Broadstairs, Kent
Historical Description
Broadstairs, the ancient name of which is Bradstow, but in some documents designated Broadstayers, is a growing town on the NE coast of Kent, about midway between Margate and Ramsgate, with a station on the L.C. & D.R., 77 miles from London, and a head post office (R.S.O.) It is an ancient place, was the scene of a fierce battle in 853 between the Saxons and the Danes, had extensive fortifications, pierced by a sea-gate with a portal arch, some part of which remains, took its name from the " broad stairs " which led up from the sea-gate, possessed a little above the fortifications a Lady chapel of so high repute that ships lowered their topsails in going past it. The village was a favourite resort of Charles Dickens, and is described in his " Bleak House." It is now much frequented as a bathing-place. It has good accommodation, and a firm sandy beach, and commands splendid views. It is really an offshoot of St Peter's, with which it is united for the purposes of local government. The district extends from Kingsgate to Dumpton, including North Foreland, and possesses a sea frontage of nearly 4 miles. " St Mary's shrine at Bradstowe " was famous in the 15th century. Area of the urban sanitary district of Broadstairs St Peter, 1442 acres; population, 5234; of the ecclesiastical parish of Holy Trinity, 2933. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury; value, £185. Patron, the Vicar of St Peter. The church was built in 1828, and had a tower added in 1852. There are Baptist, Congregational, Roman Catholic, and Wesleyan chapels, and a weekly newspaper is published.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Kent | |
Hundred | Ringslow | |
Lathe | St. Augustine | |
Poor Law union | Thanet |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register of baptisms dates from the year 1850.
Findmypast have the following online for Broadstairs, Calvinistic Methodist: burials 1830-1836
Findmypast have the following online for Broadstairs, Holy Trinity: baptisms 1850-1912, marriages 1851-1928, burials 1810-1841
Churches
Church of England
Christ Church, Osborne Road
Holy Trinity (parish church)
The parish church of the Holy Trinity, erected in 1840, is of flint with stone facings in the Early English style, and has a tower containing a clock and one bell: there are 650 sittings.
Baptist
The Baptist Chapel, High Street
The Baptist Chapel, Queen's Road
The Baptist chapel, in Queen's road, built in 1908 at a cost of £2,000, is an edifice of brick with stone dressings, in the Gothic style, from designs by Mr. E. E. Moody, architect: it includes a clock tower, and will seat about 450 persons: the old chapel alongside, built in 1897, is now used as a Sunday school.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
Methodist
Methodist Chapel
Roman Catholic
Our Lady Star of the Sea, St. Peter's Park Road
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Broadstairs from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Broadstairs)
Maps
Online maps of Broadstairs are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:
- Kent & Sussex Courier
- Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
- Dover Express
- Kentish Gazette
- Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
- Kentish Chronicle
- Maidstone Telegraph
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.