1920s
Left: England and the Octopus, an anti-sprawl polemic by Portmeirion architect Clough Williams-Ellis, a CPRE founder.
Right: The Preservation of Rural England, Sir Patrick Abercrombie.
1926
The Preservation of Rural England by pioneering planner Sir Patrick Abercrombie, one of the five key publications of the year according to the British Library's Chronology of Modern Britain, called for a national joint committee to preserve the countryside. It was formed in December 1926 as the Council for the Preservation of Rural England(CPRE), with Abercrombie its Honorary Secretary.
1927
The first task of the new Council was an all-out attack on ribbon development — new buildings beside roads spreading deep into the countryside. CPRE argued that local authorities could use powers granted by the Public Health Act 1925 to charge street work costs to new roadside building — a major disincentive to sprawl.
1928
CPRE Architectural Advisory Panels were set up jointly with the Royal Institute of British Architects to advise local authorities and developers on good quality design for new buildings.
1929
A CPRE memorandum to the Prime Minister urged the case for National Parks. In response, the Government set up the Addison Committee of inquiry into National Parks.
During the General Election, the leaders of the three political parties (Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald and David Lloyd George) write a joint letter to The Times, endorsing the work of the CPRE and its appeal for funds.
