A Virtual Museum - Your Town, the Borough and its History
windows cobham street
windows cobham street

General Description

In addition to the northern part of Darnley Road itself, this area also includes Cobham Street and Darnley Street.

History

This area developed as a residential expansion of the town, built on former market gardens which in 1830 separated the popular resort of Windmill Hill from the town. The buildings date largely from 1840 to 1860, with Darnley Road by 1880 forming an important residential thoroughfare. The development of Darnley Street occurred later towards the end of the century.

Character

The area is characterised by early 19th Century terraced houses and Victorian paired villas. It comprises two distinctive areas: the first, Darnley Road, running north-south, forming the principal street and an important route into Gravesend town centre; the second, Cobham Street and Darnley Street each running west-east. Their residential function and the type of materials and architectural detailing however unite these two essentially linear areas. The prevalent construction material is yellow stock brick, but some buildings have rendered facades. Those in brickwork typically have rendered quoins, and door and window surrounds. Other features include ornamental cornices, contrasting brick patterning, bay windows, brick boundary walls and iron railings. The difference between the two areas lies mainly in the variation and interplay in building scale, plot size and spacing.
house on darnley road
house on darnley road


Buildings in Darnley Road are predominantly large two and three storey paired Victorian villas in extensive plots and set well back from the road. Landscaping of front gardens therefore forms an important part of the character of the street, with large mature trees often dominating the view. 

In Darnley Street and Cobham Street, front gardens are much smaller but the lack of any significant vegetation is compensated for by the fact that they are too small to use for parking and many of the properties retain their original railings and boundary walls as a result.

Although the area has no listed buildings the majority are considered worthy of retention. One of the most interesting buildings is a paired Victorian Villa, Nos. 65 and 67 Darnley Road, built in the Gothic Revival style. 69 and 71 however is probably the most elegant pair with a more symmetrical and classical appearance, providing an element of grandeur in the streetscape.
Uniquely styled white building
Uniquely styled white building
2 front doors
2 front doors
darnley house
darnley house
69-71 Darnley Road
69-71 Darnley Road
darnley house front door
darnley house front door