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Ramsgate (St. George)

RAMSGATE (St. George), a sea-port, market-town, and parish, in the cinque-port liberty of Sandwich, of which it is a member, union of the Isle of Thanet, locally in the hundred of Ringslow, or Isle of Thanet, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 4½ miles (S.) from Margate, 17 (E. N. E.) from Canterbury, and 72 (E.) from London; containing 10,909 inhabitants. This place was a hamlet in the parish of St. Laurence until the 21st of June, 1827, at which period it was constituted a distinct parish, of 307 acres, by an act of parliament. It is said in the maritime survey of Kent in the reign of Elizabeth, to have contained 25 houses; and when Leland wrote his Itinerary, it was protected from the sea by a small wooden pier, which had existed from time immemorial, and for the maintenance of which the merchants of London paid dues by order of Henry VII. In 1688, the inhabitants commenced trading with Russia. From this period the buildings increased, and Ramsgate is now a town of importance, celebrated as a watering-place of considerable resort, and particularly distinguished for its harbour, which was commenced in 1749, under an act passed in the 22nd of George II. On the 25th of September 1821, George IV. embarked hence for Calais, in his progress to Hanover; and on the 8th of the following November, landed here, on his return, to commemorate which event, the inhabitants, trustees of the harbour, and visiters, erected an obelisk at the entrance of the pier on the land side. Townley House, for several seasons the residence of Her Majesty when Princess Victoria, and of the Duchess of Kent, is now a ladies' boarding-school.

The town is beautifully situated on the declivity of a hill opening southward to the sea, and commands from many points very extensive views, embracing in clear weather the French coast. The recent buildings are generally handsome edifices, and amongst those which more particularly embellish the town may be mentioned, Albion Place, Sion Hill, and Nelson, Wellington, and Royal crescents, with numerous villas. In 1835, a company was incorporated by act of parliament, for supplying the parish and neighbourhood with water; and a reservoir, with the requisite works, was formed. The town is paved, lighted with gas, and watched, under an act obtained in 1838. On the grounds of Mount Albion House, a new square and several streets, with a promenade fronting the sea, were laid out in the same year. To the east of the harbour, in front of a range of chalk cliffs, and on a beach of soft reddish sand, are the Royal Victoria baths; and on the west cliff, 100 feet above the level of the sea, are the Royal Kent warm sea-water baths, constructed of white marble. There are well-conducted assemblies, also two good public libraries; and the boarding and lodging houses are generally of a superior kind. A literary and scientific institution was established in 1835, under the patronage of Queen Adelaide and the Duchess of Kent. The rides and walks in the vicinity are pleasant, but the principal and most attractive promenade is the pier.

The harbour was commenced under the direction of Mr. Smeaton, and after his death, the completion of the undertaking was intrusted to Mr. Rennie, and subsequently to his son and successor, Sir John Rennie. The pier, which forms the harbour, is built principally of Purbeck and Portland stone, and latterly of Cornish granite, and for extent is unequalled by any in the kingdom. It projects 800 feet into the sea before making an angle, and, including the parapet, is 26 feet broad at the top; the front presents a polygon, each side of which is 450 feet long. The eastern arm of the pier extends 2000 feet, and the western 1550. The harbour covers an area of 48 acres, and is 200 feet wide at the mouth, across which the tide was formerly found to run so rapidly in tempestuous weather, as to render it dangerous for vessels entering; the eastern pier was in consequence lengthened 400 feet to the south west. In the upper part of the harbour is a basin capable of containing 200 vessels, the gates of which being shut at high and opened at low water, the stream carries away any drifted mud or sand, and keeps clear a channel under the curve of the eastern pier. This channel is sufficiently wide to admit four vessels abreast, with a depth of water of from 15 to 16 feet at neap tides, and from 20 to 22 feet at spring tides, enabling vessels of 300 tons' burthen to enter at all times, and much larger ones at spring tides. The harbour annually affords shelter to about 1400 vessels, the greater part of which are blown, or run, from the Downs in bad weather. On the western pier-head is a lighthouse. To defray the expenses of the establishment, certain dues are collected from British vessels passing the harbour to or from foreign parts; and coasters which do not belong to similar establishments in the ports of Dover, Lyme-Regis, Melcombe-Regis, Sandwich, Weymouth, and Great Yarmouth, pay an annual rate: foreign vessels also, if entering or passing the harbour, and bound to or touching at any English port, are liable to the payment of dues. All legal proceedings are carried on in the name of the deputy master of the Trinity House. The harbour affords great convenience to the different steam-packets that arrive, the inner landing being accessible to them at all times of the tide. It has also a dry dock, which is public property; and as there is no port on either side of the Channel, between Sheerness and Portsmouth, where large steam-vessels can dock and repair, the trustees have formed a patent-slip for larger vessels than the dock can accommodate. A railway was opened to Canterbury and Ashford in April 1846, and subsequently a line to Margate: the station here is a light and handsome edifice, on the north side of the town.

The business of the place, which has been greatly improved by the construction of the harbour, principally consists of a large coasting-trade, particularly in coal; and the importation of timber from the Baltic, which was for some time discontinued, is at present reviving. A considerable fishery is carried on off the coast by large vessels from the westward; the choice fish are chiefly sent to the London market. Several small vessels belonging to the port are similarly engaged, and are also often employed in rendering assistance to vessels in distress, particularly to those wrecked on the Goodwin sands, which lie about three miles and a half southeast-by-east from this place. Here are two spacious yards for ship-building, some rope-walks, and warehouses furnishing every description of stores for the shipping. The market is on Wednesday and Saturday, and is frequently attended by French people bringing over fruit and other articles. About 20,000 chests of eggs are annually imported, and shipped off for the London market in the Ramsgate hoys, thus escaping the river pilotage and other dues. Ramsgate being a member of the port of Sandwich, the mayor of that place appoints his deputy, who acts here as constable; the town is also under the jurisdiction of the magistrates appointed agreeably with an act obtained in 1812, for the liberties of the cinque-ports. The powers of the county debt-court of Ramsgate, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration-district of Thanet. A salvage court is held when required.

The living is a vicarage, not in charge; net income, £400; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is a handsome edifice, built at an expense of £27,000, towards defraying which the Parliamentary Commissioners granted £9000; it contains 2000 sittings, of which 800 are free. The foundation stone of a church called Christ Church was laid by J. P. Plumptre, Esq., in Aug. 1846, and the edifice was consecrated in 1847; it is in the early English style, with a lofty tower and spire, contains 1000 sittings, and cost about £5300. In Chapel-place is a chapel, the living of which is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar. Cavendish chapel, erected in 1840, displays a compound of Saxon and Norman, with some slight admixture of the pointed style; the seats rise one above another, as in a lecture-room: it is capable of holding 1400 persons, and cost about £4000. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, Calvinists, and Unitarians; and on the road to Broadstairs is a Jewish synagogue, with a house for the minister, both erected by Sir Moses Montefiore, Knt. A charity school, founded in 1779, and to which George Phillips, Esq., bequeathed £200 in 1817, is now conducted on the national plan; and a spacious building has been erected for it in Chapel-place.


Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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