
Hot on the heels of the prefabs came the construction of New Parks Boulevard, which is still in existence today, running either side of New Parks Way. The picture below was taken in 1957. Note the lack of cars. The road had not long been laid.
LeicestershireLive spoke to Leicester’s city mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, about the development of New Parks in the early days. He said: “The New Parks development predates me, but is an interesting area because it was actually built in the post-war period, and it was built with quite a lot of open space, around Western Park.
“And, if you go along New Parks Boulevard, it was not by accident that it was described as a boulevard, because, it has got wide, open space on either side of it, and [the planners] were deliberately wanting, I think, to create a pleasant, spacious, semi-rural environment. They created a very uncluttered space and a very attractive one.”
Big open spaces: New Parks Boulevard, Leicester, in 1958.
By the mid-1950s, much progress had been made on the estate. Between 1946 and 1959, 13,000 homes were built across the city, and around 3,000 of those were in New Parks. More than 1,000 went up in Stocking Farm and Mowmacre Hill, 1,500 in Thurnby Lodge and 2,500 in Eyres Monsell. Many Leicester people had been used to living in damp-ridden Victorian slums, so indoor toilets, central heating and cleanliness were welcomed with open arms. And the spacious two-storey, three-bedroom homes being built on the estate, which can be seen in the picture below, were luxurious in comparison to the prefabs.
Clear roads: New Parks Boulevard junction with Aikman Avenue, in May 1957.
Everyone who is familiar with New Parks will recognise in the image below the large blocks of flats, completed in 1956, in Aikman Avenue. Each block has its own name from A-G , with each name plate clearly displayed on each block – Auburn, Bentburn, Crayburn, Deansburn, Emburn, Fairburn and Gorseburn Houses.
The blocks are included on the list of the 326 Leicester buildings protected for historic importance. Writing in 2018 about the flats, Leicester Mercury’s Mr Leicester said: “These blocks are a distinctive shape – especially when seen from the air. The buildings are still standing, but from the air, as in my aerial photo from 1965, they look a lot more striking than they do from the ground.
“The blocks have been modernised over the years and the original flat roofs seen here have been replaced by energy-saving pitched roofs. It is interesting to see this area from above, as it gives an idea of the architect’s layout: in this case, curving roads and houses, set in spacious gardens and everywhere a feeling of light and space, in an attempt to build a standard of post-war utopian living of the future.
“Incidentally, the parade of shops on the same road, facing the flats, also has an unusual and pleasing curved shape. In fact, the parade won a bronze medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects as one of the most outstanding buildings erected in Leicester in the 1950s.”
Bird-eye view of New Parks: Aikman Avenue in 1965.
You can also see St Aidan’s Church – also included in Leicester’s list of protected buildings – in the image. It is one of two Leicester churches designed by Sir Basil Spence, who had also been chosen to design the new Coventry Cathedral at the time, for which he was knighted.
St Aidan’s has an open tower and a copper roof. At the west end, there is an open porch that extends the full height of the building and displays a huge and colourful mosaic-style tiled mural. The church was completed in 1959.
The cross from St Aidan’s Church, seen from New Parks Way
(Image: Google)
In the distance, on the left of the aerial photo, is the old Alderman Newton’s Girls’ School, which later became New Parks School, then New College as we know it today. To its right, you can just make out the shape of another church, the Mother of God, built at the corner of Glenfield Road. This church was designed by Reynolds and Scott and completed a year before this photo was taken.
New Parks has recently been in the news thanks to the announcement of a new, £15,000 community project looking at the area’s history. The project is one of 21 being funded by Historic England.
The organisation said: “The history of the New Parks council estate in Leicester has largely gone unexplored. This much-needed project will celebrate community histories as chosen and researched by local young people.”
The project aims to empower under-represented young people to explore previously hidden stories and celebrate their local areas. What form the projects will take will be up to the young people and could include murals, theatre productions and walking tours.
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