Ashford

Why Live in Ashford?

Ashford was once a modest market town at a crossing point on the Kentish Stour ,the cattle market charter dates from 1243 when there were drovers routes in from the surrounding villages throughout the middle ages . By the 1600’s Ashford had several successful families and in 1663 Sir Norton Knatchbull started an Ashford school. That building is now the Ashford Museum, the Norton Knatchbull school continues in the town today with 5 other secondary schools. In the 1840’s Ashford was transformed by the arrival of the railway; connecting Ashford to London and the channel ports ; the market moved to be alongside the railway and everything travelled by train; Ashford had a railway works building engines and wagons for over 150 years. Today it is still a centre of railway engineering expertise. In the 1990’s Ashford became the centre for High Speed Rail which carved through the town , moving the market once again: to an out of town site on the new Orbital industrial park ,connecting to the recently opened M20 motorway. By 2009 South East trains were running high speed between Ashford and London cutting the journey from 1hr10 to 38 minutes.

The former market area along the railway is now multi screen cinema and event destination space, and part of the former railway works is now a landmark designer outlet centre created by the international architect Richard Rogers.

With a wide range of shopping and eating at the outlet centre , a range of supermarkets across the town and thriving industrial and retail parks, Ashford has attracted a lot of new build housing widening the choice in the town. As Kent has a thriving tourist industry there is also much to see and do out and about in what used to be known as the garden of Kent, that has become the vineyards of Kent.