Bilsington, Kent

Historical Description

Bilsington, a parish in Kent, on the Military Canal, and partly in Romney Marsh, 3 miles ENE of Ham Street station on the S.E.R., and 6 SSE of Ashford, under which it has a post office; money order and telegraph office, Ham Street. Acreage, 2844; population, 367. The manor of Bilsington-Inferior was given to the Earls of Arundel, in the time of Edward III., on the tenure of serving the king as butler at Whitsunday, and belongs now to the Hallidays. A priory of Augustinian canons was founded on Bilsington-Superior about 1253, by John Mansell, provost of Beverley, and the manor connected with it was held by a tenure similar to that of Bilsington-Inferior. Remains of the priory still stand, partly appropriated into a farmhouse, on high ground, commanding a good view over the marsh. The living is a vicarage, consolidated with the rectory of Bonnington, in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £182. The church is good, and was well restored in 1883.

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.

Church Records

The register dates from the year 1562.

Findmypast have the following online for Bilsington, SS Peter & Paul: baptisms 1562-1907, marriages 1563-1919, burials 1562-1922

Churches

Church of England

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 Bilsington from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bilsington (St. Peter and St. Paul))

Maps

Online maps of Bilsington 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.