Wilfrid Road stars in Street’s heritage days, a national event

G.J. Skipper’s decorative Jacobean design and the folksy cupola at Cobden Terrace—20 houses built in Wilfrid Road for Clarks workers in 1869, now listed Grade II—did not please Mrs Helen Clark. She replaced him as architect with his nephew William Reynolds, who used an Arts and Crafts style for the houses on the other side.

The Street Society (the counterpart of Glastonbury Conservation Society) is participating in the national Heritage Open Days in September with a celebration of Wilfrid Road, Street’s only listed road. Three of the houses will be open for viewing.

The Open Road — on September 9, a Sunday, 2–5pm — will include games and entertainment in Wilfrid Road and tea and cakes for sale on the green behind numbers 39 and 41. Part of the road — which meets the High Street at the open-air swimming pool — will be closed to traffic.

Heritage Open Days is a national event (heritageopendays.org.uk) running from Thursday to Sunday, September 6 to 9. The Street Society plans a whole weekend of events:

• An illustrated talk on the history of Clarks, both the business and the family, presented by Charlotte Berry and Tim Crumplin on the Friday at 7.30pm.

• Timed visits to Clarks’ new Alfred Gillet Archive Office on the Saturday, 10am–2pm.

• Illustrated talks at Strode Theatre, including the writer Kathryn Ferry on the Victorian home and the Arts and Crafts movement, on the Saturday at 3pm.

Tickets (free from Strode Theatre box office) are needed for these three indoor events because numbers are limited.

• The Shoe Museum, normally open only Monday–Saturday, will also open on the Sunday afternoon.