Pencester
Gardens may never have been built if some of the proposed
schemes for this area had come to fruition.
When Pencester Road was laid out in 1860, it was intended
to build a street, to be called Neville Road, from Pencester
Road to Eastbrook Place but this never happened. About
1880 the land was acquired with the intention of using
it for a Dover station in connection with the Channel
Tunnel, which was then being planned to run from St
Margarets.
When that project failed it was suggested that it be
used for building a new Town Hall but in the end facilities
were improved at the
Maison
Dieu instead. Other plans included a recreation
ground and a relief road to ease congestion in
Biggin
Street. In its later years the site was used as
a timber yard.
In November 1922 the land was purchased by the Corporation
and the new gardens were laid out. Pencester Gardens
opened in 1924, as well as the usual lawns and flowerbed
there as also a play area for children and a miniature
golf course. The gardens have been a pleasant green
space in the centre of the town since then, and have
provided a venue for many fetes and funfairs.
In 2000 a pavilion for band concerts and other performances
was built to commemorate the new Millennium.
The Millennium Path, which runs around the pavilion,
was completed in 2001. The path is made up of 100 flagstones
each commemorating an event in Dover's history, each
one sponsored by a local resident or business.
