Bank Street

Bull Yard gates

Return down Castle Street, along Upper High Street to the top of Bank Street.

Look for a black gate with bulls heads detailed into the design at 75 High Street, to the south of Kings Parade that was built as the Pied Bull. This is Bull Yard and was one of the original cattle droving routes to market.

Walking down Bank Street, on the left opposite Middle Row, is the Whitfeld Hall. Erected as a memorial to Mr. Henry Whitfeld the Hall was opened March, 1874. It was enlarged in 1893, when a billiard room and gymnasium were added. The hall was used for public meetings and lectures, and held 250 persons; the Ashford Institute used of the hall.

At the end of Bank Street is Ashford’s ‘shared-space’, the UK’s first desegregated road scheme that  since 2008 has given pedestrians and motorists equal priority.

Trafalgar House, to the left, was the site of adjacent Corn Exchange and the site of the Picturehouse Cinema was home to the Cattle Market from 1856, when it moved from Lower High Street, until 1993 when it made way for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

In the public realm between the Picture House and the Travelodge Hotel are a pair of the original posts from the market gates and a statue of Queen Marie of Romania, who was born at Eastwell Park.

The walk to Victoria Park is 600m via steps or a long ramp. If you are restricted for time or might find the return climb difficult you can continue along Elwick Road at this point.

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