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BARTON
ROAD
Marked on old maps as Barton Back,
and although originally little more than a lane, until
the building of Buckland Bridge
in the late 18th century, it formed the main route for
coaches, wagons and other traffic to Canterbury and
London. The road as it appears today was developed in
the late 1890s as part of the Barton Estate built by
Sir William Crundall. Prior to this Barton Farm used
to stand on the land between the road and the river
Dour.
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Barton Road c. 1905.
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BARTHOLOMEW
STREET
Built close to land used to be known
as "Bartholomew Fields" where a "Bartelmy Fair" used
to be held until 1830. The fields took their name from
St Bartholomew's Hospital for lepers, which was founded
nearby in 1152 by monks from St
Martin's Priory.
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The bridge which gave Bridge Street its name.
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BRIDGE
STREET
This street is part of an ancient road
running from Charlton to
Hougham, which continued on up Black Horse Lane (now
Tower Hamlets Road). The part now
called Bridge Street probably got its name in 1829 when
a brick bridge was built across the river Dour.
Originally the road had crossed by a ford, with a wooden
bridge for pedestrians.
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STREET
There was a Cannon Ward in the earliest
days of the Dover Corporation, and was the portion of
the town under the control of the Canons of St
Martin-le-Grand. It has been argued that the street
takes its name from this ward and is thus misspelt.
However, the street never bore this name at the time
of the canons. A more likely explanation is that Captain
Henry Cannon, who was Deputy Governor of Dover
Castle during the Commonwealth, owned property in
the street.
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Cannon Street viewed from the Market Square. The famous
City of Antwerp Hotel stood on the corner until the
early 1890s when it was demolished as part of the
Cannon Street widening.
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C.J.Parish. butcher, at the corner of Cherry Tree
Avenue and Buckland Avenue, c. 1899.
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CHERRY
TREE AVENUE
Originally called Cherry Tree Lane
after the large cherry tree which stood in the garden
of the Cherry Tree Inn on London Road. The lane was
widened and planted with trees (not cherry trees) in
1895, at a cost of £1129. After the widening it
was renamed Cherry Tree Avenue.
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CHURCH
STREET
This street was laid out, it is believed,
after the demolition of St
Peter's Church in the Market
Square. It is unclear if the street takes its name
from the demolished church or from St
Mary's whose churchyard bounds one side of the street.
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DE
BURGH STREET
This street, laid out about 1866, was
named after Hubert
de Burgh, defender of Dover
Castle during the French
siege of 1216. The street was built on the site
of the Eagle tea gardens, which had replaced the earlier
Black Horse tea gardens on the same site. The Black
Horse Inn and tea gardens had been a popular resort
with the townsfolk, especially on the occasion of public
executions which took place at the nearby crossroad
until 1823. The Black Horse Inn, which stood on the
corner of London Road and what is now Tower
Hamlets Road, was sold at auction in September 1839
and the Eagle Tavern built on the site.
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DIEU STONE LANE
This lane, which runs from Biggin
Street to Maison Dieu Road,
was once the boundary of the Maison Dieu Estate or Park.
A stone once marked the boundary at the Maison Dieu
Road end of the lane. This stone had a letter 'D' carved
on it and for many years the lane was known as Dee Stone
Lane.
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Dieu Stone Lane, July 2001.
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EFFINGHAM
CRESCENT/STREET
The plans of the original eight Effingham
Villas, in what was to become Effingham Crescent, were
submitted to the Town Council in March 1847. The other
side of Effingham Street was built a year or two later
and was originally called St Martin's Street, as it
was built on the site of the church of St
Martin's Priory. The name was changed in 1872 after
residents petitioned for the name to be changed in honour
of the Countess of Effingham, who was a great benefactor
in the building of the nearby Christ Church in 1844.
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Frith Road, July 2001.
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FRITH
ROAD
Originally called Love Lane, the road
takes its name from Frith Farm, as the continuation
of Frith Road, known as Old Charlton Road, leads to
the farm. Frith Road was widened in the 1880s after
some cottages at the bottom of the road were purchased
by the Corporation and demolished to allow a width of
40 feet along the whole length of the road.
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KING
STREET
Both King's Street and King's Lane
were terms in use in Dover deeds and charters in Norman
times. The name probably originated from the fact that,
from the Norman Conquest at least, the whole of the
property in that area was held from the King. The lane
now called Fishmonger's Lane was originally King's Lane,
the stretch of water at the bottom of it was called
King's Water, and the mill that stood there was King's
Mill.
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LADYWELL
In this road was once the “Well of
Our Lady”, a natural spring whose waters had, reputedly,
curative and even miraculous properties. The well used
to be in a nook in the wall of the Maison
Dieu, and in the days before the Dover Waterworks,
when good water was scarce, this water was carried all
over the town. When the Corporation purchased the Maison
Dieu in 1836, the well was covered over and a public
pump installed over it. In 1858 this pump was repaired
but in 1866, when a scientific analysis found the water
to be unfit for human consumption, the pump was removed
and the well closed.
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Ladywell about 1900. On the left hand side of the road
can be seen the side of the Town Hall. The building
on the right with the lamp is the Sir John Falsaff public
house. This was rebuilt closer to the main road about
ten years later.
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Maison Dieu Road, July 2001.
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MAISON
DIEU ROAD
Until 1862 this road had been described
in deeds as Charlton Back Lane. By the 1860s the road
was assuming a residential character and the new name,
deduced from its surroundings (the Maison
Dieu Park on the west, and the Maison Dieu Fields
on the east) was conferred upon it by the Corporation.
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NEW
BRIDGE
Anyone standing in New Bridge today
could be forgiven for asking “where’s the bridge?” The
“new bridge” in question was built in 1800 and was called
new to distinguish it from the earlier Buggin’s Bridge
further upstream on the Dour.
The bridge and the river were visible until 1840, when
the northern parapet was removed to make room for houses,
and the other parapet was taken away when Northampton
Street opened in 1852. Today the Dour can be seen on
the northern side of New Bridge as it dives under the
steps leading up from the Townwall Street
pedestrian subway, on its way to join the sea in the
Wellington
Dock.
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New Bridge, c.1840. The parapets on both sides of
the bridge are still visible.
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Pencester Road, c.1900.
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PENCESTER
ROAD
There are two contenders for the honour
of having this road named after them. One Stephen de
Pencester, who helped Hubert
de Burgh defend the Castle
during the French
siege of 1216. Another Stephen de Pencester was
also Constable of Dover Castle from 1267 to 1299. Prior
to the road being built there had been no cross road
from the main thoroughfare to Maison
Dieu Road between Castle
Street and Bridge Street.
In 1854 the Gunman estate came on the market and Pencester
Road was laid out by Mr William
Moxon. Soon after that the erection of houses commenced
but before the surface of the road could be metalled,
Mr Moxon’s financial difficulties brought matters to
a standstill, the river only being bridged by a plank.
The bridge was finally built in 1862. Pencester
Gardens opened in the 1920s.
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ROPEWALK
Being a seafaring community rope-making
was an important industry in Dover during the age of
sailing ships. Rope-making required a long, straight
area over which the ropes could be pulled and twisted
during the manufacturing process. The original ropewalk
was on the shingle bank on the site of what is now the
Sea Front, when
building started in this area it moved to Shakespeare
Beach. In 1843 this area was bought by the South
Eastern Railway for their new line into Dover. The
rope manufactory moved to firm ground below the Western
Heights but the business did not survive for long,
although the name has in this area where the trade was
last practised.
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ST
RADIGUND’S ROAD
This road leads to the ruins of St
Radigund’s Abbey on the hills just outside Dover. The
Abbey was built in 1191 and survived until the dissolution
of the monasteries by Henry
VIII. St Radegund lived from 518-587. She was the
daughter of the King of Thuringia, whose assassination
was avenged by the Frankish King Clotaire I. Clotaire
had the twelve year old Radegund baptised and educated,
and eventually married her. However, her ill treatment
by the King, and his murder of her brother, compelled
Radegund to leave him. She became a nun and went on
to found the great nunnery of the Holy Cross at Poitiers,
where she spent the last thirty years of her life.
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The ruins of St Radigund's Abbey, c.1900.
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STEMBROOK
It has been suggested that the name
comes from the dam of the mill, that used to stand here,
“stemming” the water, but Stembrook Mill is of comparatively
modern origin having been built in 1799. The name may
well have originated from the proximity of the pointed
piece of land which divided the Eastbrook and the Westbrook
of the river Dour, and
as that point “stemmed “ the body of the stream, it
would appropriately be called Stembrook.
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TOWER
HAMLETS ROAD
This road was originally called Black
Horse Lane until 1866. It takes it present name from
the housing development which was built either side
of it. For many years brick-making was the staple industry
of the area, and the owners of the brick fields were
Messrs. J. & S. Finnis. At this time the only distinguishing
feature in the area was a tower built to supply water.
When the brick fields were being built over the question
of a name for the area arose, and Mr S. Finnis suggested,
jokingly, “let’s call it Tower Hamlets”, and the name
stuck.
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Townwall Street, July 2001.
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TOWNWALL
STREET
Townwall Street owes its name to the
fact that it is the thoroughfare which follows most
closely the line of part of the town wall. From its
start at Snargate Street
to its termination at Woolcomber Street
its whole length was alongside the wall. As the street
developed the wall was demolished and much of the material
reused in other buildings. During building work in the
street in 1838, two guns called culverins, possibly
from the time of Henry
VIII, were discovered. Townwall Street today presents
a very different aspect as much of the street was destroyed
during World War
Two and it is now a dual carriageway, leading to
the Eastern
Docks.
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VICTORIA
PARK
This fine, sweeping terrace of substantial
houses was built in 1864 and named after the Queen,
who had by then been on the throne for 27 years. These
large properties were often rented by the senior officers
of the regiments stationed in Dover. There were private
tennis courts at the bottom of the gardens and ample
accommodation for servants in the basements and attics.
These once grand houses are now divided into flats,
but from a distance they still are an impressive sight
sweeping across the hillside below the Castle.
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Victoria Park, c.1900.
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Dover Carnival passing along Woolcomber Street in
the late 1930s.
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WOOLCOMBER
STREET
This street was built on land reclaimed after the old
harbour here fell into disuse. The name comes from some
hosues that were occupied by wool-combers in the 18th
century. On the the east side of the street there used
to be some houses marked Exhibition Place, so named
because they were built in 1851, the year of the Great
Exhibition in Hyde Park. Much of Woolcomber Street was
destroyed during World
War Two, the town’s swimming pool and sports centre
now stand on one side of the road.
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WORTHINGTON
STREET
Originally called Gardiner’s Lane, a name associated
with the lane since at least the early 17th century.
Around 1800 the name was changed to Worthington’s Lane,
the Worthingtons being an important Dover family, one
of whom was a wool merchant with warehouses in the lane.
In 1895 the narrow lane was widened to its present width
and became Worthington Street.
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