St Nicholas-at-Wade (or St Nicholas) is both a village and a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Thanet District Thanet is a local government district in Kent, England. Formed under the Local Government Act 1972, it came into being on 1 April 1974 and is governed by Thanet District Council. On the north eastern tip of Kent, it is predominantly coastal, ...

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. The parish had a recorded population of 782 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 852 at the 2011 census. The village of Sarre is part of the civil parish. The village is best known locally for the local custom of

Hoodening Hoodening (), also spelled ''hodening'' and ''oodening'', is a folk custom found in Kent, a county in south-eastern England. The tradition entails the use of a wooden hobby horse known as a hooden horse that is mounted on a pole and carried by ...

, a type of

mumming Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers (also by local names such as ''rhymers'', ''pace-eggers'', ''soulers'', ''tipteerers'', ''wrenboys'', and ''galoshins''). ...

, as well as for its prolific potato production.

History

The name derives from its location on the western border of the Isle of Thanet (originally separated from the Kent mainland). Before the channels of the River Wantsum and River Stour silted up, one would have been able to ' wade' at this point, over a ford. In Roman times the channel was navigable and the site likely very busy with the

Saxon Shore forts The Saxon Shore ( la, litus Saxonicum) was a military command of the late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Shor ...

of Regulbium ( Reculver) and

Rutupiae Richborough Castle is a Roman Saxon Shore fort better known as Richborough Roman Fort. It is situated in Richborough near Sandwich, Kent. Substantial remains of the massive fort walls still stand to a height of several metres. It is p ...

( Richborough) both close by. Remains of Roman shipbuilding yards are said to have been found between St. Nicholas-at-Wade and the nearby village of Sarre

Village

The village can be entered from either the A299 (Thanet Way) or the A28 (Canterbury Road). These approaches to the village stand out with their colourful planters welcoming visitors. St John's Green at the A28 entry point displays several items including a 1919 restored cultivator in its original makers colours. There are two public houses, 'The Bell' and 'The Sun'. There is also a post office, an antiques shop and a farm marketing office. One of the main potato suppliers in the country used to have its headquarters near St Nicholas Court in the northwest of the village, but the site closed in late 2015. Hedgend Industrial Estate is on the northern outskirts. There is the local St Nicholas CE Primary School. The village hall (dating from 1930) houses weekly events including various dance classes, keep fit, Art groups and senior citizens coffee mornings and is also used as a polling station. There is a static caravan park at Frost Farm and a camping site at Streete Farm. A sports field in Bell Meadow plays host to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

matches, the cricket pavilion was constructed in the 1980s with the aid of

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 Canal, ...

Churches

The 13th-century parish church of St Nicholas, after which the village and parish are named, was a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

for St Mary's Church at Reculver. The first rector is recorded as Adam de Brancestre in 1294. Built in flint, the church houses some fine 16th-century brasses, a carved oak

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

dated 1615, and a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. The parish has twice been enlarged, firstly in medieval times, when it was separated from the parish of Reculver and joined with the little-known

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

of All Saints, Shuart in 1310, and again in the mid-16th century, when it was joined with the parish of St Giles, Sarre. The church is currently part of th
Wantsum Benefice
St Nicholas Court has a fine example of a medieval underground chapel; however, little is known about the origins or past use of this building. The chapel is on private land but has been opened to visitors on some important local occasions.

References

External links

St Nicholas-at-Wade with Sarre Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent