Anger as historic gate removed

Residents are furious that a much-admired Victorian kissing gate near Canterbury East Station has been ripped out.

The cast iron period feature on a path linking Rhodaus Close and Lansdown Road suddenly vanished overnight last week, with the gap crudely bricked up.

Thought to date back to the turn of the century, it was regularly used as a shortcut through the car park but rail firm Southeastern says it was taken out for health and safety reasons.

Janet Thomas, of nearby Norman Road, said: “I’ve lived here for 40 years and the gate was a real quirky feature and added a bit of character to the area.

“Everyone around here is appalled that it has just been ripped out without any warning. It is a piece of the city’s history and we want to know what has happened to it.

“There is also an issue of right of way now that the gap has been bricked up. It’s been used for gen- erations so what permission did they get?”

The removal of the gate along the Lansdown Road Path also prompted numerous complaints on the Canterbury Residents’ Group Facebook page.

Gazette history writer Paul Crampton believes the kissing gate was installed after the stationed was opened in 1860, although he discovered that it does not appear on an 1874 Ordinance Survey map.

He said: “It was probably made by Bigglesden in the city, which was responsible for a lot of the wrought iron railings and lampposts.

“The path is actually an ancient right of way so there are questions there to be answered. I suspect the reason it might have been removed is because there was quite a big step down coming through the gate, where someone might have fallen, raising health and safety concerns,

“It is also disappointing the wall has been bricked up so crudely with no sympathetic effort to match the existing Victorian brickwork.”

Southeastern spokesman Becky Endacott says the gate was considered to be dangerous as it was near an uneven step.

“It was made of cast iron, and therefore difficult to alter, so the removal and blocking up of the entrance was considered the most practical solution,” she added.

What do you think? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup. co.uk or write to Gazette House, 5-8 Boorman Way, Wraik Hill, Whitstable, CT5 3SE.

The Victorian kissing gate which has been ripped out... and the gap where it used to be bricked up