How builders shaped town and buried its monastic past for good

It was only in 1925 that Lawrence Rawstorne, then living in Dorset, sold the Penwortham Priory estate of about 100 acres in total to a syndicate of Preston builders led by Arthur Spencer, by which time the Penwortham Power Station adjacent to the land was about to be opened

- writes Keith Johnson.

Five years earlier Mr. Rawstorne, who was a long serving Justice of the Peace, had spoken about the legislation brought in relative to death duties, stating that although he had the welfare of his tenants as a priority he was faced, like many other landowners, with the possibility of having to break up his estate.

The Priory buildings were soon demolished and the whole area laid out as a low density house estate. The new estate roads generally reflected the history of the region with Monks Walk, Priory Lane, Priory Close and Squires Road.

The Lancashire Daily Post in 1933 considered the changes in Penwortham under the heading 'Penwortham The Garden City'.

It contained the following script: "Of all the charming semi-rural districts that surround Proud Preston on every side, none has blossomed out, garden city wise-more than has Penwortham.

"From 1919 to the end of 1932, the number of new houses erected was 998 and the population increased from 3,500 in 1915 to 6,200. The expansion of the ancient parish began before the war and after the Armistice progress was accelerated. It was given impetus by the construction of the new Penwortham bridge and its approach road linking Fishergate Hill and Penwortham Hill and the introduction of motor bus services fuelling the demand for more houses within easy commuting distance to town.

"Rapid progress in every direction with modern villas, detached and semi-detached houses and larger residences have sprung up as if by magic. From the main roads new side roads have been cut on garden city lines.