St Peter's is an area of

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

, a town 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 anc ...

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 ...

. Historically a village, it was outgrown by the long-dominant settlement of the two, Broadstairs, after 1841. Originally the borough or manor of the church of St. Peter-in-Thanet, it was said to be the largest parish east of London, at least until Broadstairs became a separate parish on 27 September 1850. The two settlements were formally merged administratively in 1895.

History

The village and its church, named after

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, was the second daughter church of Minster established in 1070, although the first written record of its present name dates to 1124. In 1254 the village was named "scī Petr'", which gradually changed to "scī Petri" by 1270, Sti Petri in Insula de Thaneto by 1422, and finally settling by 1610 on its current form of St Peter's. The church has the right to fly the

white ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on ...

, dating from when the church tower was used as a signalling station in 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 ...

. The village sign won first prize in a nationwide competition in 1920.

Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 191617 July 2005), often known as Ted Heath, was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conserv ...

, leader of 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 ...

from 1965 to 1975, serving as prime minister from 1970 to 1974, was born in the village in 1916. On 27 April 1952 a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Republic F-84 Thunderjet The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thu ...

from

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 Airpor ...

crashed in the main street with loss of life.

Demography

At the 2001 UK census, the St Peter's

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

had a population of 6,761. The ethnicity was 97.8% white, 0.7% mixed race, 1.2% Asian, 0.2% black and 0.1% other. The place of birth of residents was 95.7% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.9% other Western European countries, and 2.7% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 75.7% Christian, 0.5% Buddhist, 0.3% Hindu, 0% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, and 0.3% Muslim. 14% were recorded as having no religion, 0.4% had an alternative religion and 8.6% did not state their religion. The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 38% in full-time employment, 13.6% in part-time employment, 9% self-employed, 2.8% unemployed, 2.2% students with jobs, 3.9% students without jobs, 19.2% retired, 5.7% looking after home or family, 3.3% permanently sick or disabled and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 16.1% retail, 14.9% manufacturing, 7.2% construction, 9.3% real estate, 13.2% health and social work, 12.1% education, 7.3% transport and communications, 5.5% public administration, 4.7% hotels and restaurants, 2.5% finance, 1% agriculture and 6.2% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in education and health and social work. There were a relatively low proportion in agriculture, real estate and finance. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 15.5% had a

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.

References

External links

Broadstairs and St. Peter's Town Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's, Kent Broadstairs