Reculver, Kent
Historical Description
Reculver, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands on the coast, 3 miles E by N of Herne Bay station on the L.C. & D.R., takes its name from the Roman station Regulbium, and was once a market-town. Post town, Herne Bay, under Canterbury. Acreage of the civil parish, 1221; population, 244; of the ecclesiastical, 603. The manor belongs to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Part of the land in the E and the NE is marsh. The coast is partly bluff cliff, partly marsh, protected by a sea-wall, and has suffered much encroachment by the sea. The Roman station of Regulbium was on a cliff overhanging the Thames estuary; guarded a strait dividing the Isle of Thanet from the mainland, and formerly navigable; was garrisoned by the first cohort of the Vetasii-Belgians from Brabant; occupied about 8 acres; is still represented by the S and the E walls, originally about 12 feet thick, and now much shattered and covered with ivy and brushwood; and has yielded many coins, utensils, and other relics. A palace was built on the station by Ethelbert, king of Kent, and is traditionally but incorrectly said to have-been his burial-place. A monastery also was founded herein the 7th century, and was annexed to Christchurch, Canterbury. Coastguard stations are at Reculver and Bishopstone. The living is a vicarage, united with the perpetual curacy of Hoath, in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £165 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The old church included some Roman masonry; was partly Norman, partly Early English; suffered much damage by erosion of the sea; was mainly taken down in 1809; and is now represented only by two towers, called the Sisters, and serving as landmarks to mariners, and by a small part of the walls. The church of St Mary, situated at Hillborough, is a building of flint in the Early English style.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Kent | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Reculver St. Mary | |
Hundred | Bleangate | |
Lathe | St. Augustine | |
Poor Law union | Blean |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Reculver from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Reculver (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Reculver 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.