Curzon Park is an upmarket residential

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The area, which adjoins the southern banks of the Dee, was first laid out in the 19th century. It is situated next to the

Grosvenor Bridge Grosvenor Bridge, originally known as, and alternatively called Victoria Railway Bridge, is a railway bridge over the River Thames in London, between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. Originally constructed in 1860, and widened in 1865 and 1 ...

and is well known for having some of the city's largest and most prestigious residences. Curzon Park also houses a retreat house for members of the English Benedictine Congregation and

Chester Golf Club Chester Golf Club is an English golf club, located in Curzon Park, Chester, Cheshire. The club participates in competitions and inter-club matches. Set on two levels, the 18-hole parkland course is contained within a loop of the River Dee. The ...

History

Curzon Park, along with Queen's Park near

Handbridge Handbridge is a district of Chester, England on the south bank of the River Dee. A settlement has existed on the site since the Iron Age , but the site saw major expansion during the collapse of the Roman occupation of Britain, as the city grew ...

, was developed as an exclusive Chester suburb following the city's growing prosperity in the mid 19th century. Although the opening of Grosvenor Bridge in 1832 had improved access, it was the completion of the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire, ...

to Chester which prompted

Richard Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe Richard William Penn Curzon-Howe, 1st Earl Howe (11 December 1796 – 12 May 1870), was a British peer and courtier. Background He was the third but eldest surviving son of The Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon (the eldest son of Assheton Curzon, 1s ...

to develop the aptly-named "Curzon Park" in the mid-1840s on private farmland situated between Hough Green and the river. Although the plan was to attract wealthy merchants from Liverpool, most of the early home owners were business people and professionals from Chester. Highfield House was the first property to be built in 1847. By 1851 there were nine large detached houses along the cliff above the River Dee. With the development of Curzon Park, the City of Chester corporation began auctioning off land it owned on the north side of Hough Green as individual plots. By 1861 a line of 30 smaller detached and semi-detached villas stretched for half a mile along Hough Green towards Saltney. Despite the initial interest in Curzon Park, the remainder of the estate remained largely incomplete throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Only six large houses had been built at the eastern end of Park Road (later Curzon Park South) by 1870. Likewise just four villas and two semi-detached properties had been built in Queen's Park, suggesting the demand for exclusive property in Chester was much smaller than anticipated. It was not until 1914 that all plots within the eastern end of Curzon Park had been sold. Work to develop the largely-vacant western end did not begin till after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In conjunction with the development of the eastern end of Curzon Park, large detached houses were also constructed around Westminster Avenue, a tree-lined road just south of Hough Green. The avenue originally complimented the main lodge entrance to Curzon Park at the junction with Overleigh Road.

References

A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 part 1: The City of Chester: General History and Topography

External links

Curzon Park Residents Association

Curzon Park Abbey

Chester Golf Club
{{coord, 53, 10, 59, N, 2, 54, 10, W, type:landmark_scale:5000_region:GB, display=title Areas of Chester