Clarendon Park, Leicester

History

It is often said that, until the nineteenth century, much of the land now covered by Clarendon Park was owned by the Society of Friends, whose meeting house is still situated in the area. It is believed that it was the Society's opposition to the consumption of alcohol that led to there at one time being very few pubs in the area, although several bars have opened in recent years along Queens Road. In fact, the land was owned by the Cradock family of Knighton. It remained undeveloped until the 1870s until Edward Hartopp Cradock sold it (120 acres) to Samuel Francis Stone, Charles Smith and Alfred Donisthorpe, three local businessmen operating under the name the `Clarendon Park Company', and it is much more likely that they, as nonconformists, made it a binding condition of any future land sale that developed properties should not be used to sell alcoholic beverages.

The origin of the name 'Clarendon Park' is unknown, but it has been suggested that it was chosen because it "bestowed an appropriate dignity on what was intended to be a good class residential district".

Building work began immediately and the streets west of Queens Road were laid out and developed very quickly by local builders such as Harry Orton or architect/builders such as James Bird. East of Queens Road, development was slower and more sporadic, with some larger plots in Clarendon Park Road, North, East and Central Avenues being bought as investments. The better-known architects active in Clarendon Park during the 1880s included James Tait, Isaac Barradale (6-12 Clarendon Park Road) and Stockdale Harrison (East Avenue). In the 1890s Springfield Road provided a showcase for Goddard & Co (nos 6-8 and 45–55), Draper & Walters (no27), Arthur Wakerley (no3) and Redfern & Sawday while Ernest Gimson built a house for his half-brother, Arthur, in North Avenue in 1897.