Ramsgate is a
seaside town
A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German ' ...
in the district of
Thanet Thanet may refer to:
*Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England
*Thanet District, a local government district containing the island
*Thanet College, former name of East Kent College
*Thanet Canal, ...
in east
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. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a population of 40,408. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline, and its main industries are tourism and fishing. The town has one of the largest marinas on the English south coast, and the
Port of Ramsgate
The Port of Ramsgate (also known as Port Ramsgate, Ramsgate Harbour, and Royal Harbour, Ramsgate) is a harbour situated in Ramsgate, south-east England, serving cross-Channel freight traffic and smaller working and pleasure craft. It is owned an ...
provided cross-
channel ferries for many years.
History
![The sands, Ramsgate, Kent, England, ca](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/The_sands%2C_Ramsgate%2C_Kent%2C_England%2C_ca._1899.jpg)
Ramsgate began as a fishing and farming hamlet.
The Christian missionary
St Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...
, sent by
Pope Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...
, landed near Ramsgate in 597AD. The town is home to the
Shrine of St Augustine.
The earliest reference to the town is in the Kent Hundred Rolls of 1274–5, both as ''Remmesgate'' (in the local personal name of ‘Christina de Remmesgate’) and ''Remisgat'' (with reference to the town). The names ''Ramisgate'' and ''Raunsgate'' appear in the parish of St. Laurence records circa 1290. These are all derived from late Anglo-Saxon ‘Hremmes’ from earlier ‘Hræfnes’ (raven's) and ‘geat’ (gate), with reference to the gap in the cliffs. In 1357, the area became known as ''Ramesgate''.
Ramsgate was a member of the Confederation of
Cinque Ports, under the 'Limb' of
Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including s ...
.
The construction of Ramsgate Harbour began in 1749 and was completed in around 1850. The harbour has the distinction of being the only Royal Harbour in the United Kingdom. Because of its proximity to mainland Europe, Ramsgate was a chief embarkation point both during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
and for the
Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.
''The Official Illustrated Guide to South-Eastern and North and Mid-Kent Railways'' (June 1863) by George Measom from describes Ramsgate thus: 'It is impossible to speak too favourably of this first-rate town, its glorious sands, its bathing, its hotels, libraries, churches, etc. etc. not forgetting its bracing climate...The streets of Ramsgate are well paved or macadamed and brilliantly lighted with gas.'
The architect
A W Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...
and his sons lived in Ramsgate and built several important buildings there, including
St Augustine's Church,
The Grange,
St Augustine's Abbey, and
The Granville Hotel.
The artist
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
moved to Ramsgate in April 1876, at age 23. He boarded at 11 Spencer Square, which is identified by a
blue plaque. He obtained work as a teacher at a local school in Royal Road, where he received his post. In one of his letters to his brother Theo, he described his surroundings: "There's a harbour full of all kinds of ships, closed in by stone jetties running into the sea on which one can walk. And further out one sees the sea in its natural state, and that's beautiful."
In 1901, an electric tram service, one of the few
inter-urban tramways in Britain, was introduced on the
Isle of Thanet
The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island.
Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in an ...
. The towns of Ramsgate,
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
and
Broadstairs were linked by 11 miles of track.
In 1915–1916, early aircraft began to use the open farmland at
Manston as a site for emergency landings. The location near the Kent coast gave Manston some advantages over the other previously established aerodromes. During the First World War, Ramsgate was the target of bombing raids by Zeppelin airships. By 1917 the
Royal Flying Corps was well established and taking an active part in the defence of Britain. As
RAF Manston
Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpo ...
, the aerodrome played an important role in the Second World War. It is now called
Kent International Airport
Manston Airport was a British airport. It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and was located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, north-eas ...
, but is currently not operational.
In 1923, Ramsgate elected its first woman Mayor,
Janet Stancomb-Wills
Dame Janet Stancomb Graham Stancomb-Wills, DBE (25 January 1854 – 22 August 1932) was the first woman mayor of Ramsgate in Kent, an office which she held from 1923–24, and she was also the first person to receive, in 1922, the Freedom of the ...
, after whom the Dame Janet Primary Academy on Newington Road is named.
As the Second World War approached, Ramsgate Borough Council embarked on plans to create a network of Deep Shelter tunnels linking to a former railway tunnel which would provide shelter for 60,000 people. The tunnels were opened on 1 June 1939. 75 years later, in 2014, a part of this network was opened to visitors.
In October 1939, the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
established a
Coastal Forces
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Fo ...
base at Ramsgate called HMS ''Fervent'', which operated
Motor Torpedo Boats,
Motor Gun Boat
The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. ...
s and
Motor Launch
A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches.
...
es until September 1945. From 27 May 1940, Ramsgate harbour was the main assembly point for the build-up of small craft needed for
Operation Dynamo
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
, the evacuation of the
British Expeditionary Force from
Dunkirk. Once the evacuation was under way, Ramsgate became the second-busiest port after
Dover, and just under 43,000 men passed through the port, transported onwards by 82 special trains.
In 2017 Ramsgate was chosen as one of the first ten Heritage Action Zones (HAZ) by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
, with the aim of stimulating economic growth using Ramsgate's historic environment as a catalyst. Part of this project included a Historic Landscape Characterisation Study which assessed and mapped the patterns of historic character in the town, using geological and topographical surveys, and covering aspects from the Neolithic, medieval, Georgian, Victorian, and through to the First and Second World War periods.
Geography
![Ramsgatemap1945](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Ramsgatemap1945.jpg)
Ramsgate is located 78 miles from central London in an east south-easterly direction at one of the most easterly points of the United Kingdom (the furthest point east is
Lowestoft in
Suffolk).
The town is an amalgamation of two settlements: a fishing community on the coast in the shallow valley between two chalk cliffs, and an inland farming community that is now the Parish of St Lawrence. The cliffs are known as the East Cliff and the West Cliff and are predominantly residential areas. There are promenades along both cliff tops with parks at either end and sandy beaches on the coast.
Climate
Ramsgate has an
oceanic climate (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
''Cfb'') as is typical in the United Kingdom; the nearest Met Office weather station for which data is available is Manston Airport, about two miles west of the town centre.
The highest temperature ever recorded is 34.6 °C (94.3 °F) in August 2003, though typically the warmest day of the year averages 28.5 °C (83.3 °F) and 8.8 days will record a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.
The lowest recorded temperature is -14.5 °C (5.9 °F), in February 1986, though typically the coldest night of the year averages -6.2 °C (20.8 °F).
A total of 21.4 days
of the year should record an air frost.
Rainfall averages around 600 mm
per year, a figure similar to that for the driest parts of England. Over 1 mm of rain can be expected on 110.1 days.
Averages refer to a mixture of the 1971-2000, 1981-2010 and 1991-2020 climate periods.
Being close to the coast, and in Southern England, sunshine compares favourably with most of the United Kingdom, at over 1800 hours
a year. Only the Sussex coast tends to be notably sunnier, although much of the remainder of the south coast receives a similar amount of sunshine as Ramsgate.
Governance
Ramsgate is in the
parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
of
Thanet South, which is represented by
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
MP
Craig Mackinlay
Craig Mackinlay (born 7 October 1966) is a Conservative Party politician and businessman. Since May 2015, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet.
Initially a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Mackinlay served a ...
. He won the seat in the 2015 general election, representing a Conservative hold after
Laura Sandys
Laura Jane Sandys (; born 5 June 1964) is a former chair of the European Movement UK, and a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet between 2010 and 2015 when she stood down at the ...
won the seat for the Conservatives in the 2010 General Election.
Before 6 May 2010, the MP for Ramsgate was
Stephen Ladyman
Stephen John Ladyman (born 6 November 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010.
Early life
He attended the Birkenhead Institute Grammar School for Boys (became the ...
, a
Labour minister; he was preceded by
Jonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest, former prisoner and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving un ...
.
Ramsgate was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1884. This was abolished in 1974, since when Ramsgate has been part of the
Thanet Thanet may refer to:
*Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England
*Thanet District, a local government district containing the island
*Thanet College, former name of East Kent College
*Thanet Canal, ...
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 ...
. The town is made up of seven electoral
wards: Central Harbour, Cliffsend and Pegwell, Eastcliff, Nethercourt, Newington, Northwood, and
Sir Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, afte ...
. These wards have seventeen of the fifty-six seats on the
Thanet District Council Thanet may refer to:
*Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England
*Thanet District, a local government district containing the island
*Thanet College, former name of East Kent College
* Thanet Cana ...
; since the
2019 local elections eleven of those seats have been held by
Labour, three by Thanet Independents, two by the
Conservative Party and one by the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
. Currently the council is run by a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
minority.
Following a successful campaign by local activist Gerry O'Donnell, a town council was established for Ramsgate in June 2009. The Town Mayor of Ramsgate is currently Councillor Raushan Ara.
Economy
![Ramsgate Harbour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Ramsgate_Harbour.JPG)
Ramsgate's main industries are
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
and
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
. The town has a thriving marina with over 800 moorings and a range of marine-related businesses that operate in the renovated arches under Royal Parade. Colleges in the town also cater for students of English as a foreign language.
Although Ramsgate has the most valuable fish landings in Kent (~£700,000 in 2003), the fishing industry is in decline.
The
Port of Ramsgate
The Port of Ramsgate (also known as Port Ramsgate, Ramsgate Harbour, and Royal Harbour, Ramsgate) is a harbour situated in Ramsgate, south-east England, serving cross-Channel freight traffic and smaller working and pleasure craft. It is owned an ...
has provided cross-channel ferries for many years. Previously,
Sally Ferries UK
Sally Line UK (sometimes referred to as Sally Ferries UK) was a British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea.
History
Sally Line was founded in 1981 by Michael Kingshott as a subsidiary of the Finland-based Rederi Ab Sally, and ...
provided a passenger and car ferry service to
Dunkirk. Until April 2013,
Transeuropa Ferries operated a freight and car ferry between Ramsgate and
Oostende.
Unemployment in Thanet stands at 4.1%; this is higher than the national average (2.5%).
There is some light industry in the town. An emerging industry is power generation, with 800 jobs expected to be created by the
Thanet offshore wind project, a
wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...
just off the coast.
Ramsgate market is held in High Street, King Street and Queen Street every Friday and Saturday.
Ramsgate has a LETS scheme (RAMLETS) which was set up in 2014 enabling residents to trade goods and services using the virtual currency RAMs. It is working with the Newington Wellbeing Network to improve the lives of people living in the Newington ward of Ramsgate.
Demography
According to the
2001 UK census
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.
The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...
, Ramsgate has a population of 39,639.
The
ethnicity of the town was 98.0%
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 0.8%
mixed race
Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
, 0.3%
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
, 0.3%
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, 0.4% other
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
n and 0.1% other ethnicity.
The place of birth of residents was 95.6% United Kingdom, 0.7% Ireland, 0.6% Germany, 0.6% other Western European countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.6%
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
, 0.5% Africa, 0.3% North America, 0.3%
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
, 0.2%
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
, 0.2%
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
and 0.1% South America.
Religion was recorded as 71.6%
Christian, 0.3%
Muslim, 0.1%
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
, 0.3%
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, 0.1%
Sikh and 0.1%
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. 17.9% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.1% didn't state their religion.
For every 100 women, there were 91.2 men. The age distribution was 6% aged 0–4 years, 16% aged 5–15 years, 5% aged 16–19 years, 31% aged 20–44 years, 24% aged 45–64 years and 18% aged 65 years and over.
Culture
Tourism
![Ramsgate beach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/Ramsgate_beach.JPG)
Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline, particularly Ramsgate Main Sands, which was awarded a
Blue Flag in 2015.
Ramsgate's wartime deep shelter tunnels are open to the public for tours, which have been running since 2014.
Ramsgate town has a small population of feral
rose-ringed parakeet
The rose-ringed parakeet (''Psittacula krameri''), also known as the ring-necked parakeet (more commonly known as the Indian ringneck parrot), is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula, of the family Psittacidae. It has disjunct native ran ...
s. The story about them appearing in Ramsgate still remains a mystery. According to some sources they may have flown away from the trading ships coming from British India in the 1800s.
The local council publishes a website specifically aimed at tourists visiting Ramsgate and neighbouring towns.
There is an annual regatta event based at Ramsgate during the summer.
Ramsgate carnival is an annual parade that takes place during the summer. Other events include the annual Addington Street Fair and the French Market.
Sports
Ramsgate's main football club,
Ramsgate FC
Ramsgate Football Club are a football team based in Ramsgate, Kent, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Southwood Stadium. The main local rivals of the club are Margate who are situated just 4 miles away. When the two ...
, plays in the
Isthmian League Division One South
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
. The local rivals of the club are
Margate FC, situated 4 miles away. When the two teams meet, it is known as the Thanet derby. Ramsgate FC run a reserves team, which plays in the Kent Football League Second Division, and a women's team, which plays in the South East Counties Women's League Kent County Division. Ramsgate FC run five youth teams; the under-13 to under-18 teams compete in the Valley Express Kent Youth League, and the club also runs Ramsgate Youth U7 to U16, which play in the Molten East Kent Youth League. Two other youth teams in Ramsgate are Trinity and Hugin Vikings; both play in The Molten East Kent Youth League.
Thanet Wanderers is the island's only rugby team and has played at London Division 1 level, achieving its best result by defeating Doncaster at Twickenham in the final of the Intermediate Cup in 1997. The club runs five senior sides and many junior teams, all of which play at St Peter's.
Cliftonville Hockey Club plays its home matches at St Lawrence College and has a clubhouse that it shares with
Broadstairs Cricket Club.
Thanet Galaxy is a Pan Disability Football Club that provides structured coaching for male and female footballers of all ages who qualify within the nationally and internationally recognised Pan Disability categories. The club trains at Chatham House Grammar School and plays in Kent Disability Football League in three age bands: U-11, U-16, and 16+. In their first season (2008/2009), the adult A team won the Kent Disability League Adult Championship.
Ramsgate's sports facilities include a public swimming pool, and a fitness centre with a gym and sports hall. Tennis clubs can be found at Spencer Square and St Laurence. Ramsgate has three golf clubs: St Augustine's, Stonelees, and Manston. There is also a sailing club, the Royal Temple Yacht Club, which is steeped in yacht-racing history and hosts racing throughout the year for a variety of historic trophies. The highlight of the season is the annual international sailing regatta, known as 'Ramsgate Week', which is usually held in August.
Arts and local media
![Ramsgate Maritime Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Ramsgate_Maritime_Museum.jpg)
The Gallery IOTA (Isle Of Thanet Arts) was based on the towns west cliff but is now on the harbour front.
Ramsgate Maritime Museum near the harbour quayside has exhibits showing the evolution of Ramsgate Harbour and east Kent maritime history. The Museum Building featured in the 2018 romantic comedy ''
Juliet, Naked'' as the fictional Sandcliff Museum where the film's star Annie Platt (Rose Bryne) works. The King's Theatre is situated near the town centre and offers shows, community events and a seniors' club every Monday. Talks on Ramsgate's history are frequently held there.
Ramsgate has two paid-for newspapers, the ''Isle of Thanet Gazette'' and ''Thanet Times'', both of which are owned by
Northcliffe Media. Free newspapers covering the town include the ''Thanet Extra'', part of the
KM Group
KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...
; and ''yourthanet'', belonging to
KOS Media
KOS Media was a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England. The company operated local newspapers and internet sites throughout the county.
History
KOS Media's first newspaper, the '' Kent on Sunday'' was launched as a ...
.
The local radio stations are
KMFM Thanet
KMFM Thanet is an Independent Local Radio serving the Isle of Thanet and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is the Thanet region of the KMFM radio network (owned by the KM Group), containing local advertisements and sponsorsh ...
, owned by the KM Group,
community radio
Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...
station
Academy FM (Thanet), and the county-wide stations
Heart Kent
Heart Kent (previously Invicta FM) was a local radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to Kent from studios at John Wilson Business Park in Whitstable.
History
Invicta in the 80s
Originall ...
,
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
and
BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent.
It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Great Hall in Tunbridge Wells.
According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...
.
Thanet Thanet may refer to:
*Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England
*Thanet District, a local government district containing the island
*Thanet College, former name of East Kent College
*Thanet Canal, ...
Community Radio (TCR) offers an online arts- and features-based service for Thanet District and the surrounding area where people can listen to podcasts of local interest. The service works closely with
Dover Community Radio.
Landmarks
![Viking Longboat 'Hugin', Ramsgate - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Viking_Longboat_%27Hugin%27%2C_Ramsgate_-_geograph.org.uk_-_653079.jpg)
The
Hugin is a reconstructed
Viking longship
Longships were a type of specialised Viking ships, Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and use ...
located at
Pegwell Bay
Pegwell Bay is a shallow inlet in the English Channel coast astride the estuary of the River Stour north of Sandwich Bay, between Ramsgate and Sandwich in Kent. Part of the bay is a nature reserve, with seashore habitats including mudflats and ...
in Ramsgate. It was a gift from the Danish government in commemoration of the 1500th anniversary of the legendary arrival of conquering brothers
Hengist and Horsa
Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent.
Most modern scholarly consensus now rega ...
to England in the year 449.
Architecture
There are many
Regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
and
Victorian buildings in Ramsgate. In all, there are 900 listed buildings in the town with more than 200 in the vicinity of the harbour. One of the town's most notable buildings is the 18th century
Townley House designed by
Mary Townley.
[Paul Nettleingham, "Townley House in Ramsgate"]
, ''Michaels Bookshop Ramsgate''. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
The town has three notable churches.
The first building used for worship in the Thanet parish of 'St Lawrence' was at
St Laurence-in-Thanet
St Laurence's Church, also known as St Laurence-in-Thanet, is a Church of England parish church in Ramsgate, Thanet, Kent. History
The church, founded in 1062, is a grade I listed building, and is the oldest church in Ramsgate. It was an abbey ...
; it was built in 1062 and rebuilt during the following centuries with the most significant changes made in the 16th century. Note the difference in spelling between the village of St Lawrence and its church, which is dedicated to the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
Martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
Laurence
Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...
.
The second notable church is
St Augustine's, which is situated on the town's West Cliff. It was designed by
Augustus Pugin
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...
in 1847 in the
Gothic Revival style. Its dedication commemorates
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
, the first
Archbishop of Canterbury, who landed at Ramsgate in AD 597 bringing
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
to Britain. In March 2012 the church was designated a shrine to St Augustine of Canterbury; this ended a five-century absence of a shrine to St Augustine, as the original (at St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury) had been destroyed during the Reformation.
Thirdly, the town's parish church of St George is situated just off the High Street. Its lantern tower was added at the request of
Trinity House
"Three In One"
, formation =
, founding_location = Deptford, London, England
, status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity
, purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons
, he ...
as a navigational aid to passing ships and looks over the town. The ground was consecrated on 23 October 1827.
St Augustine's is part of the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
Archdiocese of Southwark, whilst St Laurence and St George are both
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
and serve the
Anglican community as part of the
Diocese of Canterbury
The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering East Kent, eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest episcopal see, see of the Church o ...
. Christ Church, built in 1847, also serves the Anglican community.
Ramsgate library was originally built and paid for by
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
in 1904. On the evening of Friday 13 August 2004, it was destroyed by fire just two months short of its 100th anniversary. Though suspicions were raised about the causes of the fire, due to a similarly timed fire at the town's registry office, an investigation was unable to establish how the fire had started.
Shortly after the blaze, planning permission was granted for a new library. The library has now been fully restored, and was officially re-opened on 20 February 2009.
Transport
By sea
![Ramsgate 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Ramsgate_2.jpg)
The Port of Ramsgate has a 700 berth
marina, ''Royal Harbour Marina'', and a ferry terminal built on reclaimed land. The harbour provides shelter from the effects of storms. The
Goodwin Sands
Goodwin Sands is a sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geologi ...
are nearby. In 2005, the marina had 12,000 visiting boats.
Transeuropa Ferries passenger (with vehicle only) and freight
ferries
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
sailed until April 2013 to the
Port of Ostend
The Port of Ostend (Dutch: ''Oostende'') is situated in Ostend, West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The port services freight transport between Ostend and Ramsgate, Ipswich and North Killingholme Haven.
Passenger transport between Oste ...
in
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. The Port of Ramsgate has its own road access tunnel from outside the town, avoiding town centre congestion. The
Royal National Lifeboat Institution's
Ramsgate Lifeboat Station is in Ramsgate Harbour.
By road
Ramsgate is connected to the national road network primarily through the
A299 Thanet Way, which continues on to the
M2/
A2 for the
M25 (approx 1 hour) and London. The
A256 provides a link to
Dover and onwards to the
A20 for the
Channel Tunnel.
Bus services are provided by
Stagecoach South East and also serve
Broadstairs,
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a 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.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
,
Sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
and
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
.
By rail
Ramsgate railway station
Ramsgate railway station serves the town of Ramsgate in Thanet in Kent, England, and is at least 10 minutes' walk from the town centre. The station lies on the Chatham Main Line, down the line from , the Kent Coast Line, and the Ashford to R ...
is situated at the top of the town near the parish of St Lawrence.
A new high-speed service to
London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...
started in December 2009, running on
High Speed 1, the UK's first high-speed rail line, between London and Kent. The journey time from Ramsgate to St Pancras is 76 minutes.
In March 2015, it was announced that journey times between Ramsgate and London St Pancras are expected to be reduced to 63 minutes in 2019, due to infrastructure enhancements.
Other trains run from Ramsgate to
London Charing Cross and
London Victoria
Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...
. Commuting time to the capital on these lines is approximately 1 hour 50 minutes.
Trains from Ramsgate are routed via
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
,
Chatham and
Bromley South, or via
Canterbury West or
Dover Priory
The Priory of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Martin of the New Work, or Newark, commonly called Dover Priory, was a priory at Dover in southeast England. It was variously independent in rule, then occupied by canons regular of the Augustinian r ...
and
Ashford International. Ramsgate railway station is operated by
Southeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
who operate all services.
By air
A municipal airport was opened on 1 July 1935, operating until
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
broke out in 1939. Following a short spell as a satellite of
RAF Manston
Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airpo ...
, it closed in 1940. The airport was re-opened in 1952 and operated until closure in 1968.
The town is situated directly under the flight path of
Manston Airport
Manston Airport was a British airport. It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and was located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, north-eas ...
. From September 2004 to August 2005 a low-cost airline
EUjet
EUjet was a low-cost airline based at Shannon Airport, Ireland. It operated a network of services from its main base at Shannon Airport (SNN), with a hub at Kent International Airport (MSE), Manston, Kent, UK. The airline was sold to a Bri ...
operated frequent flights to many European destinations, replacing a large freight operator. However, flights were suspended after the collapse of its parent company, PlaneStation Group plc.
Manston was sold to
Infratil
Infratil Limited is a New Zealand-based infrastructure investment company. It owns renewable energy, digital infrastructure, airports, and healthcare assets with operations in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, the US and Europe. Infratil was founded ...
on 26 August 2005. Until May 2014,
KLM Cityhopper operated two daily passenger flights from the airport to
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands. The airport was regularly used by freight operators such as
Cargolux
Cargolux, legally ''Cargolux Airlines International S.A.'', is a Luxembourgian flag carrier cargo airline with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. With a global network, it is one of the largest scheduled all-cargo airlines in Euro ...
and Meridian.
The airport was sold to
Ann Gloag
Dame Ann Heron Gloag DBE (née Souter; born 10 December 1942) is a Scottish billionaire businesswoman, activist, and charity campaigner. She is co-founder of the international transport company Stagecoach Group.
According to The ''Sunday Times ...
in November 2013. She was reported to be seeking a buyer, but her spokesman reported that a buyer had not been found, and the airport closed on 15 May 2014.
Education
![Stlawrence](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Stlawrence.jpg)
Secondary schools
*
Chatham and Clarendon Grammar School
*
The Royal Harbour Academy
The Royal Harbour Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located over two sites in Ramsgate in the English county of Kent.
The school was formed in September 2015 from the merger of The Ellington and Hereson School located o ...
*
St Lawrence College
Colleges and further education
* Ramsgate's nearest college is
East Kent College
East Kent College is a further education college (although also provides higher education courses) located in Broadstairs, Kent on the southeast coast of the United Kingdom.
The main campus is located on Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs. In Septembe ...
. This is situated in the nearby town of
Broadstairs.
Twin towns
* -
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, from the center of Paris.
The commune was originally named for its ge ...
, France
* -
Chimay, Belgium
* -
Frederikssund
Frederikssund () is a Danish town, seat of the Frederikssund Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden with a population of 16,850 (1 January 2022).[Russell Hoban
Russell Conwell Hoban (February 4, 1925 – December 13, 2011) was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books.
He lived in ...](_blank)
repurposes Ramsgate as seat of government "The Ram" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel ''
Riddley Walker
''Riddley Walker'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Russell Hoban, first published in 1980. It won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel in 1982, as well as an Australian Science Fiction Achievement Awa ...
''.
See also
*
Ramsgate lifeboat station Provides an inshore boat and an offshore boat.
*
Ramsgate Harbour railway station
Ramsgate Harbour railway station was a railway station in Ramsgate, in the Thanet district of Kent, England. Opened in 1863 as part of the Kent Coast Railway company's extension of its line from Herne Bay, it was conveniently situated for th ...
*
Ramsgate Town railway station
Ramsgate Town railway station is a former railway station in Ramsgate, in the Thanet district of Kent, England. It was the seaside resort's first station, but was closed in 1926 when a new, more direct railway line bypassed it and the town's o ...
*
Ramsgate Cliff Railway
*
List of people from Thanet#Ramsgate
*
St Ethelbert's church, Ramsgate
*
Ramsgate power station
Ramsgate power station supplied electricity to the town of Ramsgate, Kent, England and the surrounding area from 1905 to 1958. The station was operated by the Ramsgate and District Electric Supply Company Limited until the nationalisation of the ...
References
Bibliography
* Martin Easdown, ''A Fateful Finger of Iron: The Story of the Ill-fated Ramsgate Promenade Pier Within a Resort History of the Town'', Michaels Bookshop (Jul 2006),
* Bob Simmonds, ''Ramsgate From the Ground: An Alternative Look at the Town and Its History'', Michaels Bookshop (April 2006),
External links
*
Ramsgate Town Council
{{Authority control
Seaside resorts in England
Towns in Kent
Port cities and towns in South East England
Cinque ports
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Populated coastal places in Kent
Civil parishes in Kent
Beaches of Kent