The garden village of
New Earswick was
formed by Joseph
Rowntree (1835-1925), the successful York businessman who built
up the cocoa and confectionery business which bore his name.
In 1901 his son Seebohm Rowntree published a study of the living
conditions of the working classes in York, entitled Poverty: a
study of town life. It revealed appalling statistics of dark,
overcrowded and insanitary housing.
Joseph Rowntree's conviction that it must be possible to provide
better housing for people on low incomes led him to acquire 150
acres of land near the village of Earswick, two and a half miles to
the north of the centre of York. The planner Raymond Unwin and the
architect Barry Parker were commissioned to produce an overall plan
for a new 'garden' village and the detailed designs for its first
houses. They were to go on to design the garden cities of
Letchworth and Welwyn. New Earswick was one of their first
opportunities to put their ideas into practice.
The building of New Earswick was an attempt to create a balanced
village community where, although rents were to be kept low, they
should still represent a modest commercial return on the capital
invested. Houses there were to be open to any working people, not
just Rowntree employees. The village was to be a demonstration of
good practice: if New Earswick was successful, Joseph hoped that
similar communities would be built elsewhere in the country.
At Joseph Rowntree's insistence, houses had gardens with fruit
trees and enough ground to grow vegetables. The Trust Deed of the
Joseph Rowntree Village Trust (which was set up in 1904 to build
and manage New Earswick) safeguarded generous open green space. All
the grass verges were planted with trees and almost all the roads
are named after trees. The village was built from the very ground
it stands on: the bricks were made in the brickworks on the
outskirts of New Earswick. From 1950 the brickyard, which closed
down in the 1930s, was developed into a nature reserve.
New Earswick continues to be a thriving community with a range
of facilities, projects and programmes for involving residents of
all ages.
Accomodation in New Earswick includes housing for families and
single people sheltered, housing and care for older people,
bungalows and studio flats. There are several ways of occupying
your home. Follow the links below for further information.