Atherton House: Salisbury's connection to a former prime minister

Members of Clement Attlee’s family moved to Salisbury in the early 1900s and lived in a house Clement’s brother Tom, an architect, designed.

The house was called Atherton House and as our picture shows, it was a hansom residence in St. Mark’s Avenue, which Tom designed in 1904 for his sister Dorothy and brother-in-law Wilfrid Fletcher, founder of the Salisbury firm, Fletcher and Partners, chartered accountants.

With its large garden, sloping from lawn to tennis court to vegetables, it was a spacious home and a centre for other members of the family, including Clement Attlee and his brother Tom.

Atherton House, designed by Clement Attlee’s brother Tom. (Image: Frogg Moody)

Later the relationship between the brothers suffered when, on the outbreak of WW1, Clem decided to fight while Tom, a conscientious objector, spent much of the war in prison.

Over the years, members of the Fletcher family recalled how they had met Clement Atlee at Atherton House for various celebrations including a wedding reception.

On investigation I found that the area where Atherton House once stood has been replaced by flats named Atherton Court in the vicinity of St. Mark’s Church.

During the Second World War, Clement Attlee was called into Winston Churchill’s coalition government, notably holding the title of Deputy Prime Minister from 1942 to 1945.

When a general election was called Attlee led the Labour Party to a landslide victory, winning 393 seats to the Conservative’s 213, and 48% of the public vote.

The Attlee government instituted a remarkable social and economic programme characterised by radicalism: the foundation of the National Health Service; the nationalisation of heavy industries and the Bank of England; a huge building programme; and a new national insurance scheme.