Castle Street after 1837 when it had been extended in to the Market Square.
Viewed from under the old Guildhall.
In 1829 a group of local businessmen and dignitaries
started pushing for a new road to connect the Market
Square with Castle Hill, which had been constructed in 1797 as a military
road.
Castle Street was mostly constructed between 1830 and
1835 but there was a dispute with the owner of the Antwerp Hotel’s stables
and yard which stood in the way of the connection with the Market Square.
It was only after and Act of Parliament was obtained in 1836 and the developers
paid compensation to Mr Huntley, the owner of the stables, that the road
was completed. Castle Street was formally opened into the Market Square
on 17 March 1837.
The opening of Castle Street created an new direct way
to Charlton Back Road, which developed into Maison
Dieu Road. It also provided a much more direct route between the town
centre and the Deal Road than the old route via St
James’s Street.
The street has escaped relatively unscathed over the
years, and traffic calming measures in the 1990s resulted in the roadway
being narrowed and wide, stone flagged, pavements being laid.
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