Silver End and Poundbury (the East and the South West)
Theme: Creating the perfect village from scratch
Silver End is the 20th century’s earliest example of a planned village and garden community in Essex. It was the brainchild of Francis Henry Crittall, the man behind the manufacturing giant Crittalls. An industrialist with a social conscience, he conceived of a workforce with access to a better quality of life with all the amenities of a village. The result was Silver End, revolutionary in having its own water supply, drainage, churches and cinema centred around one of the most evocative trademarks of the village – the green.
Poundbury is the latest attempt at the model urban village. Situated on the outskirts of Dorchester, it was conceived by Prince Charles in 1988. Poundbury was designed by Leon Krier with a plan featuring architecture of various materials and styles. All the key elements of the archetypal village have been incorporated into its design, but with an emphasis on 21st century living. Streets are narrow and many double as pedestrian paths. Most parking is in rear alleys. Everything has been done to create a pedestrian ‘experience’ which is surprising and charming with variations in street widths, textures, vistas and open spaces.
Poundbury raises the question of whether something that usually grows organically over hundreds of years can be created in a single generation.
