Leigh Woods 1902

The map below is taken from the Old Ordnance Survey Map for Clifton Down 1902. The following is an extract from the same OS Map relating to Leigh Woods.

‘However, the bridge did inspire a leafy, high class suburb at Leigh Woods where some of the houses, notably in North Road, are outstanding. These include Alpenfels, its cuckoo clock image in tune with its name, and visible on the landscape as you survey the bridge from the north; the Puginesque Avoncourt and Ferncliff, dating from c.1875 and perhaps by George and Henry Godwin; and Belvedere, with a veritable pavilion on its roof, as if the gorge was at home to the Raj. At the junction with Vicarage Road stands the Arts and Crafts Bracken Hill House, 1895 b Henry Shaw, whose grounds now form part of the marvellous University Botanic Gardens; the host of different plants, categorised in their various sections - woodland plants, fruit bushes, herbs etc - would warm the heart of Linnaeus and might form a far worthier tribute to the great botanist than the drab gardens at Uppsala. After our perambulation around this fascinating map there can be no better place to sit and rest our feet.’