West Hythe, Kent

Historical Description

Hythe, West, a parish in Kent, on the coast, 2½ miles S of Westonhanger station on the S.E.R., and 2½ W of Hythe; Post town, Hythe. The civil parish of West Hythewas annexed in 1888, part to St Leonards, Hythe, in the Elham union, anA IBBER part to Burmarsh in the Romney nnion. A village or town was here, more properly than Hythe, the original Cinque Port of Hythe, was a place of commerce and resort in the time of Edward the Confessor, and ceased to be a port and a town in consequence of the recession of the sea. The liv ing is a vicarage, annexed to the vicarage of Lympne, in the diocese of Canterbury; value,, £270 with residence. Patron, the Archdeacon of Canterbury. The Norman church has, it is said, been in ruins for 400 years; the inhabitants attend the church at Lympne.

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.

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 West Hythe from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hythe, West (St. Mary))

Maps

Online maps of West Hythe 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.