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Old 15-07-2012, 09:11 AM
Digvul Digvul is offline
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Default Radcliffe street patterns

I've always been intrigued by the street pattern in Radcliffe. Most pit villages had parallel rows of houses near the pit – think of East Chevington Drift and Ashington for example, and I believe, some were built in squares. But the street pattern in Radcliffe seems to have been almost random and Long Row was bent in the middle. The older streets, Long Row, Cross Row and Burn Row almost formed three parts of a square - but it's a distorted square and Stable Row doesn't fit into any sort of pattern. The later streets, Leslie Row, Centre Row and the two Dandsfields, at first glance, seem to have been just plonked down anywhere.

Does anyone have a theory about this?

My only thoughts are that it must have been something to do with the lie of the land, but I don't know how this worked. Perhaps the newer houses were situated to avoid pit falls (areas of subsidence) but I just don't know.

I'd be interested in any theories.
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Old 17-07-2012, 11:46 AM
janwhin janwhin is offline
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[QUOTE=Digvul;945]I've always been intrigued by the street pattern in Radcliffe. Most pit villages had parallel rows of houses near the pit

This is pure speculation but maybe it has something to do with the way Radcliffe grew. From what I can gather, when Radcliffe was first really opened up, about 1837, there was a development immediately round the pit. The newspapers were talking about colliery shops and a number of cottages being built (Stable Row?) Then there were adverts for the building of 30 cottages (1839), perhaps the first leg of Long Row? This would support the early name of the village as Radcliffe Terrace. By 1871 census, Long Row (34 properties), Burn Row (6), Cross Row (14) were up. There then seems to have been more building between 1871 and 1881 on to the existing rows. 1900 there were adverts for the building of 120 new dwellings, presumably Dandsfield and Leslie? Maybe the fact that the rows were back to back housing developments led to the square formation.
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Old 17-07-2012, 01:34 PM
Digvul Digvul is offline
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Thanks for that.
I had it in my head that Long Row, Cross Row, Burn Row and Stable Row were built all at once in the late 1830s and early 1840s. I was beginning to realise this was probably not true when I counted the number of people in Radcliffe in the 1841 census. I made it 289, not enough to fill all the houses I've mentioned. I remember the houses in Newburgh Row were a different design from both the old back to backs and the newer streets such as Leslie Row. I'm assuming they were built in about 1880/1890. Have you got a more precise date?

I've just looked through the 1901 census and all the streets I remember from my childhood are mentioned. Those are:
Long Row (north and south) Cross Row (east and west) Burn Row (which was demolished before my time) Newburgh Row, Centre Row, Leslie Row, Stable Row, Dansfield Place (64 houses therefore both Dandsfields) and Longstaff buildings which I assume were along the main road.
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Old 17-07-2012, 05:15 PM
janwhin janwhin is offline
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The date for building of Dandsfield etc I can only pin to the newspaper article for the building of 120 houses which is in July 1900, and of course they were occupied by the 1901 census.

I don't know whether you've spotted the map of Radcliffe in an earlier post by Coquet? We also had a debate about Burn Row which seemed to disappear, the view was that these were perhaps the bigger houses incorporated into the east end of Newburgh.

As for Longstaff Buildings, these aren't named on the map, so maybe they went up between 1901 and 1911?
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Old 17-07-2012, 10:29 PM
Digvul Digvul is offline
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I have seen the 1921 map on this forum and the read the posts about Burn Row. Fascinating stuff. I have to say that I'd never heard of Burn Row until I started to have a look at Radcliffe's history in recent years. I remember some house foundations at the bottom of Cross Row and I thought that must be it but on reflection they were not in the right place, I think what I remember was probably a part of Cross Row that had been demolished. The houses you mention at the end of Newburgh Row, I believe were Burn Row, there are the right number and they are back to back houses. But I don't remember any back to back houses at the end of Newburgh Row. (My memories begin at the beginning of the 1950s.) I have a 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of Radcliffe (I think 1860s) which shows what I believe was Burn Row before Newburgh was built. Unfortunately I can't put this on the forum as I filched it from a pay site (http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html) by a bit of digital jiggery pokery, and there must be copyright restrictions.

About Longstaff's buildings. I have vague memories of some houses along the west side of the main road which I connect with the name Longstaff, I don't know why and my memories are very vague. Charlie Nyberg had his barber and newsagent business at the end of these houses before he had his original shop and house rebuilt. I'm afraid all this is very vague. I have had little connection with anyone from Radcliffe since the village was demolished. That is until I came across this forum.
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Old 18-07-2012, 11:21 AM
janwhin janwhin is offline
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My memories of Radcliffe are very vague, as we never lived there. I do remember in the late 1950s going to visit a friend's grandmother in Dandsfield. She must have lived towards the bottom as I recall playing on the remains of the old pit heap across the road.
My dad was the picket leader in Radcliffe in early 1972, during the national miners strike. The picket post was in the Chapel and their intention was to stop opencast traffic crossing their line.
I wonder if Newburgh Tce was built when the shaft was sunk at that end, I think about 1892?
The census is frustrating as in 1891 it just refers to Radcliffe Terrace, by 1901 Longstaff's Buildings are mentioned. The founder of the bus company lived there, first as a pitman and later as a carter. He died at Grange House, Radcliffe. Maybe the naming has something to do with that family? Questions, questions......if only we'd asked when people and Radcliffe were still alive
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