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Broadstairs in Kent County England History and GeographyBROADSTAIRS, a small sea-port and hamlet in the parish of ST. PETER, hundred of RINGSOLE, or Isle of Thanet, lathe of ST. AUGUSTINE, county of KENT, 2 miles (N.E. by N.) from Ramsgate, and 75 (E.) from London. The population is returned with the parish. This place, anciently called Bradstow, exhibits many vestiges of its former importance; and though subsequently reduced to an inconsiderable village, inhabited only by a few fishermen, it has arisen into celebrity as a place of fashionable resort for sea-bathing, and is visited in the season, by many respectable families, for whose accommodation several new buildings have been recently erected: warm baths, arranged with every requisite appendage, have also been constructed. There are two public libraries, an assembly-room, and an excellent hotel. Leading down to the shore is a stone arch, or portal, with walls built of flint, in which were gates, and a porteullis, with a draw-bridge attached to it, erected to protect the inhabitants from the incursions of privateers: above the arch is the following inscription, ''; York gate, built by George Culmer, A.D. 1540, repaired by Sir John Henniker, Bart., 1795.' At a short distance from the gate stood a chapel, in which was placed an image of the Virgin Mary, to whom it was dedicated, in passing which all vessels lowered their topsails as a mark of reverence; the remains have been converted into a dwelling-house. The pier, accessible only to vessels of small burden, was constructed in the reign of Henry VIII. for the safety of the craft employed in the fishing trade, which was once considerable; it is built of wood, and though an act of parliament passed in the 32nd of George III. for the improvement of the harbour and the pier, so much had the trade decreased that its provisions were never carried into effect. The principal source of mechanical employment at present is ship-building, and that is on the decline. Fairs for toys, &c. are held, April 8th and July 10th. A chapel was erected by subscription in 1828, the minister's stipend being derived from the rents of the seats. At Kingsgate, in the vicinity, is the Bead House, built in the form of a chapel, now appropriated to the entertainment of parties of pleasure: the sea having undermined the cliff, part of the house has been taken down, and the same fate, in all probability, awaits the remainder. Near the cliff is a rude ancient building, erected on the larger of two tumuli, named Hackendon, or Hackingdown banks, where a desperate battle is said to have taken place, in 853, between the Saxons and the Danes, and to the memory of those who fell in it a tablet was inscribed by Henry, Lord Holland, who erected the building. These tumuli being opened in 1745, were found to contain graves of an oblong form, and not more than three feet in length, excavated in the solid chalk, and covered with flat stones, and in them were many large human bones, in a perfect state; in one were found three urns of coarse earthenware, the contents of which, on exposure to the air, crumbled into dust. Near Broadstairs is an opening through the cliff, to the shore, formerly called Bartholomew's gate, through which Charles II., accompanied by the Duke of York, passed on landing here, in 1683, on his passage from London to Dover; this has since been called Kingsgate, and the event is recorded by a Latin inscription, in letters of brass, on one side of the gate; on the other is an inscription in Saxon characters. In the vicinity are several curious buildings, crected by the late Lord Holland, as ornaments to his grounds at this place, where he had a villa, built on the model of that belonging to Cicero, at Baix: among them are the temple of Neptune, with an appropriate inscription, Arx Ruochim; a small castle, in imitation of those built by Henry VIII., for the protection of the coast; Harley tower; Whitfield tower, erected on the highest spot in the isle; Countess' fort; and an edifice originally intended for a mews, but now a handsome dwelling-house. Between Broadstairs and Kingsgate is the North Foreland, the most eastern point of England, and supposed to have been the Roman station Cantium, mentioned by Ptolemy, on which a light-house was erected in 1683. Coal was burnt here till 1794, when patent lamps, with magnifying lenses of twenty inches diameter, were introduced by the corporation of the Trinity House: the expense of maintaining this light, which may be seen at the distance of twenty or thirty miles, is defrayed by a duty of twopence per ton on English, and four pence per ton on foreign vesscls. In 1795, a signal-house was erected near this spot, where a lieutenant and two midshipmen were stationed during the war: a telegraph was also constructed here in 1813, and one on the steeple of the church at St. Peter's, forming the commencement of a line of communication with the Nore, that was kept up till the proclamation of peace with France. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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