PAULCRAMPTON’SCANTERBURY A look at Wincheap Grove in the 50s and 60s

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This week, we continue the series showing preparations for the construction of the Rheims Way. The first photo, from the late 1950s, features the terraced houses to be found at the bottom half of Wincheap Grove. This was a short, sloping lane that came off Castle Street, close to the castle itself. To the left of the picture are Meadow Cottages that, like the rest of the houses here, date from the second quarter of the 19th century. At the end of the lane are gates that access allotments and the River Stour. This was also the dumping ground for coke waste from the nearby gas works. To the right of the first photo is the junction into Church Lane St. Mildred’s, which led onto Stour Street. Standing at the junction is an unpainted cottage that was once the Foresters Arms public house closed many years before. The second picture moves on to April 1961. It was taken at the top and from the junction with Castle Street. Note the slope down to Wincheap Grove. Along the slope, to the right, the rendered cottages of Nos. 1 to 15 Wincheap Grove can be seen. By this time, they were already roofless and stripped out prior to demolition. In construction and appearance, these cottages would have been almost iden- tical to those seen in St. Peter’s Place today. Also note that, at the far end, Meadow Cottages have already gone. After demolition was completed, vast quantities of earth would need to be shipped in to level the ground and prepare it for the construction of the new dual carriageway.