St Peter, Kent
Historical Description
Peter, St, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands on a pleasing eminence, three-quarters of a mile WNW of Broadstairs station on the L.C. & D.R., 1½ mile SW of the North Foreland, and 2 miles SE of Margate; is a member of Dover cinque port; and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Broadstairs. The parish contains also the chapelry of Broadstairs, and the hamlets of Upton, Brom-stone, East Dumpton, Fair Street, Westwood, Poor Hole, Sacketts Hill, Buddies, Shallows, Stone, Kingsgate, George Hill, Reading Street, Joss Street, Beards Hill, Callis Court, Callis Grange, Sole Street, Dane Court, and parts of North Town, Northwood, and Nasb. Acreage, 2922; population of the civil parish, 5661; of the ecclesiastical, 2728. By the Local Government Act of 1894, the civil part of the parish called St Peter's intra has been formed into an urban district, and is divided into two wards-Broadstairs and St Peter's -each returning six members to the district council, while that part called St Peter's extra has a parish council consisting of five members. There are many pleasant residences. The North Foreland is a prominent feature, and North Down Hill is the highest ground in Thanet The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £380 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church ranges from Norman to Later English; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with W tower; and contains three brasses, monuments to the Dewkers and others, and a tablet to Mr T. Sheridan. The tower serves as a sea-mark, showed two fissures caused by an earthquake in 1580, but was substantially restored in 1887; and the churchyard contains the grave of Richard Joy, the Kentish Samson. The rectory of Broadstairs is a separate benefice. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, an endowed school, and charities £200. Stone House, at one time the marine residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is now used as a school. On the grounds adjacent are the St Peter's Orphan Home and the Convalescent Home. The latter is a fine structure of flint in the Decorated style, and is intended for women and young girls, who are received on payment of a few shillings per week. There is a chapel connected with the home, and a new wing was opened in 1885.
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 | |
Liberty | Dover | |
Poor Law union | Isle of Thanet |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register of St. Peter's dates from the year 1582.
Churches
Church of England
St. Andrew, Reading Street
The church of St. Andrew, Reading Street, erected in 1910-11 at a cost of £3,600, on a site given by J. Hawtrey esq. is a building of Kentish rag stone: there are sittings for 336 persons; it is served by the clergy of St. Peter's.
St. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter, originally erected about 1070 as a chapel to Minster, is of flint, in the Norman and Early English styles, with later insertions, and has a tower with 8 bells: in 1887 the tower was restored, the bells re-cast and a new clock with chimes added, at a total cost of £1,110: there are some ancient brasses, a marble tablet to Thomas Sheridan M.A. elocutionist and lexicographer, father of the Right Hon. R. Brinsley Sheridan, who died at Margate 14 August, 1788, and a memorial window erected to Catherine (Spooner) wife of the late Archbishop Tait, d. 1 Dec. 1878, and to his son, Crawfurd Tait: vestries were added in 1903 at a cost of £1,200 by the late Clifford J. Brookes esq. J.P. of The Convent, in memory of his brother, Thomas Brookes esq.: new choir stalls and pulpit of oak were provided in 1905: the church has been restored, and affords 750 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
Methodist
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for St Peter from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Peter, St.)
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
Villages, Hamlets, &c
Beards HillVisitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.