Tuesday 26 March 2013

Bygone Tonbridge


This is an interesting drawing by George E Mackley depicting the area in front of The Chequers Inn in Tonbridge High Street. The Market Place was lost to the building of a new town hall that was demolished for road widening.

If you look carefully, the entrance to Castle Street is visible next to the building on the far right, and The Chequers Inn is still recognisable.  It seems that this part of the High Street was once the main gathering and trading area, and a busy space to place the town stocks, where the accused was at the mercy of the mob to be pelted with anything that could fit in their hands, especially rotten fruit and vegetables, dead rodents etc.

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