The Kennet Centre's History
From medieval town centre to 1980s shopping mall — and the case for change
The area between Bartholomew Street, Cheap Street and Market Place was one of the earliest occupied areas of the medieval town of Newbury.
1960 – 1985: Building the Kennet Centre
In the 1960s, an initial scheme to construct a new shopping centre on the area between Bartholomew Street, Cheap Street and Market Place in Newbury town centre was proposed, to be completed in several phases. By 1974 the first stage of the work to create a supermarket, bank and around 20 other shops was complete. In 1982, work on phase II of the scheme began. This aimed to double the size of the existing shopping centre (renamed the Kennet Centre) and to create covered walking areas. In 1984, plans were approved by the local authority for a new bus station, Sainsbury's supermarket, a new department store and a new car park, to create a total of 55 shops on a 5 acre site. The new shops were completed in the summer of 1985. A number of older buildings along the street frontages were retained, mainly towards the northern end.
The Kennet Centre Opening, c.1985
The Kennet Centre Today
With the changing landscape of the retail sector and with the physical limitations and dated appearance of the Kennet Centre, it has been suffering a decline in recent years. Whilst we have managed to attract some interim interest, the long term prospects for regenerating this centre in its current form are limited as there is little or no interest in this type of retail space.