Josiah Spode II (1754-1827) and The Mount Estate (Penkhull)

The development of the Mount Estate under Frederick Bishop

 

 

Frederick Bishop bought the Mount Estate with the intention of developing the land for housing. 

Early in 1859 he began to advertise building land on the edge of the estate at Honeywall. The first houses on the estate were erected here and occupied by 1861 (the row of 11 terrace houses has since been demolished). 

 

In 1859 he also began to prepare the rest of the estate for development by building a road from Penkhull to Hartshill which in the 1870's was named Princes Road. The laying out of this road involved the demolition of the lodge built by Spode at Hartshill, the abandonment of the drive built in 1829-30, and the construction of a new lodge and drive to Princes Road (see auction plan). The new lodge on Princes Road is illustrated below as shown in the auction catalogue of 1875.

 

The new lodge on Princes Road as illustrated  
in the auction catalogue of 1875.

Site were advertised for sale on Princes Road and the first villa, "Parkfield House" was built in 1860-1, for Edward Bostock, a commission agent. The house is now occupied by the Beth Johnson Foundation. 

Bishop also sold 10 acres of land in 1863 for the construction of a new infirmary at Hartshill. 

A further 19 acres of land were sold to the Stoke Workmen's Freehold Land Society for a new housing estate between Princes Road and Richmond Street. 

The access road to the new estate from Princes Road was named Frederick Avenue in honour of Frederick Bishop. By 1878 60 terrace houses had been built on the new streets, 326 by 1899 and 460 by 1914.

With the construction of new houses at Penkhull the Mount became a less attractive residence and Frederick Bishop moved to a house in Portman Square, London. The mansion, with twenty acres of land, was put up for auction in 1875. Extracts from the auction particulars can be found on the next pages:

 

 

questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks