Dunkirk, Kent
Historical Description
Dunkirk, formerly an extra-parochial district in Kent, 2½ miles NE of Selling station on the L.C. & D.R., and 4½ W by N of Canterbury. Post town, Faversham; money order and telegraph office, Boughton. Acreage, 5338; population, 813. The land formerly was part of Blean Forest, and a large portion of it now belongs to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The name Dunkirk was first given to it about the middle of last century by a body of squatters who took free or forcible possession of the land, and who became notable for smuggling practices. Many of the persons implicated in the extraordinary outbreak of 1838, connected with Sir William Cour-tenay or Thorns, were inhabitants of Dunkirk. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; value, £300. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is a flint structure with a tower, and was built after the outbreak of 1838; it was enlarged in 1872.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Kent | |
| Hundred | Westgate | |
| Lathe | St. Augustine | |
| Poor Law union | Faversham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1841.
Findmypast have the following online for Dunkirk, Christ Church: baptisms 1810-1912, marriages 1841-1928, burials 1841-1904
Churches
Church of England
Christ Church (parish church)
Christ Church, erected in 1840, is built of flint, and has a tower containing a clock and one bell; there are three stained windows, and a new organ was provided in 1904. The church was restored in 1878, and again in 1907 and has 330 sittings.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Dunkirk from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Dunkirk-Ville)
Maps
Online maps of Dunkirk 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.