Our Story
From a tailor’s workshop to 135 years at the heart of Paddock Wood.
Barsleys grew through four generations of one family, changing with the times while remaining rooted in personal service and its local community. This is the story of the people, places and moments that shaped the store from 1891 to 2026.
1891
Where the story began
The story of Barsleys began in 1891, when Charles Barsley took over the running of a tailoring establishment in Brenchley. The eldest of eleven children of a master tailor and draper, Charles had gained a diploma in Garment Cutting at the Tailor’s School of Art at the Tailor and Cutter offices.
The business had previously belonged to John Wells and surviving family documents show that it had been operating from at least 1837. Charles later married John Wells’ widow, Sara, and took over the business in his own right.
Tailoring was a personal trade. Charles travelled around the locality by bicycle or horse and trap, measuring customers in their homes, while a workshop behind the shop employed three or four tailors.
1900–1903
Coming to Paddock Wood
By 1900, Charles had built the business sufficiently to open a second shop in Paddock Wood, then a relatively young village growing around its railway station and the annual influx of hop-pickers.
He first rented premises at what is now 34 Commercial Road, later moving to 27 Commercial Road. Following Sara’s death, Charles married Caroline Poxon. In 1903 he purchased Alma Cottages in Commercial Road and enlarged the building to accommodate a shop. It was here that the Barsleys known to generations of customers began to take shape.
From the archive
A surviving piece of the early business
This original 1902 receipt carries the names Brenchley & Paddock Wood and advertises C. W. Barsley as a ladies’ tailor, practical tailor, breeches and habit maker, gent’s hosier, hatter and glover, juvenile outfitter, and a boot and shoe warehouse.
1914–1939
From tailoring to outfitting
During the First World War, the Barsleys workshops turned their skills to producing military uniforms. The Brenchley shop closed in 1919 and the family concentrated its efforts on Paddock Wood.
As demand for bespoke tailoring declined, the business adapted by producing ready-made civilian clothing and expanding into footwear and outfitting. Barsleys also became an important supplier of protective clothing for the hop-pickers who came to work in the surrounding fields each season.
Charles and Caroline’s son, Bob Barsley, was apprenticed to C. E. White, the Tunbridge Wells men’s outfitter, before joining the family business in 1934. A second generation had entered the firm.
1940–1960s
A department store emerges
Charles Barsley died in 1940. After the Second World War, Bob continued to expand the Commercial Road premises. In 1952, further buildings in Station Road enabled Barsleys to introduce drapery, piece goods and ladieswear.
Another major expansion followed in 1961, when an extension behind the Commercial Road property brought furniture and carpets into the growing store. Around the same time, the former Turner’s Printing Shop next door was acquired.
Life at Barsleys
Part of everyday life
Deliveries, fashion shows, special events and familiar faces all became part of the store’s relationship with Paddock Wood and the surrounding villages.
Fashion shows became part of store life and, at Christmas, Barsleys even held men-only shopping evenings, giving husbands an opportunity to choose presents with a little help from the staff.
1968–1974
Expansion and a third generation
Between 1968 and 1970, the Station Road section of the shop was substantially rebuilt and joined to the Commercial Road building. During the work, part of the furniture department temporarily moved across the road into premises formerly occupied by Cavey’s the Grocer.
John Barsley, Charles’s eldest grandson, joined the firm in 1972 after training in linens, soft furnishings, curtain making and drapery at Noakes of Tunbridge Wells. His brother Richard followed in 1974, having trained in clothing and outfitting at Sharp’s of Maidstone.
1980s
A store that kept growing
In 1980, Andrew Chacksfield joined Barsleys to run the Furniture and Carpet Department. Five years later the first floor was expanded and the Barsleys Coffee Shop opened, becoming a familiar meeting place for generations of customers.
A bridge to the adjoining cottage was built in 1986, followed in 1987 by the rebuilding of approximately two-thirds of the shopfront across both floors. The original Alma Cottages, from which the Paddock Wood store had grown, finally made way for the expanding department store.
1991
One hundred years
Barsleys celebrated its centenary in 1991, one hundred years after Charles first took charge of the Brenchley tailoring business. The celebrations were a great success and the family were overwhelmed by the many customers who sent their congratulations.
That same year, Barsleys purchased 41 Station Road, giving the department store a frontage onto the main road and adding another chapter to the gradual expansion of its premises.
Special events continued to be part of store life through the decade, from fashion shows and sales to festive shopping evenings.
2001–2011
Into a new century
In 2001, an extension at the rear improved goods-inwards, storage, offices and staff facilities and introduced a lift for customers and goods. The extra space also allowed a new Cookshop to open that autumn. A disabled-access and baby-changing toilet followed in 2002.
Bob Barsley died on 1 March 2006 at the age of 91. More than seven decades after joining the business, he had remained closely involved, still visiting the store on most days and taking a keen interest in its progress.
After a fire in an adjoining property caused significant smoke damage in 2009, the store recovered and continued to invest. In February 2011, the Coffee Shop was enlarged and completely refurbished.
2013–2014
The fourth generation
On 1 September 2013, Alice Barsley, Richard’s daughter, joined the company as a trainee director. A first-class Economics graduate from UCL, she had worked for Marks & Spencer and then spent three years in buying and merchandising at Debenhams’ head office. Alice became a full director in September 2014.
February 2014 brought one of the most memorable sales in Barsleys’ later history. A refurbishment sale attracted so many customers that traffic in Paddock Wood was brought to a standstill for several days, prompting the local headline “Shopping frenzy brings town to a halt!”
The store was subsequently refloored and refitted. On 22 March 2014, John Barsley retired after more than 40 years in the family business.
2015 onwards
Changing with the times
Following the refurbishment, departments were moved and expanded to improve the flow of the store. The toy department grew to include names such as LEGO, Playmobil, Bigjigs and TY, while cookware moved downstairs to sit alongside the wider homewares offer.
The fashion mix continued to evolve too, with brands including Seasalt, Barbour and Superdry. New tills arrived in 2015, replacing a system that had served for more than 20 years and allowing the Barsleys Privilege Card to be relaunched.
Giving something back
Supporting the local environment
Barsleys used the money raised through carrier bag charges to support tree planting at Foal Hurst Wood, putting those contributions back into the local environment.
The store also worked to reduce its own environmental impact, installing more than 170 solar panels, two Tesla batteries and progressively converting the store’s lighting to LEDs.
For generations
School days at Barsleys
School uniform became one of Barsleys’ most enduring links with local families. For more than 40 years, the store supplied uniform for Mascalls School, becoming part of the annual back-to-school ritual for generations of children and parents.
In 2013, Barsleys also began supplying uniform for Bethany School. There was a fitting continuity to this service: more than a century after Charles had travelled to customers to measure them for clothing, Barsleys staff were still fitting garments, advising on sizes and providing personal service.
Many parents who had once visited Barsleys for their own uniform later returned with children of their own.
2019 onwards
A Barsleys Christmas tradition
In 2019, the Barsleys Bonka Bar was launched in support of Demelza Hospice Care for Children. Inspired by the famous Wonka Bar, five Golden Tickets were hidden amongst the chocolate bars and 50p from every bar sold was donated to Demelza.
The Bonka Bar took a break during the disruption of 2020, but returned for Christmas 2021 and became a regular feature of the Barsleys festive season in the years that followed — combining a little Christmas fun with support for children and families in the local community.
2020
Closed doors, but still serving
In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced Barsleys to close its doors temporarily. Although customers could no longer visit in the usual way, the team kept in touch through Facebook and email and offered click-and-collect and local delivery services.
The closure also accelerated the move online, with core products such as towels and bed linen added to the Barsleys website. When restrictions allowed the store to reopen, measures were put in place throughout the building to protect staff and customers.
Having already lived through two world wars and enormous changes in retail and society, Barsleys had once again adapted to extraordinary circumstances.
2021
Celebrating 130 years
Against the unusual backdrop of the pandemic, 2021 marked Barsleys’ 130th anniversary. From Charles Barsley’s small tailoring business in Brenchley, the business had grown through four generations of the family into a department store serving Paddock Wood and the surrounding communities.
The anniversary was an opportunity to celebrate not only the longevity of the business, but also the generations of staff and customers who had become part of its story.
More than a department store
Generations of familiar faces
By its later years, Barsleys stretched across two floors and offered fashion, footwear, lingerie, childrenswear, toys, cookware, homewares, linens, beds and furniture, alongside specialist services including carpets, flooring, curtains and blinds. The Coffee Shop remained a familiar meeting place.
Yet departments alone do not explain what Barsleys became. Staff built up deep knowledge of their areas and many stayed for years — sometimes decades. Customers returned for first shoes, school uniform, Christmas presents, furniture for a new home, a cup of coffee or simply a familiar conversation.
Some children who had once visited Barsleys with their parents eventually returned with children — and grandchildren — of their own.
2026
The end of an era
By 2026, Barsleys had been trading for 135 years. With Richard approaching retirement and Alice wishing to step back to spend more time with her young family, the family sought somebody who might take the business forward.
When a suitable successor could not be found, the enormously difficult decision was taken to close the department store. A closing-down sale began in May and on Saturday 1 August 2026, Barsleys held its final full day of trading.
Even then, the story was not quite over. The store continued opening on Fridays and Saturdays during August, in part to ensure families could still obtain their Mascalls and Bethany school uniforms for the new school year. At the end of August, the doors finally closed.
1891 — 2026
135 years, with family and community at its heart.
The Barsleys story began with one man, a tailoring qualification and a small workshop. It grew through four generations, two world wars, changing fashions, new technologies and a global pandemic.
In the 1890s Charles travelled to customers’ homes to measure them personally for their clothes. More than a century later, Barsleys staff were still fitting school uniform, helping customers choose clothes and shoes, measuring homes for flooring, curtains and blinds, and offering the knowledgeable personal service on which the business had been founded.
From 1891 to 2026, Barsleys was never simply a building or a collection of departments. It was the generations who worked there, the generations who shopped there, and the community that supported it for 135 years.
