Great Chart
Great Chart photos (11 available)
Great Chart maps (2 available)
Map of Kent
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Great Chart books (30 available)
- 5 photos on Great Chart appear in 4 Frith books - View photos of Great Chart
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Great Chart and Kent
Great Chart memories
Read and share memories of Great Chart and Kent inspired by Frith photos
Be the first to add a memory of Great Chart.
You can also read memories of nearby places in Kent below.
Kent memories
East Hill old cotts
I visited the nursery quite a lot, we knew the people who work there. I was only ten years old. I remembered the pub up the road, Duke of Marlborough. Where have the good memories gone, from Malcolm Read.
east hill
i can remember visiting this nursery on east hill. It belonged to my grandfather and I spent many happy days going around the plants with him, I remember him growing yellow tomatoes. His two elderly sisters lived in the cottage. Can anyone else remember this nursery it was demolished in the 60's and was made a car park.
A memory of Ashford contributed by anne wylie
High street
I can remember being taken shopping in the High Street, to Sainsbury's before it was a supermarket. There were tiled floors and walls, wooden counters with cheeses, cold meats and bacon, and the assistants wore their hair in nets or hats. There were seats for the elderly customers and nothing was ready-packaged.
A memory of Ashford contributed by Jacqueline Selcoe
Lovelace family
I am searching for any references or memories relating to the LOVELACE family
I am told there was a Lovelace Place and a Lovelace Chapel in the Roman Catholic church. If any person has any such knowledge, please contact me via this site.
A memory of Bethersden contributed by Joyce Wightman
Extracts From Great Chart & Kent books
Situated two and a half miles from Ashford church, Swinford takes its name from a ford for swine. The manor house dates back to the 13th century, and formed part of a large estate. Its most famous resident was the poet Alfred Austin, who was Poet Laureate from 1896 to 1913. His most well known work is 'The Garden That I Love'. Critics, however, described him as 'snobbish and tasteless'.
An extract from from"Kent Revisited Photographic Memories".
Although only just outside Ashford, Great Chart, along with its neighbour Little Chart, retains its traditional village character. However, it was once a more substantial settlement and a significant market centre for the locality. This street scene shows some fine red brick, tile-hung, ivy-clad houses with beautiful old chimneys, lining the left-hand side of the road. Various villagers have paused and are deliberately posing for the cameraman.
An extract from from"Villages of Kent Photographic Memories".
Here we see some fine brick houses, some with decorative bargeboards and Flemish-style gables. The landlord of the Swan Inn - the pub sign is in the centre of the photograph - was a Mr Beaney in 1908. The two men deep in conversation are clearly posed. Even the road sweeper has momentarily stopped work. Beyond the houses, across the fields, the roofs of Ashford can be seen.
An extract from from"Villages of Kent Photographic Memories".
The church is close to
the photographer, yet he
is obviously in a rural
location. This shows how
comparatively small
Ashford was a century
ago. Will growth on a
similar scale take place
over the next hundred years?
An extract from from"Hythe, Romney Marsh and Ashford Photographic Memories".
This photograph was
taken a century ago, and
a world away from the
same road today, which
seems at times like a
public motor-racing
circuit - it is now part of
the Ashford ring road.
Again we see attentive
pedestrians, and manure
going to waste in the roof!
An extract from from"Hythe, Romney Marsh and Ashford Photographic Memories".