Post by Leofwine on Oct 23, 2010 4:51:43 GMT
I think this map of Brompton dates to around 1700-08. The dating is difficult to to establish as very little of Brompton seems to actually have been established by this date, although it's street plan had been laid out by the military in connection with the proposed line of fortifications and also to supply housing for workers in the dockyard. The Teamster's yard and stables near the Dockyard gate seem to be the oldest buildings in Brompton, certainly there before 1685, and probably there around the time the Dockyard was established on its present site in 1622 (in late 20th century this was the site of the Esso garage on Dock Road, and more recently just fenced off waste ground.) The fact that the Prince of Orange is shown on the Garden Street suggests a date after c.1685-8 (when this pub was built.) However, the deeds of 6 Garden Street give a date of about 1706 for it's construction, and, according to the deeds, 2-4 Prospect Row were built between 1711 & 1714, but none of these are shown on the map. The Golden Lion at the corner of Westcourt Street and the High Street was also probably built around 1700-1720.
Unfortunately I have yet to come across any other information on how much of central Brompton was built during 17th century, and the oldest surviving buildings in the High Street are from about the second quarter of the 18th century. Surviving buildings in other parts of Brompton (apart from those mentioned and others in Prospect Row) are all mid-18th century or later. Therefore I'm not certain if the areas of housing shown on the map are 17th century buildings that were replaced a few decades later, or whether it shows plots waiting to be built upon.
I suspect that the buildings shown on the North (Left) side of Wood Street and some other parts of Brompton may have actually been built at the time, but the large blocks of the central part may just represent plots waiting to be built on, as the layout is slightly different from the way the village developed later in the 18th century. I get the impression that most of the housebuilding in Brompton was Georgian with later Victorian additions and replacements of earlier buildings, although one source does hint at a settlement growing rapidly from about 1625 onwards.
If anyone has any information/references on actual buildings in Brompton in the 1625-1730 period, I would love to see it as this is a bit of a mystery period in the history of the village.
The map shows a number of intersting features:
1) To the Left of Brompton you can see the woodland that gave Wood Street its name. This woodland would later become Brompton Barracks.
2) The gardens (orchards) that gave Garden Street its name are shown.
3) The brickfields that are thought to have supplied the bricks to build the Lines are shown with kilns, suggesting the brickfields actually pre-date the Lines by some time. Perhaps bricks from these fields were used to build the Dockyard.
4) There are no barracks in the area at this date.
5) The area that will later become Melville Hospital/Barracks/Court appears to be an old chalk pit fill of trees, possibly an orchard.
6) There is line of trees/field boundary defining the line of what would become Prospect Row and the Garrison Hospital/Upper Barracks, and near this a strange feature that looks like standing stones (see www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=7852.0 )
Unfortunately I have yet to come across any other information on how much of central Brompton was built during 17th century, and the oldest surviving buildings in the High Street are from about the second quarter of the 18th century. Surviving buildings in other parts of Brompton (apart from those mentioned and others in Prospect Row) are all mid-18th century or later. Therefore I'm not certain if the areas of housing shown on the map are 17th century buildings that were replaced a few decades later, or whether it shows plots waiting to be built upon.
I suspect that the buildings shown on the North (Left) side of Wood Street and some other parts of Brompton may have actually been built at the time, but the large blocks of the central part may just represent plots waiting to be built on, as the layout is slightly different from the way the village developed later in the 18th century. I get the impression that most of the housebuilding in Brompton was Georgian with later Victorian additions and replacements of earlier buildings, although one source does hint at a settlement growing rapidly from about 1625 onwards.
If anyone has any information/references on actual buildings in Brompton in the 1625-1730 period, I would love to see it as this is a bit of a mystery period in the history of the village.
The map shows a number of intersting features:
1) To the Left of Brompton you can see the woodland that gave Wood Street its name. This woodland would later become Brompton Barracks.
2) The gardens (orchards) that gave Garden Street its name are shown.
3) The brickfields that are thought to have supplied the bricks to build the Lines are shown with kilns, suggesting the brickfields actually pre-date the Lines by some time. Perhaps bricks from these fields were used to build the Dockyard.
4) There are no barracks in the area at this date.
5) The area that will later become Melville Hospital/Barracks/Court appears to be an old chalk pit fill of trees, possibly an orchard.
6) There is line of trees/field boundary defining the line of what would become Prospect Row and the Garrison Hospital/Upper Barracks, and near this a strange feature that looks like standing stones (see www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=7852.0 )
