A blue plaque tribute to a visionary Trafford surveyor, civil engineer and architect has been unveiled in Davyhulme Park.
Ernest Leonard Leeming was engineer and surveyor for the former Barton Rural District Council from 1922 -1933 and architect to Urmston Council from 1933 to 1954.
Mr Leeming was living at ‘Kelmscott’, Cornhill Road, Davyhulme, and designed the prefabricated house himself – 20 years before the ‘prefab’ was a familiar site in post-war Britain. The name Kelmscott references the house artist and designer William Morris lived in, someone who was a source of inspiration for Mr Leeming.
A large part of the pre-war housing and road development in Urmston owes much to Mr Leeming’s vision. He was closely involved with the planning and substantial growth of the district during the 1930s and was particularly interested in the preservation of trees, aiming to retain as many green spaces as possible.
Mr Leeming was a particular fan of concrete and devoted parts of his book, ‘Road Engineering’, published in 1923, to the material.
The unveiling ceremony, organised by Trafford Council’s Local Studies team, took place on Wednesday 10 July at Davyhulme Park, and was attended by Trafford Council Leader, Cllr Tom Ross.
Cllr Ross said:
“It was a great honour to be able to pay tribute to an amazing trailblazer in civil engineering. Ernest Leonard Leeming was a visionary and responsible for incredible feats in engineering and surveying. He designed the prefab before it became popular and designed much of Urmston. I’m very proud to have unveiled the plaque in his honour.”
Mr Leeming was born in Chorlton in July 1889 and was the son of Frederick Leeming, a merchant’s clerk, and Margaret (née Rennie). It is apt that he was honoured with a plaque this month in what is the 135th anniversary of his birth. The plaque was sponsored by the Urmston & District History Society.
