How did the road get its name?
Banks Road is named after Black Banks which appears on the modern Ordnance Survey map. In the early 19th century, however, the name Black Banks referred to the land immediately to the north, just south of the brook (the Reverend Thomas Williams, the landowner at the time of Enclosure in 1808, owned Black Bank Meadow and Black Bank Ground which were then in Aldington). The actual land on which Banks Road is situated was called Upper Nether Field and Far Parks. It is probable that modern-day planners were not aware of the differing field names.
When did housing development begin?
The western half of Banks Road is on land which used to belong to Aldington; the eastern half has always been on land in Badsey. In the late 1960s, a private development of thirteen bungalows (six pairs of semi-detached bungalows and one detached bungalow) was built. No further development took place until 2014 when Taylor Wimpey bought land at the western end and built 34 new homes.
Numbering system
The original 1960s layout consisted of four pairs of semi-detached bungalows and one detached bungalow on the north side (numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18). On the south side there were just two pairs of semi-detached bungalows (numbers 1, 3, 5, 7); just past them there is a British Telecom Exchange at what was then the end of the road. The houses built in 2014 are beyond the Exchange: numbers 11-69 on the south side and numbers 20-36 on the north side.
19th and early 20th century auctions
Upper Nether Field was once part of Badsey Manor Farm. It is listed in auction catalogues for 23rd July 1866 and 10th June 1912.
