Rushden Research Group: Council Housing

Council Housing - Cromwell Court


A terrace of houses was demolished and Cromwell Court was built in 1967. The flats were refurbished about in the 1990s. Originally the area was open plan but now has a boundary wall and railings, with a roadway leading to a garage block.

The Rushden Echo, 2nd June 1967, transcribed by Jim Hollis

Cromwell Road

As work has progressed on these blocks of three and four-storey maisonettes in Cromwell Road, Rushden, criticism of their basic outward design has mounted. The maisonettes – there are thirty in all – are being built for Rushden Urban Council. When completed there will be six one-bedroomed flats suitable for couples, and the rest are three-bedroomed units, suitable for four people. There seems little doubt that the maisonettes have not been designed with an eye to making them beautiful and attractive from the outside. But as Mr. G. D. Evelyn, the council’s surveyor, pointed out, comments and criticism should be withheld until the scheme as a whole is completed.

Grass Areas

“There are still the grass areas and trees to be provided,” he said. Mr. Evelyn said the Ministry of Housing, particularly in recent months, had kept a tight control on how much local authorities could spend and the council had tried to spend money on the inside of the maisonettes.

“We have also tried to use maintenance-free materials. In fact, we are hoping that the only thing that will need painting will be the front door,” he said.

One of 4 blocks at Cromwell Court in January 2011

Northampton Chronicle & Echo, 21^st March 1986

Housing plans favoured

EAST Northamptonshire policymakers are expected to approve two new housing developments in Rushden.

A three-storey complex of 30 single-bedroomed flats is to be built on land in Cromwell Road.

The site is now used as a garage workshop and car sales area, but it is planned to build two three-storey blocks and a detached house.

A report to go before Wednesday's East Northamptonshire District Council planning committee says outlined planning permission for the scheme should be permitted, providing the developers follow building conditions set by the council.

A second, smaller project, to build 12 two-bed-roomed flats on land at Dayton Street, Rushden, looks set to get the green light from the planners.

An application for the three-storey building was turned down because councillors thought it would be too high, but after going back to the drawing board the developers have come up with a design likely to be approved.