19, Maidstone Road

This is a cottage dating from around 1820, with an addition built in the mid-19th century. The structure is timber-framed and has been covered in weatherboarding, with a hipped tiled roof and brick chimneystacks. The original part of the cottage is two storeys high and has two windows. A north-facing addition provides one further window and is also two storeys in height.

The front elevation retains its original architraves. The ground floor windows are original sixteen-pane sashes; the first-floor sashes have been replaced by 20th-century casement windows. A central porch features an original ogee-headed timber roof, an acorn finial, and latticework panels. The original six-panelled door is complemented by a door knocker and stone steps. A single window is visible on the south side of the ground floor, retaining its original surround but with a replacement casement window. The rear (east) elevation displays a pair of brick chimneystacks integrated into the wall. The north stack remains, complete with chimneypots, while the south stack has been removed above eaves level. A small casement window sits between the two stacks. A single-bay extension, clad in weatherboarding with a hipped slate roof, is set back to the north and contains one original casement window.

The interior of the cottage has not been inspected.

A building is depicted on this site on the 1843 Tithe Map, and both the cottage and its north extension are clearly shown, along with a garden, on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map. At that time, the property was known as Gibraltar Cottage. The building was then surrounded by fields to the south, a chalk pit to the east, and a blacksmith’s shop to the north. Charles Dickens resided nearby at Ordnance Place between 1817 and 1821 and played in these fields, later replaced by the railway and station. He may have observed the building before his family relocated to London, as mentioned in one of his magazine articles.