The City of Canterbury () is a
local government district
The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...
with
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England. As well as
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
itself, the district extends north to the coastal towns of Whistable and Herne Bay.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the existing city of Canterbury with the
Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...
and
Herne Bay
Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
Urban District
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
s, and
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
-
Blean
Blean is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The village, developed village within the parish is scattere ...
Rural District
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...
. The latter district entirely surrounded the city; the urban districts occupied the coastal area to the north.
Politics
Elections for to all seats on the city council are held every four years. After being under
no overall control for a number of years, the
Conservative party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
gained a majority in 2005 following a by election and defection from the Liberal Democrats.
Following the
2019 United Kingdom local elections
Local elections in parts of the United Kingdom were held on Thursday 2 May 2019, with 248 English local councils, six directly elected mayors in England, and all 11 local councils in Northern Ireland being contested.
A total of 8,886 council ...
the political composition of Canterbury council is as follows (2017 results follows by-elections):
Meeting place
After the Church of the Holy Cross, which was commissioned by
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Simon Sudbury
Simon Sudbury ( – 14 June 1381) was Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 until his death, and in the last year of his life Lord Chancellor of England. He met a violent death during the Peasants' Revolt in 138 ...
and completed before his death in 1381,
was declared redundant and de-consecrated in 1972, it was acquired by the city council and converted for municipal use: it was officially re-opened by the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
as the new
Canterbury Guildhall
Canterbury Guildhall, formerly the Church of the Holy Cross, is a municipal building in St Peter's Place in Canterbury, Kent, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Canterbury City Council, is a Grade II* listed building.
History ...
and meeting place of the city council on 9 November 1978.
Geography
Within the district are the towns of
Herne Bay
Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
and
Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...
, which, with the rural parishes and the cathedral city itself, make up the district of the City of Canterbury. There are 27 parishes within the district, as follows:
*
Adisham
Adisham (formerly Adesham) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Kent. It is twinned with Campagne-lès-Hesdin in France.
Geography
The village centre, six miles south-east of Canterbury is on the B2046 road between Wingham a ...
*
Barham
*
Bekesbourne-with-Patrixbourne
Bekesbourne-with-Patrixbourne is a civil parish in the City of Canterbury district of Kent, England. It is located 4 miles south-east of Canterbury.
According to the 2001 census it had a population of 868, increasing to 925 at the 2011 Census. T ...
*
Bishopsbourne
Bishopsbourne is a mostly rural and wooded village and civil parish in Kent, England. It has two short developed sections of streets at the foot of the Nailbourne valley south-east of Canterbury and centred from Dover. The settlement of P ...
*
Blean
Blean is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The village, developed village within the parish is scattere ...
*
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
*
Chartham
Chartham is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. It is situated on the Ashford side of the city, and is in the North Downs area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, south west of Canterbury, England. The Great St ...
*
Chestfield
Chestfield is a village (and civil parish and with Swalecliffe a district council ward) in the Canterbury District of Kent, England. The parish is centred from the sea on the north coast of Kent, between the towns of Whitstable and Herne Bay. It ...
*
Chislet
Chislet is an English village and civil parish in northeast Kent between Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet. The parish is the second largest in the district. A former spelling, 'Chistlet', is seen in 1418. The population of the civil parish incl ...
*
Fordwich
Fordwich is a market town and a civil parish in east Kent, England, on the River Stour, northeast of Canterbury.
It is the smallest community by population in Britain with a town council. Its population increased by 30 between 2001 and 2011.
...
, which has town status
*
Hackington
Hackington is an area of Canterbury in Kent, England, also known (especially historically) as St Stephen's, incorporating the northern part of the city, as well as a semi-rural area to the north.
It is an ancient ecclesiastical parish, with the ...
*
Harbledown and Rough Common
Harbledown is a village in Kent, England, immediately west of Canterbury and contiguous with the city. At local government level the village is designated as a separate civil parish, that of Harbledown and Rough Common. The High Street is a con ...
*
Hersden
Hersden is a village east of Canterbury in Kent, South East England. It was established as a planned coalmining village in the 1920s and is on the A28 road between Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet. Work in the Kent Coalfield was the main source ...
*
Herne and Broomfield
Herne and Broomfield is a civil parish and electoral ward within the City of Canterbury. The parish is situated to the north of Canterbury in Kent. The seaside town of Herne Bay is the other side of the A299 road, Thanet Way that marks the northe ...
*
Hoath
Hoath is a semi-rural village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury local government district. The hamlets of Knaves Ash, Maypole, Ford, Old Tree, Shelvingford and Stoney Acre are included in the parish.
History
Hoath was part of the estat ...
*
Ickham
*
Kingston
*
Littlebourne
Littlebourne is a village and civil parish east of Canterbury in Kent, South East England.
History
The significant Howletts Anglo-Saxon cemetery is in the parish. It is regarded as " Jutish"; finds are in the British Museum and elsewhere, and i ...
*
Lower Hardres and Nackington
Lower may refer to:
*Lower (surname)
*Lower Township, New Jersey
*Lower Receiver (firearms)
*Lower Wick
Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eig ...
*
Petham
Petham is a rural village and civil parish in the North Downs, five miles south of Canterbury in Kent, South East England.
The village church is All Saints, Petham and is Grade I listed. It was built in the 13th century but suffered from a fire ...
*
Sturry
Sturry is a village on the Great Stour river situated northeast of Canterbury in Kent. Its large civil parish incorporates several hamlets and, until April 2019, the former mining village of Hersden.
Geography
Sturry lies at the old Roman junc ...
*
Thanington Without
Thanington is a civil parish on the west edge of Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom. It extends to the south-west of A2 from Wincheap to the Milton Bridge in Chartham. It is the only parished area within the City of Canterbury.
The north ward of T ...
*
Upper Hardres
Upper Hardres is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, in the district of Kent, England.
The name of the Hardres family is perpetuated in the twin villages of Upper Hardres and Lower Hardres (pronounced 'hards'), on the Roman ...
*
Waltham
*
Westbere
Westbere is a small village and civil parish in Kent, England, centred north-east of Canterbury city centre along the A28 road to the Isle of Thanet.
Geography
The relatively small area parish in this district is agricultural in most of its land ...
*
Wickhambreaux
Wickhambreaux ( ) is a small rural village in Kent, England. The village is just off the A257 Sandwich Road, four miles east of the city of Canterbury. Since Roman times the village has had connections to the Church and the Crown, including bei ...
*
Womenswold
Womenswold is a village and civil parish centred south-east of Canterbury, Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the ...
Swalecliffe
Swalecliffe is a part of the ribbon development of the north Kent coast between Whitstable and Herne Bay in Southeast England. It forms Swalecliffe ward of City of Canterbury Council.
History
The Doomsday book provides an early record of Swalec ...
is an unparished area within the district.
The district is largely rural, with a coastal strip taken up by the almost unbroken spread of seaside towns and beaches from
Seasalter
Seasalter is a village (and district council ward) in the Canterbury District of Kent, England. Seasalter is on the north coast of Kent, between the towns of Whitstable and Faversham, facing the Isle of Sheppey across the estuary of the River Swa ...
, west of Whitstable, to
Herne Bay
Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
. Between them and the city the hills rise into the wooded area of Blean, south of which the
Great Stour
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
flows from its source beyond
Ashford.
Demography
Twin towns
The district participates in the
Sister Cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
programme, with
links
to
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, and
Vladimir, Russia
Vladimir ( rus, Влади́мир, p=vlɐ'dʲimʲɪr, a=Ru-Владимир.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, east of Moscow. It is served by a railway and the M7 motorway. ...
.
The Three Towns Association was founded in 1985 on the initiative of three local clergymen to promote person-to-person contact between ordinary people in the UK, the U.S. and Russia. The name was subsequently changed to the Three Cities Association. The Association chose Vladimir as the twin city in Russia because it is the seat of Christianity in that country as Canterbury is the seat of Christianity in England. Vladimir was already twinned with Bloomington-Normal. Among other activities, the Association arranged home-stay exchanges between the two Simon Langton Schools in Canterbury and School No. 23 in Vladimir, where the teaching was conducted in English.
Several towns and villages within the City of Canterbury have their own twinning arrangements:
see the articles on
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
,
Whitstable
Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32 ...
and
Herne Bay
Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government ...
.
See also
*
List of mayors of Canterbury
Canterbury was granted a city charter in 1448 which gave it the right to have a mayor and a sheriff.
The city's web site records that
King Henry VI decreed that the City should be "of one Mayor and one commonalty, wholly corporate for ever". Th ...
*
References
External links
Canterbury City Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canterbury, City of
Cities in South East England
Non-metropolitan districts of Kent
Boroughs in England