Askew Road, St. Cuthbert's Village

Built 1967-71. Linked to Clasper Village of 1969-72. Houses here are brick cubes with projecting square bays of white painted weatherboarding. Back-to-back arrangement along pedestrian walks {1}. Built on the steep north-facing slopes of Windmill Hills, straddling Askew Road. Designed to be a self-contained village of 3500 people. Consisted of a maze of low to medium rise linking blocks with roof gardens on either side of Askew Road, linked by walkways and steps around open communal areas. There was to be a single 17 storey point block. It was intended to be a bold and pioneering showpiece development, opened with great ceremony by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1970. It cost £3,700,000. St. Cuthbert's village was never popular. The houses were occupied before any amenities were provided. The estate was intended for young people and couples but elderly people moved in instead. The innovative ceiling heating was inadequate and many homes were cold and damp. The village was demolished in the 1990s. Only the point block (St. Cuthbert's Court) and a concrete footbridge across Askew Road remain. Clasper Village, which was contemporary, was simpler. Old mine workings restricted the housing to two-and-a-half storeys each of 8 dwellings. Unlike St. Cuthbert's Village which had problems of vandalism, anti-social behaviour and neighbourly fueds caused by close-proximity living, Clasper Village was popular and remains well-maintained and attractive. Palmerston Walk comprises of four ground-floor flats with four maisonettes above. A housing development built at Sunderland Road in 1973 followed the linking-block design of Clasper Village {2}.