Image Hilary Roberts
This page is one of several pages which are based on articles in our book entitled Royal Leamington Spa, A History in 100 Buildings which was published in 2018 and is no longer in print.
Lansdowne Circus has access from Upper Holly Walk, Willes Road and Thomas Street but still retains the atmosphere of a quiet, sedate cul-de-sac to this day.
This Circus was built between 1836 and 1840; the first mention of the street in the Leamington Courier was in 1835 and two newly-built houses were for sale in 1836. The houses, now all Listed Grade II*, were designed by the architect, William Thomas.
The main semi-circle of 16 houses was unusual at the time because they were semi-detached houses instead of the Regency terraces and individual detached villas which were then prevalent in the town. The design of the main run of houses is Regency, each with an arcaded verandah at ground floor level. The detail of the ironwork on each pair of houses is different. The detached houses at each end are Gothic in style, thereby acting as full-stops for the circus.
There are reports that the Circus was built for William Carter, an iron-founder and entrepreneur based in the town. Carter lived in the Gothic house at the east end, No 18. It is possible that the many different designs of ironwork on the houses were used as examples for advertising his business.
The plain, functional late-Georgian design of the Circus was undoubtedly dictated by economic considerations of all of the designer and builder and his clients; the design was austere for a man of William Thomas’ tastes. By 1840 the local newspaper published complaints about roads and footpaths in poor state, doubtless partly as a result of the piecemeal development.
Colourised photo by Wikimedia Commons
There is a well-known story about No 10. Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short-story writer who was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He spent three periods in Leamington in 1855, 1857 and 1859. On the third visit the Hawthorne’s rented No 21 Bath Street and later lived for a time at No 10 Lansdowne Circus. An informative tablet was suggested for No 10 in memory of Hawthorne in 1911 but not installed. Eventually a blue plaque was unveiled in 2008. In 1859, the Hawthorne household consisted of Nathaniel, his wife Sophia, his three children, a nursemaid and a governess. Hawthorne wrote about the house in Our Old Home –
“In the course of several visits and stays of considerable length we acquired a homelike feeling towards Leamington, and came back thither again and again, chiefly because we had been there before… There is a small nest of a place in Leamington – at No. 10, Lansdowne Circus – upon which, to this day, my reminiscences are apt to settle as one of the coziest [sic] nooks in England or in the world”. He continued, “The modest abode to which I have alluded forms one of a circular range of pretty, moderate-sized two-storey houses, all built on nearly the same plan, … Coming out of the door and taking a turn around the circle of sister dwellings, it is difficult to find your way back by any distinguishing individuality of your own habitation, … Our little Lansdowne Circus … had not grown out of anybody’s individual need, but was built to let or sell and was therefore like a ready-made garment … a tolerable fit, but only tolerable.”
Thanks to Norma Hampson for the following quite different memoir.
‘A piece of advice that the Hampson family did not heed when purchasing No 8 Lansdowne Circus in 1966 was “Don’t touch it with a barge-pole”. Its bulging gable end wall, run-down condition and an elegant two-storey staircase painted ‘fire-engine’ red did not deter them, – it was definitely a heart buy. They loved the architectural period and the location.
Little did they know how long the renovation would take. It was a somewhat daunting task with three young children in a house that was only partially habitable.
However, once complete, they were delighted with the result and spent six happy years there. The central garden, an oasis of calm, was a great delight, and came into its own on bonfire night when the residents came together to celebrate. At Christmas, they welcomed the Salvation Army band, and in the tourist season, they became used to the coachloads of American visitors driving by for a glimpse of Hawthorne’s Our Old Home’.
There was a proposal to demolish No 18 in 1973 but this was not approved. The Circus has not lost its charm: the houses still attract a range of interesting residents – the well-known television and film actress Celia Imrie lived there in 2015.
Michael Jeffs, 2018