What's In A Name?

One of the many delights of an old map is studying how place names have changed over time. I have been looking into Bifrons House again recently (of which more later) and have come across the following map which serves as a good example. On this excerpt of the OS First Series of 1816 (based on data provided through www.VisionofBritain.org.uk using historical material which is copyright of the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and the University of Portsmouth) we can find Patricksbourn, Beakesbourn  and Bishopsbourn along with Byfrons and Renwell. Beaksbourn Street is also identified - not only is it now known as Bekesbourne Hill it is spelled differently on this map to Beakesbourn itself.

Standardised spelling was obviously a little way off, even when it came to official maps of the country. I assume that where place names were concerned, the coming of the railway network probably assisted with the standardisation process and the need to prepare accurate maps as a consequence.

One would imagine that nowadays name uncertainty wouldn’t exist. After all we all know what places are called, right? A couple of examples follow from Canterbury to show that this isn’t necessarily the case! 

I’m not sure when Northgate became singular but it was certainly known as Northgate Street in 1940 as it appears in the Kelly Directory in this form. However, is the road now Northgate or North Gate? as the street signs at either end of the thoroughfare give both forms.

When scaffolding on number 16 closed St. Radigund’s Street a couple of years ago, signs were put out on the Causeway to alert drivers to the hazard. How these signs were produced with two different spellings for the same street is a mystery!

Incidentally, St. Radigund’s Street is named for the former St. Radigund’s Hospice which was located behind number 16. Part of the building can be viewed from the garden of the Dolphin, which as we all know is still Canterbury’s only 1930s built pub named after a marine mammal.

Horse Troughs

  The recent pedestrian improvements taking place at the Westgate Towers have included the correction of one of the city's most infamous street furniture anomalies. The horse trough which sits just in front of the western tower has been turned round so its inscription can finally be easily read, or at least when the works have finished it will be easy.

  According to the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association website this trough was erected by the RSPCA in 1914; however its original position was in St. Peter's Street, within the city walls. It had moved to its present site by 1928 but with the inscription hidden against the tower's wall. This made reading it a little tricky:

ROYAL SOCIETY, PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

STOP HERE BEFORE YOUR CHANCE HAS GONE,

DRINK WHAT YOU NEED AND TRAVEL ON. 

  Of course, this makes a lot more sense if you are leaving the city rather than arriving. This trough is also the 'full works' with watering points for horses and cattle, dogs (underneath) and people. The ring on the right would have had a cup on a chain secured to it allowing easy quaffing.

  There are two other troughs in Canterbury. One may be found at the top of Wincheap and is a second RSPCA trough although it also bears the Metropolitan Cattle Trough Association's name on the 'hidden side'. This was originally placed about 100 yards west of its current position according to the MDFCTA website 'at the junction of Chatham and Ashford roads'. Not sure they have that right. Note that this trough had no human watering facility. These days it  is usually resplendent with a delightful floral display.

  Lastly we have the trough on the site of St. Mary Breadman in the Parade. This is an unusual commemorative trough and forms part of the memorial to the Royal East Kent Yeomanry. This trough originally stood in the cattle market and was unveiled in 1922 by Lord Harris to mark the disbanding of the REKY (more details here on the CHAS website). It must have replaced an earlier trough however, as one is marked on the 1907 Godfrey Edition OS map reprint; this may be the trough which was erected in 1891 according to the MDFCTA website.

   There may be others in the city that I haven't come across - if so, please let me know.

Starting Again?

  Ok, I’ll be honest, I’d forgotten about this. However, having stumbled upon the excellent Faded London blog http://faded-london.blogspot.co.uk/, enough of an inspirational kick has been delivered to make me pull my socks up so to speak. I’m not familiar with South West London at all but the principal remains the same, even if the ‘talking points’ are thinner on the ground in Canterbury. So with thanks and salutations to Faded London and to start things off again, I’ll take a stroll along St. Dunstan’s Street.

  This thoroughfare runs from the junction with Whitstable Road and London Road south east to the Westgate Towers and forms the historical entry into Canterbury from London. The lower part of the street between the Towers and Station Road West was at one point known as Westgate Street or sometimes Westgate Without but for now I’ll refer to this section as lower St. Dunstan’s. I’ll take a look at the street in two halfs with the lower part first.

  Like most of Canterbury’s main roads St. Dunstan’s is usually full of traffic (going nowhere slow) so on the rare occasion when it is traffic free a photograph must be taken.

Looking south, October 10th 2010.

  A quick walk along lower St. Dunstan’s begins with a cover plate which may not be long for this world judging by its sudden highlighting. Strictly speaking this is in North Lane but as it may soon be replaced I thought I’d better record it. MKWC presumably stands for Mid Kent Water Company but why it is so precisely dated is another little mystery. There are at least three other ‘dated’ plates in the city although one of these is also highlighted so may also be due for retirement.

  Into the street proper and we see the impressive ironwork supporting the inn sign for the Falstaff Hotel. Of the many incarnations of this sign it has to be said the current one is a bit dull. The recent brown repaint hasn’t inspired much positive comment either. Incidentally the iron bracket used to project much further into the street but was accidentally shortened once too often by passing lorries.

April 1st 2017

  The entrance to Kirby’s Lane gives us a CWW, Canterbury Water Works, cover plate. These are a particular target of mine – I am always on the lookout for more survivors. So far I have spotted about fifteen around the city, although with a number also having been highlighted in red recently this figure may be about to be reduced.

 

  Hedgers Butchers, in 2017 the only surviving butchers in the city and the home of the best smoked bacon to be found in Canterbury. Formerly the Catherine Wheel public house until closure in 1920, the defunct cellar drop is still in place. The bollards on the pavement outside are perhaps there to protect the cellars from unwisely parked vehicles? 

 

  After crossing the road to return back down the street the first item of interest is the iron grille of the chemist’s cellar. This would seem to be for air circulation in pre-traffic days – this building was a chemist at least as far back as 1940 – but beyond that guess I do not know.

  Next door we find an isolated piece of decorative tiling on the chip shop, perhaps it had a partner on the opposite side at one point? This building also has a long history as a fried fish shop with Harry Baker the incumbent for at least 21 years between 1940 and 1961 according to Kelly’s Directories. There are a few more tile remnants around the city which I'll be looking at in due course.

  Another defunct cellar drop, this time outside what was (in its final licensed incarnation) the CT2 Bar & Terrace. Before that this pub had many names over a shortish period of time but for most of its history it was the Rose and Crown. I seem to remember it didn’t have a very good reputation towards the last part of its life as the Rose & Crown which may have been the reason for its renaming.

Former Rose & Crown cellar drop.

  Templar House at 81 St. Dunstan’s is one of those buildings which I keep meaning to find out more about...

 

Templar House.

  One of the city’s few ‘ghost signs’ can be seen above the current street sign for Linden Grove. As this thoroughfare is named as Linden Grove on the 1907 O.S. map it seems that it hasn’t been Water Lane for over 110 years which makes its survival all the more baffling.

  Another ghost sign at number 88 is now pretty hard to read with any certainty. I think this has deteriorated in the past few years as I am sure I have a photo where it is more legible. This property was occupied by Sidney Terry electrician, and later electrical engineer, from at least 1917 until 1961 and I can possibly make out the word ‘Electricic…’ amongst the faded lettering.

  Yet another cellar drop for a former public house, this time the Gun Tavern. Given that this ceased to trade as a pub in around 1912 it does make you wonder why this hasn’t been removed in the intervening years.

Former Gun Tavern cellar drop

  Finally, to conclude this walk. a nice reminder of Canterbury’s former county status at the entrance to the Westgate Gardens. There’s more of course, but for another time.

 

 

 

Canterbury Water Works Cover Plates

Still looking down, and inspired by the water works article written by David Lewis on the CHAS website   ( http://canterbury-buildings.org.uk/#/res-water-works/4581731437 ) I've been spending some time seeking out CWW cover plates around the city. So far, quite a few - in no particular order:

Black Griffin Lane (next to the pub - shown in the above linked article).
St. Margaret's Street (the only larger sized one found so far - shown in the above linked article).
St. Peter's Street (outside the Anglican Church).
Castle Street (footpath opposite Three Tuns).
Hawk's Lane (as it joins Stour Street).
Rosemary Lane (two in the road where it joins Castle Street).
Pound Lane (by the Westgate, the WW is rather faint).
St. George's Place (outside the cinema).
St. Peter's Street (outside Benji's - west of All Saints Lane).
High Street (in the road between Lloyds and the Chequers).
White Horse Lane (outside the Foundry).
St. John's Lane (in the road towards the Marlowe Avenue end).
Cossington Road (in the road outside the Phoenix).
Knotts Lane (junction with St. Radigund's Street).
St. Radigund's Street (in the road east of the car park entrance).

There is also a plate just outside the Master's Lodge in St. Peter's Street with the initials MWW. Margate? Maidstone? A little mystery there....

 

 

Down at Your Feet

Plenty of reminders of the past may be seen in the pavements and street surfaces of the city - here are a few examples:

Black Griffin Lane

St. Margaret's Street

     Access covers likely to be attributed to the Canterbury Water Works which was located in Wincheap and which now houses Dunelm Mill in a replica of the original building. The smaller one  is in Black Griffin Lane 
next to the pub; the larger one may be found in St. Margaret's Street near Waterstone's.  

Stour Street

            A fire hydrant cover cast by Biggleston of Canterbury. This is in Stour Street near the old Two Brewers pub. This firm was active in Canterbury between 1835 and 1963. The Oaten Hill & District Society have published a booklet about the firm and more information can also be found on the Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society website - link on the right.

The Parade

This coal hole cover is located outside the Flight Centre on the Parade. This shop now occupies part of what is thought to be a pilgrim's inn similar to the famous Chequers which is situated diagonally opposite. This cover is likely to date from the 1880's, and was manufactured by Clark, Hunt & Co. of Shoreditch who, founded in 1838, called themselves the Middlesex Iron Works.

King Street

There are many of these concrete access covers dotted about the city. Rediffusion was a cable television company active between 1928 and 1988 and was particularly active in the south east once commercial television was given the go-ahead in 1954. Presumably these covers date from the later part of the company's lifespan? This one is in King Street on the corner with Blackfriars Street. 

St. Dunstan's Street.

 An airtight inspection cover branded with the name of A. Wiltshier, Builder, Canterbury. At some point this firm was located in Stour Street where the much lamented Chromos was until recently situated. There is still the faint outline of the firm's painted sign above one of the doors of the building. Other than this though, I can't find much recent reference to this company and so do not know how old this cover is. It is tucked away in a private car park off St. Dunstan's Street, the entrance of which is opposite Orchard Street.

Canterbury County Council Boundary Stones (2)

Following on from the previous post, these are the ten stones in existence that I am currently aware of.

Beverley Meadow (south west edge) 3c 1890
Beverley Meadow (south east edge)  3d 189?
St. Stephen's railway crossing            3g 1899
Langton Lane                                    26a  undated
Church Lane, Nackington                 29   .....
Orchard near Merton Farm               30   .....
'A copse south of Thanington'          ...    .....
South bank of Stour at Wincheap     33? 1890
North bank of Stour at Wincheap     33g undated
Cherry Garden Road                        (illegible)

Where ? indicates an uncertain inscription and ... indicates the inscription has yet to be seen by me.

I picked this map up today from the Westgate Hall collectors' fair. The red line marks the extent of the 'Liberties of the City of Canterbury' although I'm not sure that this is analogous to the C.C.C. boundary discussed here. The south west boundary certainly doesn't seem to match up with some of the stones listed above. Unfortunately the dealer I obtained it from did not know of its source; it is certainly pre-1846 (and probably pre-1830) as no railways are shown. The presence of the barracks gives an earliest date of 1794 which was when construction of the cavalry barracks commenced. 

Update: The map is taken from the Topographical Dictionary, circa 1850. Drawn by R. Creighton and engraved by J. & C. Walker. The green line shows the boundary of the old borough, the red line the boundary of the new borough. Now I just need to find out what 'old' and 'new' refer to!

Second Update: The map is a copy of an 1832 Boundary Commission report: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/sheet/bc_reports_1832_v2/Kent_Canterbury

Map of Canterbury taken from the Topographical Dictionary c.1850

Canterbury County Council Boundary Stones (1)

In 1448 the reigning monarch Henry VI awarded Canterbury a city charter which allowed it to have a mayor. In 1461, not to be outdone by his Lancastrian rival for the throne, Edward IV decreed by his charter that the city should henceforth, indeed ‘for ever’ become a county in its own right, independent of Kent. This state of affairs lasted until April 1974 when reorganisation brought about by the Local Government Act of 1972 abolished Canterbury's status as both city and county. History and standing were not to be denied however and in May 1974 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II confirmed by charter the rank of 'City' be accorded once again.

The earlier reorganisation that took place following the Local Government Act of 1888 did not affect Canterbury's County status as it remained separate from the newly created County Council of Kent. This may have been a somewhat unexpected turn of events as stone boundary markers that were placed to demarcate Canterbury's limit of influence all seem to be dated from around this time. Did the stones represent an act of civic pride, or defiance? Or was tradition (represented by the ancient custom of 'beating the bounds') seen as not to be relied upon without stout markers, the boundaries having been previously marked by wooden crosses?

In any case, some of these CCC marker stones still remain to be seen today. Personal observation and the work of others published on the internet has yielded ten so far, all of a similar style and, as far as can be made out, date. Many more are marked on the 1:2500 Godfrey Edition Canterbury 1906 Old Ordnance Survey Map but much fieldwork (or rambling about if I'm honest) is required to locate further survivors.

For now, here is one of them, located at the St. Stephen's railway crossing.

C.C.C. Boundary Marker 3g 1899