Wilfrid Road Open Day

As part of the National Heritage Open Days event, the Street Society organised this Open Day today, giving people the chance to view houses in one of the original Victorian roads in Street. When William Stephens Clark took control of the family shoe business in the late 19th Century he decided to transfer shoe making from the village homes of outworkers to a centralised factory and, being a Quaker, build terraces of modern housing with decent standards of living to attract workers to what was a rural outpost of industry.

Three terraces of houses were amongst the first to be built in what is now Wilfrid Road, almost opposite the factory; Cobden Terrace here was the second terrace designed by George Skipper (who also designed the Crispin Hall, scene of yesterday's blip), but Mrs Clark took exception to the cupola on the roof of the building, thinking it frivolous, so Skipper lost his job and the third terrace in the road was designed by Clark's nephew.

This afternoon's event was very well attended and it was really interesting to see the architecture of some beautiful old houses. Our house, at the other end of the High Street was built for the same reason at about the same time.