Kingsgate, Kent

Historical Description

Kingsgate, a hamlet in St Peter parish, Kent, on the coast, near the North Foreland, 3 miles E of Margate. It commands a pass or gate through the cliffs to the sea, it was originally called Bartholomew Gate, and it took its present name from the landing at it in 1683 of Charles II. and the Duke of York. An actual gate, with portcullis, once guarded the pass, but has completely disappeared. A mansion was built above the gate toward the middle of the 18th century by Lord Holland after the model of Cicero's Roman villa, and the grounds around it were studded with imitations of ancient buildings and ruins.

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 Kingsgate from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Kingsgate 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.