On the High Street in 1873

I have moved a little south from Well Hall and am wandering the High Street sometime in 1873.

It is a scene we will return to in detail later.

For now what strikes you perhaps more than anything is the absence of Well Hall Road which today runs down from the High Street past the church and off in a straight line down to Well Hall.  This was to be cut much later.

In the 1870s this spot would have been dominated by  St John’s to the west and opposite the vicarage, while beyond this point heading east would have been a collection of fine houses, not so fine houses  and the smithy and National School.

Picture; the High Street from the OS map of Kent, sheet 08, 1858-73, First Edition