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Ashford, Kent

Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom^[2]. It lies on the River Great Stour, M20 motorway, South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most important in the county. Ashford is a relatively common English placename: it goes back to Old English æscet, indicating a ford near a clump of ash-trees.

History

As a market town, Ashford has for centuries been a local communications hub for surrounding villages and has stood at the centre of five railway lines, (Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line, Swanley to Ashford (via Maidstone East) Line, South Eastern Main Line, Kent Coast Line and the Marshlink Line) since the 19th century and with the opening of the International Passenger Station is now an important European communications centre, with new lines running between London and the Channel Tunnel (via High Speed 1).

The Borough of Ashford lies on the eastern edge of the ancient forest of "Andredsweald" or "Anderida". This originally stretched as far west as Hampshire and formed the basis from which the Weald is formed.

It is likely that the town originates from an original settlement established in 893AD by inhabitants escaping a Danish Viking raid on the nearby ancient village of Great Chart (Seleberhtes Cert in 762AD), although a Roman road passed through here from the iron making area to Canterbury. It is listed in the Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, as having a church, two mills and a value of 150 shillings, under its original Saxon name of "Essetesford" (or "Eshetisford," "Esselesford", "Asshatisforde", "Essheford").^[5] The manor was owned by Hugh de Montford, Constable of England at the time. Writer Philpot believed Essetesford stood for "ash trees growing near a ford", while Lampard, a 16th century local historian, suggested that it meant "a ford over the river Eshe or Eshet", which was the old name for the tributary of the River Stour between Lenham and Ashford.

Its closeness to London has always made Kent a strong influence on the capital, and vice versa. Thus by the end of the 16th century Cade (of Cade’s Rebellion) was credited by William Shakespeare in Henry VI, part 2 as being from Ashford. The play includes an Ashford butcher called "Dick" who looks forward to removing officialdom after the rebellion and says: first thing, let’s kill all the lawyers.

Ashford’s importance as a growing agricultural and market town was confirmed in 1243 when it was incorporated, and by the end of the 16th century it had risen to become an important market town, primarily for livestock. The market was held in the High Street until 1856 when local farmers and businessmen relocated to Elwick Road and formed a market company that claims to be the oldest surviving registered company in England and Wales. There is still a regular street market in the town, although the market company has relocated outside the town and is used by some 5,000 farmers.^[6]

Parts of the parish church date from the 13th century but was substantially restored in the 15th century with many alterations since. In 1638 a free grammar school was founded here, it was built on the churchyard’s west side, and remained there until 1846, now used as a museum.

During World War II Ashford's importance as a transportation (railway) hub and its location between the Continent and London made it a target for bombing by the Luftwaffe.

The Joint Services School of Intelligence was based at Templar Barracks in Ashford, until the barracks were decommissioned in 1997 and then demolished to make way for High Speed 1.^[7] In 1982, Prince Andrew, Duke of York was involved with the "School".

Geography

Ashford lies in a valley at the confluence of the Rivers Upper Great Stour and East Stour, where the River Great Stour is formed and turns northwards to go through the Stour Gap in the North Downs towards Canterbury, Sandwich, and the English Channel. To the south lies the Weald.

The original town of Ashford, in common with most such towns, has outgrown its original size and has combined with smaller villages in a conurbation. These villages include Bockhanger, Kennington, Sevington, Singleton, and Willesborough. In addition, housing estates have been built in the open spaces amongst Bybrook, Godinton, Kingsnorth, Park Farm, and Stanhope.

Essentially a modern town, little is left of the old Ashford town centre, apart from some mediaeval half-timbered buildings in Middle Row and around the churchyard in the town centre. A number of old buildings were removed to make way for the controversial ring road around the centre, built in the early 1970s. Three modern shopping centres are located in the town: Park Mall, County Square, and the new Designer Outlet. Bank Street and High Street are traffic-free shopping thoroughfares.

The increase in the town's commercial importance, as well as its strategic location, is witnessed by the number of industry, business, and retail parks in the town. These include Waterbrook, a 740,000-m² (183-acre) site for production, storage and distribution with a freight clearance facility; Eureka Science and Business Park, including manufacturing sites and prestige office complexes; the 570,000-m² (141-acres) Orbital Park; the Ashford Designer Outlet shopping centre, which has won a design award; and fourteen other business parks and industrial estates. There is also a factory of Campbell Soup UK producing Batchelor's Soup.

The 2007 Kent earthquake, which registered 4.3 on the Richter scale, was felt in Ashford, though its effects were greatest in Folkestone.

Climate

Rainfall in the area is highly influenced by the North Downs and the High Weald. In the summer (June to September) the rainfall is more showery, falling over shorter periods and is normally more intense than in the winter (November to February), where it comes along with low pressure area frontal systems and falls over longer periods of time.^[8]

Transport

The National Cycle Network, a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom, includes two routes through Ashford: NCR 17 - Rochester - Maidstone - Ashford - Hythe; and NCR 18 - Canterbury - Ashford - Tenterden - Tunbridge Wells.

Health

William Harvey Hospital, named after the doctor who discovered the blood circulatory system, is in Willesborough. It is the district general hospital, and was commissioned in 1977.^[11]

Education

Ashford is home to nineteen primary schools (One including St.Teresa's) and six secondary schools. There are also two colleges of Further education and three of the secondary schools have Sixth Form education included.

The John Wesley School for primary education, built on the junction of Chart Road/Cuckoo Lane, Singleton, opened in September 2007.

In June 2006, because of there being 1,007 empty school places in Ashford, Kent County Council discussed the Kent Primary Strategy proposing merging Ashford South Primary School and Oak Tree Primary School, also suggested for amalgamation are Beaver Green Infant and Hopewell Junior schools^[12] No further information is forthcoming (January 2008).

Now, 2008, Beaver Green Infants and Hopewell Juniors have joined to form Beaver Green Community Primary School, the head teacher being A. Macey.

Future development of the town

Ashford is one of the fastest growing areas in England, with rapid growth in the population and the infrastructure needed to support the town.^{[citation needed]} (For the development of the M20 motorway around Ashford, Junction 10 and the new Junction 10a see the M20 development article). In 2004 Regional Planning Guidance for Ashford set out plans to deliver over 13,000 homes by 2016. Overall, the area has the capacity to deliver a total of 31,000 new homes and 28,000 new jobs by 2031.^[13] New housing estates are planned, in particular the area of Cheeseman's Green, to the east of the town. The town's ring road, with the town centre sitting as an island, was converted back into a two-way operation in 2007, after 30 years as a one way system, at a cost of £10m. ^[14] This will allow the town centre to expand and accommodate the increasing population.^[10] The new two-way route incorporates the first shared space scheme in the country ^[15] . An integral arts program, Lost O, curated by the artist Michael Pinsky, was developed as part of this scheme but has been highly controversial ^[16] and has now been removed from the road to avoid confusion by the passing drivers. The main shopping centre, County Square, has been expanded and opened mid 2008. It is twice the size of the original and houses many well-known stores. In addition a new Waitrose store is set to open in 2009. The nightclub M20, is to be rebuilt on a new site on Eureka Leisure Park. The new train line High Speed One will access London in 37 minutes^[17]. Preview services launched in July 2009, and the full service is due December 2009.

Culture

Bad Münstereifel in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, (population 19,007) twinned since 1964. (See the German language page for Bad Münstereifel and the town's location on Multimap.)

Fougères in Brittany, France, (population 21,779) twinned since 1984. (See the French language page for Fougères and the town's location on Multimap)

Hopewell, Virginia, USA, (population 22,354) twinned since 1994. (See the town's location on Multimap)

Local media

Ashford has one local commercial radio station, KMFM Ashford. The Ashford studios also host programmes for other KMFM stations in East Kent. The town is also served by county wide stations BBC Radio Kent, Heart Kent and Gold.

There are three local newspapers in Ashford - the Kentish Express, published by the KM Group; yourashford, published by KOS Media; and the Ashford Herald, published by Kent Regional News and Media. This started publication in 2009, replacing the Ashford Adscene.

Sport

Ashford Town Football Club formed around 1880 as Ashford United and has changed names to Ashford Railway and Ashford FC before settling on the current "Town". The club's highest league position was 18th in the Southern League, Premier Division, 1987-88 and best FA Cup performance was the 2nd round in the 1962-63, 1966-67 and 1995-96 seasons.

Ashford Hockey Club is based at Ball Lane, Kennington and were formed in 1898.

Ashford Town Swimming Club

Ashford Rugby Club, based in Kennington. The club has a thriving junior section: Ashford Rugby Under 15s. The Club organises an annual beer festival: a 3 day event, held each August, featuring real ale, music and rugby.

The Julie Rose Stadium is in Willesborough: it is an athletics stadium and home to Ashford Athletics Club.

Ashford Archers

Luke Southern junior golf champion

Notable people

Ashford has housed many musicians, from skiffle band Mungo Jerry founder, Ray Dorset, Chart-topping pop-punk band Dum Dums (band) founder Josh Doyle to the organists and composers Sir Sydney Nicholson and Sir Malcolm Sargent. Roger Dean the artist featured on Yes' album covers, Frederick Forsyth the author of The Day of the Jackal and Dudley Pope, a writer, were born in the town. Actors, Patsy Byrne (Nursie in the sitcom Blackadder II) and Mark Rylance were born in the area, with other personalities from the town including satirist John Wells from That Was The Week That Was and Bob Holness, a television presenter. Ben Mills also lived in Kent and was third on the X-Factor third series. Leon Camier, a British Superbike racer, also hails from Ashford. Comedians Paul O'Grady and Julian Clary are local residents, as well as Shooting Stars presenters 'Vic and Bob' who live in the surrounding area. Arsenal F.C Assistant Physiotherapist Neal Reynolds is from Ashford. Birmingham City F.C Defender Roger Johnson was born in Ashford, Kent.

Notable people of the area from the past

Poets, Alfred Austin (Poet Laureate in 1896), John Fuller lived in the town. Philosopher Simone Weil also lived here; upon contracting tuberculosis she was moved to a sanatorium at Kennington, and declared the town "a beautiful place to die", later being recognised by the town's council naming a road after her. Dr John Wallis, the internationally recognised mathematician was here.

Ashford has recently produced many sporting athletes, from Asafa Powell (Commonwealth Gold 100m athletics event winner) to Jamie Staff (BMX cycling World Champion and Track cycling multi medal winner).