Ernest Trobridge – Kingsbury’s Extraordinary Architect: Kingsbury Library, Tuesday 28 March

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant

Title slide from the talk.

 

Back in February 2020, I wrote about an exhibition of this name which had opened at Kingsbury Library. I was meant to give a talk in conjunction with that display, but then Covid happened! Three years later, and I’m finally able to resume giving free local history talks for Brent Libraries, and at last local residents will have the chance to see my illustrated presentation about Ernest Trobridge, and his remarkable legacy of architectural designs.

 

3 & 5 Buck Lane, Kingsbury.

 

Who else would have thought the answer to providing comfortable and affordable “homes for heroes” after the First World War was to construct them of local timber, and give them thatched roofs? Trobridge didn’t just think it, he developed and patented a method of doing so, and built them.

 

Then, in the 1930s, he took the idea that “an Englishman’s home is his castle” to new dimensions. But as well as helping the occupants of his castle flats to feel protected, he gave them comfortable homes with a variety of convenient features. The central turret of this “castle”, at the corner of Buck Lane and Highfield Avenue, conceals the chimneys from bedroom fireplaces, while the battlements to either side are part of the deckchair cupboards on their roof gardens!

 

The front entrance to the upstairs flats at Highfort Court, Kingsbury.

 

My talk will take place at a Kingsbury Library Coffee Morning, on Tuesday 28 March from 11am to 12noon. This is a free event, but if you would like to attend, Brent Culture Service ask you to book on their Eventbrite page for “Ernest Trobridge – Kingsbury’s Extraordinary Architect” (I think this is so that they know how many people they need to provide coffee, or tea, and biscuits for!)

 

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this talk with local residents for more than three years (although I have been lucky enough to have had some extra pictures from 100 years ago shared with me in the meantime, which have found their way into the 2023 version). If you are interested in discovering more about the man behind Kingsbury’s cottages and castles, I look forward to you joining me for the talk on 28 March.

 

Philip Grant.

Ernest Trobridge exhibition now online

 A guest post by local historian Philip Grant

 

 

Ernest Trobridge (as depicted on a 1990s pub sign!)

 

Back in February, I was hoping that many people would be able to enjoy a small exhibition at Kingsbury Library, which I had put together with Brent Museum: Ernest Trobridge – Kingsbury’s Extraordinary Architect.

 

The Ernest Trobridge display at Kingsbury Library, February 2020.

 

Unfortunately, with all of the Covid-19 restrictions this year, and the library closed for around four months, then only open on a very limited basis, access to the exhibition was often not possible. Even though Brent Museum kept the display in place until earlier this month, local people, and the visitors we hoped to attract through London Borough of Culture 2020, will not have had the opportunity to discover this architect’s remarkable work, and the ideas behind it.

 

Although disappointed that many people will have missed the actual display, we have now put all of the information, illustrations and exhibits from it together in a documentary record of the exhibition, which you can read at your leisure by “clicking” on the link. Here are a couple of the images from it, reflecting the story behind Trobridge’s first estate of thatched timber homes, built on a field at the corner of Kingsbury Road and Slough Lane 100 years ago.

 

A leaflet Trobridge wrote for his show house at the 1920 Ideal Home Exhibition.

 

Model of a Trobridge thatched timber cottage built in Kingsbury.

 

I still hope to give the illustrated talk, which was planned to take place at Kingsbury Library in June 2020, in conjunction with the exhibition, at some time during 2021. Illustrated colour versions of the four Trobridge self-guided walk leaflets produced for the exhibition, and other published material about Ernest Trobridge, can be found in the “Buildings and Architecture” section of the online Brent Archives local history documents collection.

 

The amazing and beautifully designed homes that Ernest Trobridge produced in Kingsbury, and beyond, in the 1920s and 1930s, have been a source of joy and inspiration for me over the years, which is why I try to share my enthusiasm for them with others. I hope that you will take the chance to enjoy them too.

 

Philip Grant.

Take a Trobridge Walk in Kingsbury

Sketch map for Trobridge Walk No.4

Guest post by Philip Grant

The weather is fine and you’re feeling well, so no need to self isolate. But sports events are cancelled, mass gatherings are banned, and you’re fed up with watching repeats on TV or bingeing on box sets. You still want to follow the sensible social distancing advice, but you also want to be outside and getting some exercise. Why not take a Trobridge Walk?

You remember that there was a blog last month about an exhibition at Kingsbury Library, celebrating the life and work of the architect Ernest Trobridge LINK . It said that you could pick up free self-guided walk leaflets, so that you could go out and enjoy some of Trobridge’s beautiful designs for yourself. 

GOOD NEWS! You don’t even have to go to the library to get hold of the leaflets. Information about the exhibition is now on the Brent2020 website, and this includes “deluxe” illustrated versions of the walks LINK . You will need to scroll down the information page, but there you will find pdf documents for each of the four self-guided Trobridge walks, which you can download to use at any time convenient to you.

You can get to the start of each of the walks by bus (follow the health advice to keep at least one metre away from other passengers), if you don’t live close enough to get there on foot. Walks 1 and 4 are fairly level, while walks 2 and 3 involve some steeper hills. The choices are:

1.     Thatched timber cottages – from Kingsbury Road (buses 183, 204, 302, 324)

2.    Cottages to castles – up Buck Lane, from Hay Lane (buses 204 or 324)

3.    The “castle” blocks of flats – from Kingsbury Green (buses 83, 183, 302)

4.    Old St Andrew’s Mansions – from Blackbird Hill (buses 182, 245, 297, 302)

The Trobridge family at “Hayland” in the 1920s (courtesy of Brent Archives)

Trobridge Walk No.1 will introduce you to the architect’s first two estates of thatched timber homes, including the FernDene Estate which he began in 1920. One of these houses, “Hayland”, is where Ernest and Jennie Trobridge lived with their family from 1921. Trobridge died in 1942, aged just 58 (he was a diabetic and refused to take insulin, then produced as a by-product from slaughtered cattle, because of his strict vegetarian principles), but “Hayland” is still owned by one of his grandchildren.

You can also pass “Hayland” on the way back from walks 2 and 3. But remember that all of the Trobridge designed buildings you will see on the walks are peoples’ homes, so please respect their privacy.

“Hayland” from the corner of Roe Green Park in 2018

Even though there are no thatched cottages on Trobridge Walk No.4, there are still some amazing design features in his 1930s maisonettes at Old St Andrew’s Mansions. There are also links from this pdf to other local history articles on the Brent Archives website, about Blackbird Farm and St Andrew’s Old Church (after which this development was named).

6 & 7 Old St Andrew’s Mansions, Old Church Lane

I hope you will welcome the opportunity these walks offer, to discover some of the interesting buildings that the north of Brent has, and find out more about the story behind them. There will be views you’ll want to take photos of with your ‘phone or camera. Share these with your friends on Instagram or other social media, and encourage them to take a Trobridge Walk!

Philip Grant

Celebrating the architecture of Ernest Trobridge in Kingsbury

Many thanks to Philip Grant for this fascinating Guest Post

In February 1920, Ernest Trobridge displayed his design for a “home fit for heroes” as a show house at the Ideal Home Exhibition. In a leaflet he claimed that ‘this type of house is the most progressive step yet made towards meeting the present urgent demand for houses.’ It would provide ‘maximum convenience, comfort, and life of structure; minimum expenditure of costs and time for erection.’ LINK  Trobridge’s new design of house would be made from green elm wood, with a thatched roof! 

Trobridge’s planned Ferndene Estate, from his February 1920 leaflet. [Source: Brent Archives]

Trobridge had moved to Kingsbury in 1915, and developed his ideas while growing food on a smallholding in Hay Lane, to feed his vegetarian family during the First World War. He had already bought a small field, at the corner of Kingsbury Road and Slough Lane, ready to build his houses. Some of them are still there today, as Grade II listed buildings. The centenary of his Ferndene Estate, coinciding with Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture, seemed an ideal time to celebrate this architect’s remarkable work.

Ernest Trobridge had strong New Church beliefs, and could probably be described as a Christian Socialist. He wanted to provide beautiful and comfortable homes that ordinary people could afford. He planned for some of the homes to be sold to ex-servicemen and their families, and employed and trained disabled ex-servicemen to use the construction method he had developed and patented. He always paid his workers at trade union rates.

 

The certificate awarded to Ernest Trobridge  for employing disabled ex-servicemen.
                                                                         [Source: Brent Archives]      

Unfortunately, Trobridge’s plans for the Ferndene Estate did not go smoothly. The field he bought had been the paddock of a Victorian mansion, and there was opposition from the owners of neighbouring mansions to the style and density of the homes he wanted to build:

  

 ‘I do not consider that the type of cottage proposed is at all in keeping with the character of the neighbourhood. On the contrary, the value of my property would be seriously depreciated if cottages such as these were to be erected.’

The local Council delayed planning approval, because of density and fire risk concerns. In addition to this, the promised government subsidies, which should have made his homes affordable, were blocked by the House of Lords. In the end, he was only able to build ten detached timber homes on the estate, costing at least £600 each, rather than twenty-four at £300 each. 

The “failure” of Trobridge’s first Kingsbury development led to him being made bankrupt, but he pressed on with plans for the Elmwood Estate (at the corner of Hay Lane and Stag Lane) in 1922, financed by a wealthy New Church backer. A group of four thatched timber houses from this estate still survives.

 

3 & 5 Buck Lane, designed by Trobridge in 1925.

Highfort Court, Buck Lane, designed by Trobridge in 1935.

Trobridge continued to live and work in Kingsbury until his death in 1942, designing homes for private clients, and for the Kingsbury Cross Co-Partnership, which he helped to set up in 1929. Every one of his buildings was individually designed, and very different from the work of other architects of his time. His “castle” blocks of flats gave a sense of protection, as well as many useful practical features. That desire to protect produced some remarkable plans in 1938, for homes with built-in air raid shelters, even though they were never built! LINK

There are more than 200 homes in Kingsbury that Trobridge designed, which are still lived in today. One of the aims of the exhibition is to encourage you to go and look at some of his extraordinary architecture (while remembering that these buildings are peoples’ homes, so respecting their privacy).

Please make time, between now and 26^th July, to visit Kingsbury Library, see the exhibition, and pick up a free self-guided walk leaflet (or two), so that you can go out and enjoy Trobridge’s beautiful designs for yourself. Kingsbury is easy to get to, either on the Jubilee Line, or a number of different bus routes (79, 183, 204, 303 or 324). It used to be a separate Urban District, before becoming part of Wembley in 1934, and is now very much part of Brent, the Borough of Culture(s).

Philip Grant.