St James Close, Badsey

Click on the image above to see this road on the Worcestershire County Council GIS website with the digitised historical maps. Click on the image below to view the original enclosure map.

Photos taken 2006. Aerial photos: a7072 a7126

ST JAMES CLOSE

St James Close was the third phase of Council development in the post Second World War period. It comprised 24 houses built in a crescent off Brewers Lane in 1962. It is called St James Close because of its proximity to St James Church. The development caused much controversy when it was learned that the Rural District Council intended to use its power of compulsory purchase to acquire the site, known as Wheatley’s Orchard, in the centre of the village. Some people believed that the land once formed part of a village green and should therefore be preserved as an open space, but in fact it had always been in private ownership. Strong protests were heard, a petition was organised, a public meeting was held and the scheme was temporarily shelved. But it was not long before the plan was reintroduced; this time there was little opposition and building went ahead. Here are details about the planning application for St James Close (link to be added).

The entrances to the first three houses and the last two houses of St James Close are actually on the north side of Brewers Lane. Numbering begins at Number 1 and goes in an anti-clockwise direction round the crescent.

Dovecote in Wheatleys Orchard

Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 (Badsey Map G044)

In 1812, at the time of the Badsey Enclosure Act, this plot of land was an old enclosure which belonged to Thomas Byrd. It was called Stable and Dovecote Close and amounted to 2a 1r 12p. At some stage in the early part of the 20^th century, the land was bought by Horace Wheatley and remained in the Wheatley family until the 1960s; it was known as Wheatley’s Orchard. A dovecote, which was demolished in the 1960s, stood in the back garden of what is now number 22.

St James' Close about 1962