Place Name
It was named by the Powell-Cotton family whose estate Quex Park is in Birchington-on-Sea, in northeast Kent. This road was originally on land of Kilburn Wood Farm, which John Powell bought as in investment in 1773. Both this and his other estate Shoot Up Hill Farm were passed down through the family. Once the railways lines in the Kilburn area were established, the land began to be sold for housing. All the roads were named after places local to the family’s property at Quex Park, and later after places Major Powell-Cotton visited on his travels – particularly Abyssinia (Ethiopia) between 1899 – 1900. The village of Birchington was first recorded in 1240 as Birchenton, a name derived from the Old English words bircen tun, meaning a farm where birch trees grow.
