Hythe, Kent

Historical Description

Hythe, a town, a parish, and a parliamentary and municipal borough in Kent. The town stands on the Military Canal, at the end of Stone Street, about three-quarters of a mile from the sea, and has a station on the S.E.R., 66 miles from London, and 4½ W by S of Folkestone, and a post, money order, and telegraph office. It sprang from a Roman fortress, but in consequence of natural changes on the coast, is now fully 3 miles distant from the spot called Portus Lemanis, which gave it origin. It became one of the Cinque Ports, and in that capacity was rated at five ships. It was given in 1036 to the Archbishops of Canterbury, whose seat was in the neighbourhood at Saltwood Castle, and it seems to have acquired additional importance from the archbishops' influence. It is said by Leiand to have had at one time four parish churches and a fine abbey. It suffered much damage in the time of Henry IV. by a fire, and was afterwards desolated by the plague. Its harbour was long very suitable for commerce, but became by recession of the sea greatly narrowed in the time of Elizabeth, and nearly closed and useless soon afterwards, and probably will never be succeeded by even an artificial-one, as the beach is open and affords no shelter. The town was thrown into decay by the loss of its commerce, but it revived a little by the forming of the Military Canal, and it has revived still more by the formation of the railway, and by the attraction of summer visitors for sea-bathing. Its situation is very fine, on a declivity descending towards the sea, with a good bathing beach amid environs of great beauty, with charming walks and rides, with several interesting ancient ruins, with many picturesque close views, and with a prospect across the channel to France. The town includes one long principal street, well-built, paved, and clean; has also several smaller streets branching from the principal one, or parallel to it; and still exhibits, in the features of its older houses, many traces of its ancient prosperity. Its chief public buildings are a town-hall, a sessions hall, barracks, a school of musketry, a bathing establishment, a public library and reading room, a church, also an iron church erected in 1893, three dissenting chapels, and two hospitals. The town-hall stands on the N side of High Street, near the centre, and is a commodious structure of 1794. The barracks stand at the W extremity of the town, on the Ashford Road; were erected in 1807-8 for the use of the royal staff corps, and have accommodation for 30½ men, besides officers. The school of musketry was established by government for rifle practice, both by regulars and by volunteers. The bathing establishment was erected in 1854 at a cost of upwards of £2000, and includes waiting-rooms and guides' residence. The sea-wall and parade, between Hythe and Sandgate, is the property of the S.E.R. It comprises a line of 5 miles along the coast, to the west of Folkestone, with a carriage drive the whole way. The church stands on lofty ground N of High Street; is partly Norman, partly Early English; consists of nave, aisles, and triple-chancel, with W tower; was partly rebuilt toward the middle of the 18th century; contains enrichments in Bethersden marble; and has several beautiful memorial windows, and a crypt, situated under the central chancel, containing a large pile of human bones. These bones are locally supposed to be remains of Britons slain in a sanguinary battle in 84.6, on the shore between Hythe and Folkestone, but they not improbably were exhumed from a contiguous Roman or Saxon cemetery. The building was thoroughly restored in 1875, and the roofs vaulted in 1886. There are Wesleyan and Congregational chapels. The two hospitals are St Bartholomew's and St John's, the former founded in 1336 by Bishop Hamo-of Rochester, the latter of unknown but early foundation; they are both endowed, and are used as almshouses. The town has a bank, two chief inns, a literary institution, a dispensary, and some other institutions, and is a seat of petty and quarter sessions. There is a large brewery. The town shared all the privileges of the Cinque Port charters; had also a special charter from Elizabeth; is now governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors; sent two members to Parliament from the time of Edward III. till the Act of 1832, and now sends one. Its municipal boundaries comprise the parishes of Hythe St Leonard and West Hythe, andi its parliamentary boundaries comprise, in addition to these,. The parishes of Cheriton, Folkestone, and Saltwood, and part of the parish of Newington-next-Hythe. Area of the parliamentary borough, 13, 402 acres; population, 35, 547. Area of municipal borough, 2620; population, 4347. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; value, £260 with residence. Patron, the Vicar of Saltwood.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Hythe from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hythe (St. Leonard))

Maps

Online maps of Hythe 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.