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The Legacy of Charles Newman Kidd and the Forgotten Mines

Charles Newman Kidd was born in 1844, West Sussex. He  learnt the brewing trade at the Holmes and Styles Medway brewery.  Some time before 1870 he bought the Oak Brewery on Hythe Street from William Miskin. In 1890 the brewery was expanded and renamed the Steam Brewery.  From February 1920 the business was known as C N Kidds & Sons Ltd.  In 1937 the brewery was bought and sold by Courage and brewing ceased.  The brewery was demolished in 1937.


C.N. Kidd Esq., Steam Brewery, Dartford, Kent. Brewers’ Journal 15th October 1890 Source: Brewery History Society

Another business that Kidd was involved in was brick making.  He had two brick earth pits, one of which in Shepherds Lane.    It is thought the mine closed in around 1912 and subsequently the brick earth pits were used as two rubbish dumps for Kids brewery in town.  In 1920  council workers entered the mines  and made a small tunnel to intercept a well shaft.  A drain connecting the surface water sewers of Shepherds Lane was let into the well shaft creating a giant soakaway for rain runoff from local roads.

Source: 28DL Urban Exploration

In 1980 Kent County Council who owned the site wished to sell it for housing development.  The underground works were accessed once again.  The mine was found to be in good condition and 400m of passages were excavated. Around 6000 tonnes of chalk would have been removed as an estimate.  Miners had carved their names into the walls and some had also marked  their initials in the roof with smoke from candles.  After this examination the land was sold for development.  Some work was carried out to make the site compliant with safety recommendations.  Sullivan Close was built on top .

In 1903 Kidd who was Chairman of Dartford Urban District Council gifted 5 acres of land to be used for recreation 'in perpeuity as a public recreation ground and for no other purpose whatsoever'.  This created a charitable trust and is the reason Central Park should never be built on.  As such it was highly controversial for Dartford Borough Council to sell land on for part of the proposed Tesco development and hence some local residents contested it with success.

He died on 5th October 1917 aged 72/73 (there is some ambiguity) and  is buried at East Hill cemetery 


Sources:

The Brewing Industry

Kent Archaeology

C N Kidd & Sons Ltd

Birketts: Essential Trustee- The Dartford Charitable Land Case

kurg.org.uk- Chalk mines

findagrave.com

Solicitors Journal

Newsshopper: Three Against £300m

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