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| General Notes |
The Akroydon model housing scheme at Boothtown, Halifax, was designed in Gothic style by Scott in 1859 for the workers at Edward Akroyd's mills. Akroyd had bought the 62,435 acres of land in 1855.
The original plan to have dormer windows in the cottages was unacceptable to members of the Akroyd Town Building Association – on the grounds that they had the appearance of almshouses. Akroyd employed local architect – W. H. Crossland – under the supervision of Scott, to come up with an acceptable design.
The plan was for a quadrangular arrangement of 350 houses, but only 90 were actually built. The first 18 houses – Salisbury Place – were completed in August 1862.
The large central park was opened on 29th April 1876. The central Cross monument – a memorial to Edward Akroyd – was designed by Barber and is based on the Queen Eleanor Cross.
The Halifax Permanent Building Society provided the funds to help workers to buy their own home – see John Hartley.
Akroydon deliberately mixed the houses of the managers with those of the workers so that the better-off and better-educated could improve the education and behaviour of those lower down the social ladder.
The properties ranged from single cottages up to 5-bedroomed houses, and included premises for the local Co-operative Society. Some of the streets were named after Anglican cathedral cities: Beverley Terrace, Canterbury Crescent, Chester Street, Ripon Street, Salisbury Terrace, and York Terrace.
| Some sites, sights and other entries for Akroydon |
See Akroyd Memorial Cross and Akroydon Heritage Trail
Page Ref: MMA29
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