Weston Grove House, Weston, Southampton: perspective

SOURCE: Sir William Chambers. Plans, elevations, sections, and perspective views of the gardens and buildings at Kew in Surry (London, 1763), pl. 42

NOTES: Basildon, created from the conglomeration of four small villages, namely Pitsea, Laindon, Basildon and Vange, was designated a new town in 1948, together with the other London orbital developments of Stevenage, Harlow, Hemel Hempstead and Bracknell. The development of the New Towns, built after World War II to ease overcrowding in London, was overseen by Lewis Silkin, 1st Baron Silkin (1888-1972), the Minister for Town and Country Planning from 1945 to 1950. This housing scheme built for the Basildon Corporation Development comprised a group of 17 detached four-bedroom houses for sale to private purchasers.