The site of a Timber yard is visible in this location on a number of historic maps dating to the end of the 19th and early 20th century. In 1851 The remainder of the Maison Dieu Estate was sold to William Crundall senior (1822-1888) who intended to build an upmarket crescent of houses that was given the provisional name of Neville Road. This plan was never enacted but, using Neville Road as an access drive to the area, Crundall turned the site into a storage yard for his timber busuness and allowed it to be used for school treats. The area became known as Crundall’s Meadow or more commonly Timberyard Meadow. By 1880 Crundall Jr. was running his father’s business affairs including the timber business and that year he sold the timber meadow to Sir Edward Watkin (1819-1901) but it was later re-purchased by Crundall at a reduced price and he immediately transformed Timberyard Meadow into a business on the renamed Timber Yard. With the post WWI depression the Timber yard became un profitable and was put up for sale. By 1924 it had been converted by the Dover Corporation into a pleasure garden (Pencester Gardens) which is how the site remains today. (1-5)

<1> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 1st edition 1862-1875): Landmark Epoch 1 (Map). SKE30964.

<2> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 2nd Edition, 1897-1900): Landmark Epoch 2 (Map). SKE30965.

<3> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923): Landmark Epoch 3 (Map). SKE30966.

<4> C. E. Goad, 1905, Kent Fire insurance plans sheets 1-7 (Map). SKE51666.

<5> Lorraine Sencicle, 2018, The Dover Historian - Stembrook Tannery to Pencester Gardens Part 1 (Website). SKE51677.