Local History Group’s Contribution: History of the Association

The Oaten Hill & District Society was formed in 1974 in response to the loss by redevelopment of important local buildings. The catalyst was a planning application to convert the house known as The Shrubbery, at the corner of Oaten Hill and Upper Chantry Lane to offices.

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A Steering Committee of local residents was formed and a constitution adopted :
    •  To preserve the distinctive village character of the area.
    •  To enable members of the community to control their physical environment.
    •  To promote a balance between residential and commercial interests.
    •  To inform local residents of facilities open to them for improving their property.
    •  To provide a forum for residents.

Early champions of the local environment and concern for the area’s history were Doris Hughes and Nikki Young. The Society/Association has recorded their contributions by erecting plaques and planting trees – for Nikki at the junction of Upper Chantry Lane and New Dover Road and for Doris on the green at the bottom of Ivy Lane near the Chaucer Hotel.

The Society merged with the South Canterbury Residents Association in 2017 to form the Oaten Hill & South Canterbury Association.

Not unmindful of the ancient history of the locality, the Oaten Hill Local History Group was formed and archives established including photographic and other records of noteworthy streets and buildings, oral recordings with transcripts of over 100 local residents and a series of books detailing local notable families, the Taylors, Bigglestons and Holmans, together with the histories of local streets, Nunnery Fields, Old Dover Road, Longport, Ivy Lane, Oaten Hill and Dover Street.

The demise in the mid 1990’s of the much loved Woods Hardware Store in Dover Street was recorded by the Society by a video of interviews of Mrs Wood and customers and much of the surplus stock was transferred to the Beany Museum for the recreation of the ambiance of the store.

The Society also was successful in naming Bigglestons Link and Holmans Meadow Car Park, later augmented by the Local History Group’s Heritage sign board illustrating the firm’s history of windmill construction and later of agricultural (mainly steam driven) machines.

A further way of familiarizing residents with the history of Oaten Hill is the provision of accompanied walks around the area. Many walks were organized by Doris Hughes and Michael Steed, including the history of the “Tudor Tyrants”.

In 2019 the History Group’s “The Story of Oaten Hill” was awarded the Hayes Canterbury Award as the the best historical or archaeological publication of the year. To mark the 50th anniversary, an accompanied walk around Oaten Hill by the principal author of the book, David Potter, will take place on 1st September.

With the exception of the Taylor family, the books, transcripts and other archival materials are available from history@ohsca.org.