IT became popular in Victorian times, as wealthy Poole residents sought to escape the cramped conditions of the town centre.

Today, Ashley Cross is one of the town’s busiest areas – especially at night, when its restaurants and bars attract people from miles around.

The look of the area could change, if a meeting of Poole councillors tomorrow approves a plan for a new restaurant and flats on the site of the former Black and White car dealership and neighbouring units.

But as the pictures here show, the area has changed more in living memory than you might think.

In 1798, one commentator described the Lower Parkstone area as merely a “barren, dreary heath”. In 1837, a coachman called it a picturesque hamlet, noting the presence of the Beehive tavern and the Britannia Inn.

But at the height of the Victorian era, the area was transformed.

Parkstone-on-Sea railway station was opened in 1874. And in 1888, the area gained its own village green.

The three-acre Parkstone Park cost the rate-payer £560.

It was officially opened in January 1890 by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, who opened Poole Park on the same day.

It was known for a while as the Victoria Ground but has been variously called Three Acres Field, Three Acres Park and Parkstone Green, Ashley Cross Green or just “the Green”. In 2011, the name was officially settled as Parkstone Park.

With the community growing in Victorian times, its original 1833 church was considered too small. The current church was built around the original, with a new roof built over the tower of the old church. The rebuilding was finished in 1901 and the church hosted the wedding of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, to Olave St Clair Soames in 1912.

Ashley Cross was also the headquarters of a phone exchange, which opened in Parr Street in 1896. At that time, the local phone book consisted of only five numbers. As phone use grew in the 20th century, the exchange moved to Commercial Road.

The area became busier still in 1905 when Parkstone School opened. Initially a private, co-educational school, it was taken over by Dorset County Council in 1935.

The boys moved out to the new Poole Grammar School in the town centre in 1937, while Parkstone Grammar for girls remained at Ashley Cross until 1961, when it moved to Sopers Lane.

Ashley Cross School, a secondary modern for girls, remained until 1988, when it was merged with Seldown to form the new Ashdown School at Canford Heath.

In recent years, Ashley Cross became one of the area’s favourite destinations for an evening out, with a host of bars, restaurants and pubs springing up.