ASHFORD

town and borough (district), administrative and historic county of Kent, England. It was established in 1974 from the former urban district of Ashford, rural districts of East and West Ashford, and the metropolitan borough and rural district of Tenterden. The old town of Ashford was granted a market in the 13th century that later became a stock market for the pastoral farms on nearby Romney Marsh. Modern Ashford developed as a railway centre with a locomotive works, and it manufactures agricultural implements, beer, and bricks. The eastern borough has been designated as an area for future expansion as mid-Kent reaches its optimum population. Area, borough, 224 square miles (581 square km). Pop. (1991) town, 52,002; (1998 est.) borough, 99,900.