The Pittville Estate – ‘a scene of gorgeous magnificence’
material courtesy of the Friends of Pittville www.friendsofpittville.org
'.. we drove in a horse fly to visit Pittville in the suburbs of Cheltenham, a scene of gorgeous magnificence. Here a large estate has been divided into public gardens, and sprinkled with houses of every size, shape and character; ‑ Grecian temples, Italian villas, and citizen's boxes, so fresh and clean, you would imagine they were all blown out at once like soap bubbles'. Scottish Writer, Catherine Sinclair, writing in her journal, 1833.
Pittville in 2008 is still a special part of Cheltenham, retaining much of the original development and attracting residents and visitors alike. Its origins lie in its medicinal waters, as did the phenomenal growth of the town as a whole during the 19th century.
From the outset, Pittville was intended as an exclusive residential area.
What the newspapers said
‘several large houses …are now occupied by families of distinction'
5 April 1830, Cheltenham Journal
'already the numerous elegant villas and terraces which have been completed are inhabited by families of high rank'
26 March 1831, Cheltenham Chronicle
The attraction of Pittville for the many wealthy residents of Pitt’s day is clear. The estate was within easy reach of both the Pump Room and the town, yet sufficiently removed from the busy centre to provide the spacious and socially exclusive combination of town and country that so many sought – and still do.
Cheltenham’s growth in the 18th and 19th centuries
Medicinal waters were first discovered in 1716, and Cheltenham gradually became a popular resort for the gentry, especially after the visit of King George III in 1788. Five new spa wells, including that in Pittville, were in operation by 1834. Next to several of these were extensive tree-lined walks, rides and gardens.
With growing popularity, demand for building land increased in the late 18th and early 19th century. The land alongside the walks and rides was seen to provide ideal sites for houses to accommodate the seasonal visitors and wealthy residents. It was also seen as an excellent business venture by a certain Joseph Pitt.
Joseph Pitt 1759 – 1842 – lawyer and landowner
Joseph Pitt was born in Little Witcombe, Gloucestershire in 1759. He is said to have begun his career by 'holding gentlemen's horses for a penny; when, appearing a sharp lad, an attorney took a fancy to him and bred him to his own business'. He became an attorney himself around 1780 in Cirencester. He later invested the profits of his legal business in banking and in the purchase of land in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, including substantial property at Cheltenham. His earliest recorded purchases here were of several small tracts of land to the north-east of the town from July 1789 onwards and over the next thirty years he became the single largest landowner in Cheltenham. He sold his solicitor's practice in 1812 and was MP for Cricklade from that year until 1831.
The timing of Joseph Pitt’s decision to establish the new ‘Pittville’ spa and estate was influenced by both Cheltenham’s growth and by the national economic situation. Between 1801 and 1821, the recorded population of the town quadrupled to 13,388 and the number of spa visitors also increased, both of which fuelled the demand for building land and houses. The pace of building quickened still further after 1820, as the country as a whole experienced an economic and building 'boom' with apparently unlimited capital available for investment in building.
The Pittville Estate - a ‘new town’
The future site of Pittville lay partly within Cheltenham parish and partly within Prestbury. The divided and piecemeal pattern of ownership of the area precluded its development as building land. To overcome this, an Act of Parliament was obtained in 1801 whereby the Open Fields and other common lands on the north side of the town could be 'inclosed' into varying-sized allotments. These would then be 'awarded' to anyone who could prove ownership rights or other financial interests. A moving spirit behind the Act was undoubtedly Joseph Pitt, who was eventually to benefit from it more than any other individual.
Pitt's scheme was grandiose - for a whole new town, rather than an extension of Cheltenham. He envisaged an estate of approximately 100 acres, crossed by several miles of gravelled walks and rides, alongside which lots for between 500 and 600 houses were to be made available. These would accommodate both seasonal visitors to the new Pittville Spa and the wealthy people whom Pitt hoped would settle permanently at Pittville. The walks and rides would be planted with trees, and several 'ornamental pleasure grounds' would be created. This included a 'Long Garden' at the heart of the estate, between Evesham Road and Pittville Lawn, a residential crescent and two squares. There would be an ornamental lake, with a bridge across Wyman's Brook at each end, beyond which, reached by a promenade lined with shrubberies, was to stand the Pump Room itself.
Pittville Pump Room 1830
The designs for the general layout of the estate and for the impressive, columned Pittville Pump Room were entrusted to a local architect, John Forbes. Forbes had trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London and was working in Cheltenham by 1820. His proposed street layout is almost identical to that of today, although the density and arrangement of the houses is very different. His original plan was to provide a combination of villas and terraces, often alternating with one another.
The first medicinal well at Pittville was dug in 1822 and the Pittville Pump Room was completed and opened to the public in July 1830.
Estate design
Forbes' plans for the building lots were completed in July 1824. Each lot was to be offered freehold, subject to an annual rent charge, payable to Joseph Pitt. The purchaser had to agree to build to an elevation and external appearance approved and signed by Pitt himself and his architect and surveyor.
The internal layout of each house was solely the purchaser's concern, and it is not unusual to find adjoining houses with very different room-plans and each with an 'ornamental pleasure ground', fenced with iron railings, in a style once again to be approved by Pitt, and often in unity with the adjoining houses.
Other architects, in addition to Forbes, were appointed to design the houses on the Estate. One was Henry Merrett, employed from 1836. Those who bought villa lots could select an architect and style of their choice, as long as the estate surveyor approved the designs. This may have been to encourage prosperous individuals to build and settle at Pittville and, in fact, no two villas in Pittville are the same.
A thwarted dream
Building lots at Pittville were first offered for sale in September 1824, and were eagerly taken up. However, a national banking crisis and other circumstances beyond Pitt's control were soon to interrupt the Estate’s progress, and many of the buyers failed to complete their purchases. It is not known how much Joseph Pitt lost but his financial collapse also meant that some of the proposed buildings such as the church were never constructed and fewer houses were built than planned.
"Pittville 1824 - 1860 - a scene of gorgeous magnificence" by Dr Steven Blake
Publisher: Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museums (1988).
ISBN-10: 090515715X, ISBN-13: 978-0905157153