The makers of British towns: architects, builders and property owners, c.1850–1939

Abstract

This paper examines the individuals and bodies engaged in the development of British towns and cities between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century. Particular attention is given to the supplanting of local owners, architects and builders by external firms and the extent to which activity was concentrated among fewer firms over time. Previous findings are re-examined and synthesized, and the results of new research are presented. A major source of information is building applications submitted to local authorities. The most important changes took place in the two decades following the First World War. Having had a major role in the nineteenth century, especially as providers of capital, private individuals ceased to have a significant place in urban development by the 1930s, other than in their role as owner-occupiers and owners of potential development land. Responsibility for the establishment of institutional sites rested with a variety of individuals and organizations in the nineteenth century, but became much more concentrated in the hands of local authorities in the inter-war period. Significant numbers of non-local architects were engaged in the design of public buildings as early as the middle of the nineteenth century, but building work of all kinds was still being undertaken almost entirely by local builders even in the 1930s. The large-scale introduction of non-local architects in the inter-war years was related to the influx of non-local owners. On the whole, local influences declined sooner in towns close to major cities.