Sad loss of beautiful old Corn Exchange

In recent years there has been an ongoing trend up and down the country of designated office developments, which can be something like 40, 50 or 60 years old, being turned into living accommodation – and Ashford is no exception.

The last few years have seen the former home of onetime mining giant Charter Consolidated, formerly Charter House, being converted into apartments. The landmark structure was deemed controversial when it was built in the early 1970s but its conversion into flats suffered delay after delay, making the building perhaps even more controversial than when it was first constructed.

We also saw the former Tax Office, otherwise known as the Crown Building, converted into apartments at around the same time – a project that went without a hitch.

What’s so significant about Ashford doing this you may ask?

The significance is that prime office space is being given over to residential use, only to see more prime office space being approved for construction down the road – namely elements of the new Commercial Quarter to be built on the former Crouch’s Garage site in Station Road.

Ashford’s beautiful old Corn Exchange in Elwick Road was sacrificed in the early 1960s to make way for a new office development and home for insurer Commercial Union.

Latterly, the building known as Trafalgar House was used by Ashford Urban District Council and latterly Ashford Borough Council prior to their departure from Elwick Road to the Civic Centre in 1983.

Trafalgar House is itself now being converted into living accommodation.

I don’t want to be the pooper of the local authority’s party and celebration of these new projects, there are just some elements that really make you ask ….. why?

I am of the view that provided the relevant research has been done for new projects then fair enough, but what I wouldn’t want to see is projects such as the Commercial Quarter built – and then the offices which are part of the plans, in turn converted into apartments in a couple of years.

I believe tenants for the offices have already been secured ... great if they have, but let’s make sure we keep the development for their original intended use.

This week’s Remember When looks back at Trafalgar House when initially built for Commercial Union, and the much-missed Corn Exchange before that.

Do you have any photographs or slides that you would be willing to lend me, to enable them to be scanned and featured in the Kentish Express? Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, 34-36 North Street, Ashford TN24 8JR, email me at rememberwhen_kmash@ hotmail.co.uk or follow me on Twitter @SteveKMAshford. Or you can also leave a telephone message for me with brief details by calling 01233 623232.

The Corn Exchange in Elwick Road, 1952. One would hope the powers-that-be are kicking themselves for allowing the destruction of this one-time local gem. The Corn Exchange stood where Trafalgar House stands today, a building currently being converted...

Elwick Road, 1967, and a picture showing the uninspiring rectangular box of a building that replaced the ornate Corn Exchange. The building has until recently been used as an office block with various tenants. It is currently being converted into...

Elwick Road in 1958. By 1965, the beautiful Corn Exchange had been flattened and plans submitted by insurer Commercial Union for a replacement building had been approved. This view gives an idea of the way the Corn Exchange’s interior looked. If it...