Did you know that the site between the Finchley Road and Marlborough Hill purchased for Kynaston and Quintin Schools in 1955 may not have been available if a grand development had gone ahead over 150 years earlier?
Read this fascinating article about how the Eyre family (whose land, part of The Eyre Estate, was purchased for our schools) were involved in an innovative development for what would have been a luxury housing ‘circus’ and park. The scheme would have been the world’s first garden suburb, with 36 detached and 66 semi-detached houses standing in large gardens and a central ‘pleasure ground’ for the use of residents – all very different from the standard rows of terraced housing that are redolent of the Georgian and early Victorian eras.
Due to wars the plans were continually suspended. When work finally began on the St John’s Wood estate in 1809, it was along less radical lines. The only nod to the scheme is the existence of Circus Road, which can be found between St John’s Wood tube station and Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Can you imagine the cost of these houses today should they exist!
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