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Thanet
Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974. It occupies the area known as the "Isle of Thanet" and is governed by Thanet District Council. The main towns in the district are Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs. The district is located on the north eastern tip of Kent, and is predominantly coastal, with north, east and south facing coastline. The district is bordered by the City of Canterbury district to the west, and the Dover district to the south.
Political historyBecause of its proximity to France and mainland Europe, Thanet received the first of the Roman invaders in 55 BC. Thanet is notable as the place where the Romans in the time of the Emperor Claudius decided to invade in order to deliver the new Emperor a military success. Richborough at the southern end of the Wantsum Channel was where the fleet landed and where one of the largest triumphal arches in the empire was built. It provided the formal entrance to the Roman road network and Watling Street, and was situated to the north of the present Pfizer complex near Sandwich, Kent. 
Isle of Thanet 
Thanet Following the departure of the Romans, it was in Thanet that Vortigern formed an uneasy alliance with Hengest and Horsa, by tradition chieftains of the Jutes, who led the Saxon invasion in AD 449. By the end of the fifth century, Thanet had become part of the Jutish kingdom in Kent. In this way, Thanet is a mirror of Hampshire's Isle of Wight. St Augustine is said by the Venerable Bede to have landed with 40 men at Ebbsfleet, north of Sandwich, before founding Britain's first Christian monastery, in Canterbury. The Vikings wintered on Thanet twice in the ninth century, in 851 and 864. The importance of Sandwich as one of the Cinque Ports in medieval times meant that no fewer than seven places on the Isle were part of the Confederation: Sarre, Birchington, St John's, Margate, St Peter's, Woodchurch and Ramsgate. By 1334-1335 Thanet had the highest population density in Kent according to Edward III's lay subsidy rolls. It acted as a granary for Calais and documents towards the end of that century refer to turreted walls beneath the cliffs needing maintenance. Coastal erosion has long since destroyed these structures. As the popularity of the seaside resort grew, so did that of the Isle of Thanet. At first the holidaymakers came by boat from London; after the coming of the railways in the mid 1840s, that became the preferred mode of transport. The population grew, as the following figures show: Margate has its roots in a name that "Has been variously spelt as Margat, Meregate and in the 13th cCentury, de Mergate. Indeed 'maris', 'mare' in Latin means, 'sea' and "gate", a way in or out of the country. Perhaps the Brooks, now the site of Dreamland, low-lying and fed by springs, did become a lake (sometimes freezing, to give the locals some skating). For another possibility, a monk of Reculver, Ymar by name, had a dying wish to be buried in St Johns Parish Church. The name "Ymar" could have become Margate in time. Tradition insists that an old stone coffin lid at the church was his. Broadstairs is a Thanet town in East Kent, England, with a population of about 22,000. Situated between Margate and Ramsgate, it is one of the seaside resorts on the Isle of Thanet, often known as the "Jewel in Thanet's crown". Broadstairs derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon word Bradstow(e). The Reverend Evelyn Levett Sutton, a graduate of Cambridge University, was the vicar of St. Peter's Church in the Isle of Thanet. Sutton was a prebendary of Westminster Cathedral, one of the six preachers of Canterbury Cathedral, and chaplain to the House of Commons. Sutton collapsed while reading the ninth commandment in Westminster Abbey the day before his death Jan. 26, 1835.[2] Geographical historyThanet was one of the islands of chalk left when the sea broke through to form the English Channel in 6500 BC: the others are now beneath the sea. It was left separated from the mainland by what became known as the Wantsum Channel, until the deposition of silt from the River Stour along the coast joined the Isle to the mainland. Today Thanet consists of 26 miles of golden sandy beaches and grade A1 farmland, set on quick-draining chalk sub-soil. Two thousand years ago Thanet was cut off from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, which in some places was a mile or two in width. Two branches of the Stour flowed into the Wantsum, at Plucks Gutter near to Stourmouth. At the eastern end, the Romans built a port protected by Richborough Castle; Reculver fort was at the western end. In the eighth century it was reported that the Channel was now three furlongs wide (660 yards, 600 m), and a map of 1414 showed a ferry crossing at Sarre. The first bridge over the channel was built there in 1485. Until the mid 18th century there was a ferry between Sandwich and the island; a wooden drawbridge was built, and the ferry was closed. The combination of those factors meant that from the 15th century there are only marshes and mudbanks through which the Stour meanders, finally reaching the sea at Sandwich. The Wantsum valley is still liable to flooding, since it is only a few feet above sea level. During the 1953 floods Thanet was cut off for a few days, but the sea defences have been strengthened since then. ¹
The land where the Wantsum Channel once was is still only a few feet above sea level, and in 1953 the island was cut off once more. The sea defences have since been strengthened since, but from the sea walls at Reculver, the low height of the land is visible. Even today there are remains of the small harbours and quays in the villages that bordered Wantsum Channel. The channel still exists and is today little more than a stream. The main seafront ares in the towns are highly developed: from Birchington, via Westgate-on-Sea, Margate, Cliftonville, Broadstairs to Ramsgate. Where it is not built upon, the coastline is slightly higher - for example at North Foreland where the North Foreland lighthouse stands. Thanet has a 26 mile sandy coastline and many fine bays. The coastline suffers erosion as the base rock is chalk. GeographyAs of 2007, Thanet has 7 beaches that have met stringent quality standards and were awarded a Blue flag: Minnis Bay, Botany Bay (Broadstairs), Margate Main Sands, St Mildreds Bay (Westgate), Stone Bay (Broadstairs), West Bay (Westgate), and Westbrook Bay.[4] NameThe earliest known reference to Thanet is in Ptolemy's geography of the second century. It refers to an island east of the Triovantes region as 'Toliapis'. The name 'Thanet' may be a corruption of the Celtic tan-arth or teine-arth, "high fire", which would make Thanet the Bright Island. It could well be that a lighthouse or beacon was situated on Telegraph Hill, west of Manston, one of the highest points on the island (close to the new Prospect Inn, Holiday Inn Express hotel). There is no evidence of this on the ground, and it may have been that there were several beacons arranged along the coast. For example, Beacon Road, Kingsgate, leads from the ancient town of St Peter's to the promontory upon which is now the North Foreland lighthouse. The geographical centre of Thanet is roughly at the site of The Star Inn at Westwood. The following extract from the Historia Britonum was first written sometime shortly after AD 833:
The name 'Tenet' was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, whereas the 18th century classical dictionary of John Lemprise lists "Tane'tus, a small island of Albion. Ptolemy calls it Tolianis. It is now Thanet." GovernmentThanet District Council is held by a Conservative majority, who hold 33 seats, compared to the 19 seats held by Labour, who are the second party.[5]Thanet is in county council control by Kent County Council. There are two MPs for Thanet:
The district was formed by the merger of:
A Thanet Rural District had existed from 1894, with the Local Government Act of the time until it was abolished in 1935 to form part of Eastry Rural District. The district is divided into 23 wards, some of which are included in the three traditional coastal resorts of Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate. The civil parishes located in the district are:
Margate and Ramsgate are unparished areas, though there are attempts to parish Ramsgate.[6] TransportRailway lines enter the district from three directions:[7]
New high speed rail links from London to Thanet will begin in December 2009, and will form part of the UK's first true high-speed commuter service, according to the South Eastern Railway Company[8]. The key road links are:[9]
EconomyThe whole district suffers from seasonal unemployment, in spite of its proximity to London.[11] Contributory factors are:
Retail and commerceMargate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs each have shopping centres with a mix of local and national retailers complemented by Northdown Road, Cliftonville, Westgate and Birchington. Westwood at the centre of Thanet has seen much major development in recent years with the building of Westwood Cross shopping centre which is the home of national retailers and several restaurant chains including a Travelodge hotel. Associated development has taken place around the shopping centre spawning other retail parks. DemographicsFrom the United Nations Statistics Division, conducted in 1996 gives the population as 125,543, made up of 59,567 males and 65,976 females.[12] HealthThanet has a large hospital: the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, known as the QEQM. Overall indicators of health are poor for Thanet.[11]
Climate
Media
The future
Award Winning beaches
See alsoReferences
External links
de:Thanet (District) es:Thanet (distrito) it:Thanet (distretto) nl:Thanet (district) ja:???? no:Thanet (distrikt) ro:Thanet Source: Wikipedia | The above article is available under the GNU FDL. | Edit this article
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