Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition of 1906

Did you know, that Cleveleys just missed out on being the first ‘Garden Town’? The idea for the Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition of 1906 began in 1904, before Letchworth. But sadly they got going first…

Nonetheless, in 1906 this exhibition launched, aimed to put Cleveleys on the map. This attraction showed the very best in house building methods, appliances and technology. Possibly the ‘World’s First Ideal Home Exhibition’.

Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition of 1906

Local architect and land owner Thomas Gallon-Lumb decided that he wanted to draw attention to Cleveleys. At the time, Blackpool was getting all the limelight.

He allocated some land and asked around 30 builders to build the very best in current house building technologies. They were to fit them out with the latest gadgets and appliances and display them in a “Garden City” environment. Sold off at the end of the Exhibition they all survive to this day, now merged into the leafy suburbs of Cleveleys.

What (and where) was the Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition?

This was a three month display ‘designed to encourage and display the latest ideas in house design and construction’. Visiting members of the public were offered latest ideas in designing, constructing, equipping and furnishing a house in the early twentieth century.

More than a short term exhibition, each was designed to be sold and occupied when the event drew to a close. One of the conditions of the competition was that the designers/builders should be able to build more like them at the same prices.

In total, 44 properties were built, in a mixture of styles. At the Rossall Road site entrance were an office, exhibition buildings and a tea rooms.

If you know where to look, a lot of it is still visible today. The entrance was from the tram stop end of West Drive. Including houses on Stockdove Way and Whiteside Way.

A Popular Event

Opened on 21 July 1906, the Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition is a very popular event, drawing quite a crowd!

Tour the Site Today

There’s no substitute for a walk around the site with a knowledgeable guide to bring the past to life!

Each year, Dave Evans conducts walking tours for Heritage Open Days, held nationally in September. You need to book your place in advance

At the tour you’ll get a chance to buy your own copy of this popular reproduction booklet ‘Interesting notes on the Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition’.

Thanks to Dave Hutchinson for the information in this article.

More about the Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition of 1906

Billed as being about halfway between Blackpool and Fleetwood, the site of the Exhibition was originally land of the Fleetwood Estate.

The article printed by the Gazette-News (Blackpool) on Friday 20 July 1906 extols the virtues of the site. ‘Doubly blessed’ it is of course near to the sea and beach, but is also ‘in the midst of the country air of the pastoral Fylde’.

The Cottages are described as being ‘pleasant to the eye’ above ground, but with ‘attention paid to things that make for perfect sanitation of the place’.

Our homes are where we spend most of our lives… [if badly built and designed] the result is going to be prejudicial to the nation’s health

Cleveleys cottage exhibition

All mod cons…

The water supply is of the purest quality, being that which is jointly controlled by Blackpool, Fleetwood, Lytham and St Annes.

The use of gas to light is expected shortly, for the Local Authority are engaged on a scheme of supply.

Post and telegraphic services are centred at Cleveleys, with a sub-post office on the ground and post boxes attached to the Blackpool-Fleetwood tramcars.

There is a telephone office near to the Exhibition.

The brochure goes on to talk about the provision of schooling and social life. With golf links, tennis and bowling nearby. And plenty of churches, of course.

Exhibition of Household Living

Organisers of this exhibition learned from the mistakes previously made at Letchworth Garden City.

At Letchworth the exhibit houses had been listed as being built for a low price which couldn’t be matched when people tried to replicate it elsewhere. One of the conditions of our exhibition was:

“They must, before the opening of the Exhibition, declare the price (including the builders’ profit) at which, under similar conditions, they will be prepared to duplicate their exhibits”

The latest means of equipping and furnishing a house were shown not just in the Cleveleys cottages but also in the special exhibition pavilions.

A resort of pleasure & instruction.
An object lesson in Building.
How to make the home beautiful.

Cottage Exhibition Cleveleys, plan of exhibits

Designers and builders also competed to win each of the four classes of residence.

• The best and most economical detached cottage
• best and most economical pair of cottages
• Detached cottage to cost no more than £180 and built in accordance with bye-laws
• Pair of cottages to cost no more than £350 and built in accordance with bye-laws
• Plus two addition prizes for the best laid out garden.

The judging committee was made up of people who are authorities in their special departments. Including members of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Institute of Builders and the National Housing Reform Council.

Anything to add?

Do you live in one of the Cleveleys Cottage Exhibition buildings? One of the original ones, or one of the ‘duplicates’ built around the time?

Have you got any old photographs that you’d like to add to this article?

We’d love to see the original ‘well illustrated catalogue’ published by Messrs. Collins and Kingston of Manchester.

Please get in touch and we’ll add what you know to this article. Just email jane@theRabbitPatch.co.uk. Full credit will be given, as always.