Gorsey Brow

In the 1800s, Gorsey Brow was the name of the area, or hamlet, surrounding what is now the location of the community centre. Following the construction of the Humphrey Park estate in the 1930s, the name was adopted by a row of four tall cottages on Humphrey Lane, close to the junction with Bradfield Road (formerly Chadwick Lane). This overlay map shows the location and map labels for Gorsey Brow in the early 1800s, 1846 and 2025. 

The cottages were built around 1869–70 by John Taylor, a local landowner who lived at Newcroft Hall. Around this time, a quarrel arose between Taylor and Thomas Chadwick, a cotton merchant who had recently built a large mansion nearby called The Grove. It is said that the cottages were built to block Mr Chadwick's view across the orchards and fields from his home. Although they were initially let rent-free to poor families because they were unfinished, an official record from 1873 (around three years after construction) records that each cottage contained four bedrooms, a parlour, separate sitting room, kitchen, pantry, scullery and full cellar.

The original name for the cottages was Summerfield Terrace. They were known locally as Spite Cottages or Spite Row.

In 1962, a letter addressed to Spite Cottage found its way to Gorsey Brow. 

The Pop Star of Gorsey Brow

August Darnell, better known as Kid Creole of Kid Creole and the Coconuts, is known to have lived in the Urmston area with his partner, Caroline Brigham, from around 1984 to 1993. Originally from New York, local memories place him at 3 Gorsey Brow and recall that Darnell converted part of the cottage into a home recording studio, allowing him to continue writing and working on music while living in Urmston.

Because of Darnell’s theatrical songwriting style and larger-than-life persona, there has sometimes been speculation that Caroline was a fictional character from Kid Creole’s 1986 hit song Caroline Was a Drop-Out. In reality, the name in the song was inspired by his real-life partner.

Their sons, Lorne Ashley and Dario Darnell, were born in 1987 and 1989 respectively and grew up on Humphrey Lane. Caroline and the boys continued living at the cottage after Darnell is thought to have moved out around 1993. Whenever his touring schedule or UK theatre commitments allowed, Darnell would return to Urmston to stay with or near his family and local residents recall regularly seeing the brightly dressed “Tropical Gangster” walking his children to school.

By 2001, aged 13 and 15, the boys were using the large cottage rooms as a rehearsal space while forming their early rock bands. 

The property was sold in February 2007.