Charlton Down

A rural housing development near Dorchester in Dorset which illustrates a design approach that successfully challenges the conventional highway-dominated suburban housing layout. Designed by Tetlow King.

It has been developed on the site of a former Victorian mental hospital, three miles north of Dorchester itself. The scheme was started in 1996 and by 2009 was almost finished. When complete it will have around 550 housing units (apartments, and terraced and detached houses).

The developer of Charlton Down, Bellway Wessex, had seen how at nearby Poundbury, the Prince of Wales’ model development, something very different to conventional suburban development could be created by challenging orthodox highway engineering and planning practice. Also the developer saw benefits in making a greater investment in placemaking because they have been able to market the properties at higher sales prices than the average in this area of Dorset.

At Poundbury the very different layout was accomplished through the influence of an unusual landowner, the Duchy of Cornwall and led to a very distinctive development both in terms of layout and architectural style. At Charlton Down similar street design principles have been followed but with more conventional architecture and materials. This perhaps makes the development in some ways a model of what could be achieved widely elsewhere.