Rowanfield is a neighbourhood in Cheltenham, England.
History
Until the Second World War, the area between Brooklyn Road and Rowanfield Road was an
orchard primarily producing
. All the names of the avenues were named after the counties of England (except
Cambridge Avenue and
Bedford Avenue, presumably since
Cambridgeshire and
Bedfordshire were considered too long). There is a grass square on Norfolk Avenue (at times known as
Norfolk Square or the nickname of the "green") in the middle of the estate where the council put up swings and a roundabout. These were taken away sometime in the 1950s after complaints of misuse late at night. Cheltenham's King George the Fifth playing field is set to the west of the estate. The road layout has a geometric style typical of planned social housing.
Facilities
Rowanfield has a small collection of local shops known as Rowanfield Exchange, located near the northern end of Devon Avenue. It includes a fish and chip shop,
newsagent,
Launderette and
bookmaker. The
pub opposite (at the time
Cotterills Bar, named after the manager of Cheltenham Town Football Club and boldly decorated in the club's colours, previously
The Golden Miller) was demolished in 2004 and is now small flats.
Political
Rowanfield falls within the Cheltenham parliamentary constituency and the local council ward of
Rowanfield and St Marks. Prior to
Brexit in 2020, it was in the South West England European Parliament constituency.
Other information
Around half of the houses in Rowanfield are
owner-occupier as of 2006; the remainder are owned by the
local authority, Cheltenham Borough Council. Council-owned no-fines houses benefitted from the installation of clearly visible external insulation panelling and improved ventilation to address perceived disadvantages with the no-fines construction.
