Ashtons
| Industry | Housebuilding |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1933 |
| Defunct | 1972 |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Persimmon plc |
| Headquarters | UK |
Norman C Ashton was a leading house builder in Yorkshire in the 1960s.
History
Norman Ashton started his Leeds-based housebuilding business in 1933, and it was incorporated in 1938 as Norman C Ashton Ltd. Following the outbreak of war in 1939, the Company was restricted to contracting for local authorities; it also established a motor repair business. [1] Private housebuilding resumed after the war and when Ashton was floated in 1964 it claimed to be one of the largest housebuilders operating in the West Riding. Growth was only modest thereafter and Ashton was acquired by Orme in 1972. [2]
The Company constructed many homes in the North of England during the 1960s and 1970s. Ashtons were one of several pioneers of the British three bed semi, a style of house used frequently from the 1940s until the 1970s, they also built many four and five bedroomed detached houses. Most Ashtons housing are built in close proximity with council housing; Holt Park in Leeds was a joint project between Ashtons and Leeds City Council. Ainsty in Wetherby is also a large mixed development with many Ashtons and Leeds City Council houses mixed in. Many places such as Holt Park, Wetherby, Knottingley, Mirfield and Washington consist of many Ashtons houses.[3]
Style of Building
Most Ashton houses were clad with pebble dash, although stone cladding, painted rendering and wooden cladding were also used. Ashton's design embraced the growing car ownership of the time, and thus very few Ashton houses were built without a garage. Also incorporated into the designs was the need for natural light, and Ashton homes (as well as other homes built in the same era) are advantageous in this respect, in that they were constructed with large windows - often floor to ceiling with a dividing frame at or below the centre (in the sitting rooms) and low window sills elsewhere (especially in the bedrooms). Many Ashton houses, in particular larger detached ones, were built with first floor dormer roofs that were wooden clad. While this saved space and undoubtedly cut costs, they were liable to leaking and penetrative damp, which became problematic as the houses aged. Nonetheless, flat felt roofs were used on a majority of houses constructed, with white softwood borders (and eves and soffits) under the top roof. Many of the dormer facias have since been refurbished using UPVC, while the windows to the side of the dormer, which were liable to leak as they caught water running from the roof, have been removed on most Ashton properties.
Controversies
The company was at the centre of a controversy concerning a covenant on one of their early developments in 1956. This resulted in the Bell v Norman C. Ashton Ltd (1956) P&CR 359 case which came before the Leeds Courts. Ashton had purchased land with a covenant that meant they could not build on it.[4]
Like most volume house builders, Ashtons had been criticised for the number of houses they had built. Ashtons often concentrated their projects in small areas throughout Yorkshire and the North East of England, meaning that many towns were transformed by these Ashtons estates which were all very similar. Some areas were previously small towns, however grew significantly since development by Ashtons. Since the expansion of Kellingley Colliery and Ferrybridge Power Station in the 1960s and 1970s, demand for housing in Knottingley grew significantly, Ashtons took on most of this work throughout this period. Demand for homes in Wetherby grew as it became a groing commuter town for Leeds, which was becoming an important commercial centre. Ashtons undertook most private development in Wetherby over this area. Ashtons also played a part in building the new town of Washington.
Popular culture
In the BBC Sitcom, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Bob Ferris and his wife Thelma purchase an Ashtons home in Newcastle upon Tyne. In the 1976 film The Likely Lads, Bob then lives in a larger detached Ashtons home. The home was used to portray the couples aspiring middle class suburban lifestyle, in reality this perception of the homes may not have been accurate, due to the fact most Ashtons houses were part of larger social housing projects.
Large Ashtons Estates
The following are large estates in which Ashtons housing made up a significant proportion.
- Ainsty Estate, Wetherby, West Yorkshire (in combination with Leeds City Council as well as later private developers)
- Holt Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire (in partnership with Leeds City Council)
- Otley, Leeds, West Yorkshire: the Cambridge and Newall areas of the town, although built in the 1960s, have much stock of a similar, if not identical, design to that in Holt Park (some differences can be seen, for example, in terms of use of cladding, window sizes and chimneys).