Church Street

Origins

By Tim Carder

Originally known as North Back Side and then as Spring Walk, Church Street was a track at the rear of the crofts and gardens stretching northwards from North Street.

This area began to be developed in the 1780s and '90s, and buildings then started to appear in Church Street itself, which was given its new name by the town commissioners in 1792; several side streets and small courtyards leading off the main street have since been removed in slum clearance programmes.

The roadway was extended through to Grand Parade in about 1816 when a road just to the north of the Pavilion was stopped up. Church Street was made one-way to traffic in June 1976.