44 Monks Lane 45 - Newbury Town Council

At the far eastern end of Monks Lane is the campus of
Newbury College, built on part of what was Sandleford
Farm. Opposite the College, towards the corner of
Monks Lane and the Newtown Road, is an architecturally
interesting group of ex-local authority houses built in the
1930s. These homes with generous gardens are built in
6 groups of 4 and arranged in a shallow crescent with
their own service road. On the corner of this service
road is the so-called ‘Electric Garage’ (recently listed),
which was the first in the Town to have electric petrol
pumps. It is a compact building of pleasing proportions
roofed with green glazed tiles, with the roof extending
over the service area. Close by are a fish and chip shop,
Chinese take away, general store and an electrical repair
shop at the top of the Newtown Road. The Retail Park
and Tesco Supermarket are just across the A339 in
Pinchington Lane.
MONKS LANE
NEWBURY COLLEGE
Monks Lane
THE ELECTRIC GARAGE
recommended
design
guidelines
This forms the southern boundary of the urban area of
Newbury and only has houses along the northern side
The key characteristics of the Monks Lane
for most of its length. A field hedgerow was planted on
neighbourhood are:
the south side in the 1980s. The housing comprises, for
most part at the eastern end, of individually designed
an edge of town road with full residential development on
detached houses with long back gardens, built in the
the north side and with Newbury College, a modern
1930s and 1940s, with some later infilling with smaller
Doctor’s Surgery and the Rugby Club on the south side
homes. Further along is a development of 24 individual
houses at Heather Gardens, built in 2000 on parts of the
despite these urban influences the area has a semi rural
gardens of five houses in Tydehams. Here there is a
character with native hedging on the south boundary and
unique house built as an exercise in energy conservation
with open countryside and many mature trees beyond
and eco-friendliness. A charming Victorian semidetached cottage, (one of a pair separated by about half
detached properties, mainly of individual design set in
a mile) of red brick with a distinctive grey band adds to
well established gardens continuing the ‘garden suburbs’
the eclectic mixture. A modern house next to it, built in a
of the Andover Road
similar style, blends in successfully. Newbury Rugby
Club’s extensive grounds and a modern Medical Group
the possibilities for the enhancement of the setting of the
Practice are on the opposite side of the road.
area around the junction of Monks Lane and Newtown
Road.
HEATHER GARDENS - INFILL
The following principles are suggested:
Any future development should conserve the semi-rural
character of Monks Lane.
Any future development should conserve the character,
setting and symmetry of the 1930s homes at the eastern
end of Monks Lane.
Where possible, opportunities should be taken to
enhance the setting around the junction of Monks Lane
and Newtown Road to reflect its role as a gateway into
the Town from the south.
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