Elm Park Court: American style decorative architecture

This large oriental style gate forms the main entrance to the secluded world of the Elm Park Court. Behind it one catches a glimpse of the large apartment blocks that make up this Garden Court (or Gartenhof).

The side entrance (right) is located on West End Lane and consists of a small version of the large oriental gate on the main entrance. Behind it a path leads along courtyard gardens and garages. The design of the backside of the apartment blocks (left) is consistent with the front facades, but less ornamental and more practical. Only look at the downpipes in the striking green colour.

The three linked apartment blocks are arranged around one large park like courtyard garden, that is now dominated by a large car park. On the sides there are still large expanses of lawn with trees. The development was aimed at car users (something that was fast developing in the 1930s), hence the lockup garages behind the apartment blocks. A central parking lot that emphasizes the central axis seems to go beyond what was aimed for here.

The windows are all executed in metal painted in a bottle green colour. The same colour is used to pick up building details, for instance the supports of the balconies. The chimneys form part of the overall design. They have a distinct  cubist shape. Also note the black trim at the foot of the white facade. The balconies provide rhythm and add a secondary shapely element with their distinct design. The windows on each storey have been delicately emphasized by a thin protruding band in the facade.

The apartment blocks cradle the central courtyard and also maximize the use of the available space for dwellings with their kinked outline. This way the complex

The entrances have been emphasized by extending the black bottom trim as a door surround and by the long windows that cut through the dominant horizontal lines of the architecture by adding a distinct vertical line. Small covered alleyways link up the courtyard gardens on either side of the apartment buildings.

These oriental gates link the apartment blocks forming a large secluded residential complex. These gates that link the back block to the two side blocks create an enormous sense of depth. At the far end one can see one of the garages that are located on the edges of this Gartenhof.

There is great consistency in the design. The whole feel is thoroughly modern, airy and light. The introduction of an oriental style element sets this complex in Pinner apart from similar continental projects in de cubist modernist style. Ornament is added similar to the American Decorative architecture and doesn't merely rely on constructive elements such as windows, railings, doorframes, facades and so on.

Pinner Court is very similar in appearance to Elm Park Court. These two L-shaped apartment blocks are set back from the road. The less ornate buildings are surrounded by private park-like gardens.

These details show that Pinner Court is much more akin to continental modernism than Elm Park Court. Especially the treatment of windows and balconies is very reminiscent New Objective architecture. The hipped roofs and ornamental chimneys connect this complex to the decorative tradition so well expressed by Elm Park Court.

Capel Gardens adjacent to Pinner Court is a similar project, but with a more open structure of 4 apartment blocks. The architecture is equal to that of Pinner Court. The decorative entrances with their half-hipped roofs are clearly visible in this picture. 

Elm Park Court, Pinner

Pinner, formerly a small town in Middlesex, was changed beyond recognition after the arrival of the railways, especially the Metropolitan Railway. In 1880 the railway was driven through the middle of the medieval town centre and a station was erected. It remained a rural halt until 1900 when the Metropolitan Railway Company started building houses on the grounds of the former Rugby House Estate. The growth of Pinner as part of Metro-land didn't kick off until after the Great War. Like most parts of Metro-land the town expanded rapidly between 1923 and '39. Most of these houses built, were the semidetached Mock Tudor buildings that dominate the Middlesex-suburbs. Three housing projects consisting of up-market apartments in their own grounds stand out. These are the Pinner Garden Courts: Pinner Court, Capel Gardens and Elm Park Court.

The first two are located near Pinner New Cemetery. Elm Park Court is located on Elm Park Road between Pinner town and Pinner Green. This complex reminiscent of the German and Austrian Gartenhof comprises of three apartment blocks linked by elaborate gates and lockup garages in the same style. All three complexes are characterized by white rendered walls, hipped roofs with wide eaves, metal windows in bottle green and green glazed roof tiles. Of the three Elm Park Court has the most elaborate design. This complex was designed by H.V. Webb around 1936 with eye-catching balconies and entrances and three gates modeled on Japanese style Moon gates. The hipped roofs are also reminiscent of pagodas and tea houses.  

The Elm Park Court is clearly inspired by modernist Austrian Garden Courts. It consists of three linked buildings with courtyard gardens and garages as part of the complex. The main entrance is on Elm Park Road, with a back entrance on West End Lane. Both have gates in an oriental style. On Hazeldene Drive a service entrance with more garages is located. The building on the street is very different from the complex and seems a later addition, or it has been seriously altered.

The secluded inner world of this Garden Court combined with the oriental design esthetic sets it apart from the other examples in Pinner. The style is often described as Art Deco. It is very much American Decorative Architecture and not so much Art Deco as this is understood in continental Europe. There it is an eclectic style that is basically modernist, combining expressionism, cubism, functionalism and geometric constructivism. The design esthetic within Art Deco differs greatly, but is always a reaction to the organic ornamentation of Austro-German Jugendstil and Franco-Belgian Art Nouveau. The name is derived from the 1925 World Exhibition in Paris named: Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (international exposition of modern industrial and decorative art). In architecture Art Deco is mostly incorporated into other styles, except for the Anglo-Saxon countries where all veins of modernist architecture of the 1920s and 30s -especially the kind that doesn't shy away from decorative elements- are lumped under "deco". In continental Europe the distinctive style of Elm Park Court would be called expressionist architecture.

Elm Park Court is in essence a glamorous Hollywood dream of  a secluded and private life in exotic luxury. And what a magnificent dream it is! The whole complex is listed. The same goes for the Garden Court complexes of Pinner Court and Capel Gardens.

Suburban Southgate

Southgate takes its name from  the southern gate of the Enfield Chase that once stood here. Enfield Chase was first recorded as Enefeld Chacee* in 1325, and comprised of a vast tract of land used for breeding and hunting wild animals. In the reign of Henry II the parish of Edmonton and adjoining parishes were largely covered with forest reaching as far south as the City of London. Enfield Chase was part of this forest and also belonged to the citizens of London. By 1154 what had been known as Enfield Wood or the Park of Enfield had been converted into a hunting ground. This hunting ground was at first not enclosed, but was imparked during the twelfth century. The enclosure had several gates, such as White Webb Gate, Clay Hill Gate, Hook Gate, Cattle Gate, West Gate etcetera.  Within the Chase stood four Lodges: South Lodge, North Lodge, West Lodge and East Lodge. Originally these were hunting lodges.

The area was originally very heavily wooded. In the 16th century most of the area still consisted of oak coppice woods which were heavily exploited. The main products were firewood, charcoal and oak bark which was sold for use in tanning. An Act of Parliament of 1777 resulted in the enclosure of Enfield Chase and lead to it being divided up into several "parks", the largest of which was the King's Park now known as Trent Park. The lodges were also separated off. Other parks were: Oak Wood Park (south), White Webb's Park, Hill Park  (east) and several farms.

Southgate originally a tiny hamlet which grew up in the north west corner of Edmonton parish along the southern boundary of Enfield Chase around 12 miles north of the centre of London, was little more than a street and a small green that lay enclosed by large estates such as Grovelands, Minchenden, Broomfields and Arnos Grove. Along the High Street and the Green we would have found many historic buildings, such as the Cherry Tree Inn, Croft Cottage, Holcombe House, Southgate House, Minchenden House, Essex House, Arnholt Wood House, Beaver Hall, Arnolds Grove, Arnoside Cottage, Minchenden Lodge, Ash Lodge, Norbury House, Sandford House, Cannon House, The Coach House and the Hermitage. The land owners preferred to keep Southgate rural in order to protect their amenities.

Rural Southgate consisted of landed estates that were often wooded and hilly. These estates were drained by natural and dug brooks and watercourses. The actual Southgate (S) stood on the edge of the Enfield Chase, with Chase Side and the High Street (H) running of it towards the Green. Around the Chase lay some hamlets. Large tracts of it were also wooded (mostly copse). In the Chase four hunting lodges were built: South Lodge (L), East Lodge, West Lodge and North Lodge.

The first attempt at suburban development in Southgate dates from 1853. A large tract of land between Chase Side and Chase Road was sold for building. Streets were laid out and some workmen's cottages were erected, along with a few larger houses bordering the former Chase. The builders had great difficulty in finding tenants for the houses however. This all changed with the coming of the railways. For the suburban development of Southgate two railway lines and the extension of the Picadilly Line to Cockfosters are of great importance.

In 1850 the mainline of the Great Northern Railway opened its first route between Kings Cross and Peterborough. At the same time a station was opened for the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum that was being built in Friern Barnet. This station is now called New Southgate. Subsequent stations opened at Oakleigh Park (1866) and Barnet (1850). In 1865 the Great Northern Railway obtained permission to build a new line to run from Wood Green to Hertford through Palmers Green and Enfield. However, in 1869 financial constraints forced the company to consider Enfield as the northern terminus. This branch opened in 1871. It was later extended via Hertford to Steveange where it joins the main line. Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill were to be the intervening rural stations.

The first wave of suburbanisation is linked to the railways. These railway lines stayed well clear of the Enfield Chase and most of the adjacent estates and cut through farmland and common fields alike.

Foreseeing the coming urbanisation the Southgate Bourough Council acquired tracts of land from estates that were being sold to convert to parks and sporting grounds. Development started around Palmers Green where Broomfield Park, Old Park, Clappers Green Farm Bowes Park and Hazelwood Park were divided into plots and built over. Later the Lodge Estate, Huxley Estate, Southgate House Estate and Grovelands Park were divided up en developed for housing. The stations at Colney Hatch and Oakleigh Park lead to the deveolpment of New Southgate, Hollickwood Estate, Halliwick Estate, White House Estate and Oakleigh Park. Southgate Council also planted the park reserves or developed them into public parks from the existing former estate grounds. Thus Grovelands Park (1913), Arnos Park (1928) and Oakwood Park (1927)  were developed as open green space to counter the spread of suburban housing.

Innovations in public transport were largely responsible for the obliteration of rural Southgate. Development remained slow for as long as Southgate was fairly remote from public transport. This changed dramatically when in 1930 Parliament sanctioned an extension of the Piccadilly Line north of Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. Trains reached Arnos Grave in 1932 and Cockfosters in July 1933. The effect of the new railway line was spectacular, as builders quickly moved in and the remaining estates were developed for housing. Streets soon covered Arnos Grove, Grovelands and Oakwood Park estates. The Cockfosters extension also lead to rapid suburbanisation in neigbouring East Barnet, Freiern Barnet and at the terminus.

 The decisive factor in suburbanisation of the Southgate area was the coming of the Picadilly Line extension to Cockfosters. This line cut through the former Chase and made the large estates accessible and thus attractive for house building. 

Another important improvements in transport facilities came in the form of the North Circular Road. This ring road was planned as early as 1912, but became delayed by World War I. The road had been completed through New Southgate by 1929 and consisted of widened sections of existing roads and new sections linking these. The new route quickly became a main traffic artery linking the various suburban developments.

* the word chase stems from the French chasser (to pursue or hunt down an animal)

Arnos Grove, a 1930s Picadilly line suburb

On the northside of Arnos Park a large formal gate marks the entrance from the housing estate. In front of this formal entrance a large circus is situated as a starting point for the central axis of the housing estate: a street called 'Arnos Grove'.

Arnos Park is dominated by oak trees (Quercus robur). The grove that gave its name to the landed estate and subsequently the present housing estate, still survives -but only as a fragment- in the shape of some of these old oaks. It's clear that the older specimens were once coppiced (as was the practice). They have been left to grow freely within the park. This makes for picturesque stands, but greatly diminishes the potential age of the  trees. A plaque on the formal entrance commemorates the foundation of Arnos Park by the Borough of Southgate in 1928.

The park is mainly laid in grass, with planting on the edges. This creates a natural idyll in the middle of the suburban environment. The paths don't follow conventions in park design of the interbellum. This is probably due to alterations in the 1960s or '70s.

The large expanse of grass at the heart of the park creates a great sense of space and locks out the urban environment beyond the green trim of trees. Pymme's Brook runs through the park. This watercourse is large hidden behind trees and shrubbery. Only where one crosses the brook via a bridge does the water present itself. The water has not been maximised in the design of the park.

The large circus at the beginning of the northernmost part of the Arnos Grove estate is planted with trees in grass. The short terraces around is have been placed at an 45° angle thus emphasising the circular shape. The area serves as an extension of the neighbouring park, thus linking the suburban housing directly to the verdant idyll beyond.

The houses have been built in a limited number of types, with varying decor but always with a bay on the front. Here the decor is muted with a brick base and a pebbledashed upper floor in a neutral earth tone combined with a band of hung tiles. Most houses are in a white colour however. In the original design large expanses of grass planted with trees enforce the suburban character of the housing estate.

All the roads were designed with these green verges planted with trees, Here the verges are laid in grass and have been planted with birch trees. The houses form a seemingly continues facade on either side of the street. The houses are predominantly semidetached, but are all close together and often connected by garages and side extensions.

On first glance the buildings all look the same. They are not, but they are very similar indeed. Variation is achieved by using different roof shapes, differently shaped bays (round, angular and square), varying finishes and building details such as porches, feature windows, a secondary bay window and treatment of the corners and eaves.

The ideal of country living was expressed in the spacious front gardens and the planted verges. In this case the verges have been planted with shrubs and hawthorn trees. As everywhere in the London suburbs many gardens have been paved or concreted over to provide parking space. This street shows a glimpse of the original intensions.

In some places the 1930's houses have been replaced by post-war buildings in a sympathetic style, but with less detailed architecture. The colour of the bricks used is much more yellow or more orange than in the original building. The buildings do stand out but not in a very intrusive way.

Along Morton Way for instance all the buildings towards Waterfall Road are of a later date. Because the same spatial configuration was used with large front garden, these building seamlessly blend in to the older parts of the Arnos Grove estate.