Warden is a small holiday village on the northeast coast of the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...

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 ...

, United Kingdom. The largest residential part of Warden is generally called Warden Bay. The place where the beach becomes inaccessible and the cliffs become prominent is generally referred to as Warden Point.

History

It was once called ''Warne''. At the time of the

Domesday Survey Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, the parish and manor of Warden was controlled by the Manor of

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

. In King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

's reign (1272 to 1307), it was owned by the Savage family. In 1295, John le Savage obtained a charter of

free warren A free warren—often simply warren—is a type of franchise or privilege conveyed by a sovereign in medieval England to an English subject, promising to hold them harmless for killing game of certain species within a stipulated area, u ...

for his lands in the manor. In 1376, Sir Richard at Leese MP became owner of the manor; he was

High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

in 1367. When he died in 1394, the manor passed to his widow Dionisia. In 1727, it was sold to Sir Thomas Stevens (who was a

High Sheriff of Surrey The list of known High Sheriffs of Surrey extends back to 1066. At various times the High Sheriff of Surrey was also High Sheriff of Sussex (1229–1231, 1232–1240, 1242–1567, 1571–1635). 1066–1228 (High Sheriffs of Surrey only) 1229– ...

in 1726). After he died it passed to Thomas West (Sir Thomas's son), and then to James West (husband of Thomas West's sister Sarah). James was the son of Thomas West. He was recorder of St. Alban's, Secretary to the Treasury, and a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

In the news

The clay cliffs stretching from Warden Bay towards Warden Point have been eroding for decades with residents from the

warning of risks to property

In December 2017, Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Gordon Henderson, raised the issue of cliff erosion on Sheppey affecting Warden and the nearby village of

Eastchurch Eastchurch is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Sheppey, in the English county of Kent, two miles east of Minster. The village website claims the area has "a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers". Aviation history Eastchu ...

. In her reply, Dr. Thérèse Coffey stated that "that 1,000 caravans and 124 buildings will be at risk over the next 100 years"

In July 2020, the topic of cliff erosion hit the national new

when residents experienced their homes collapsing due to the on-going coastal erosion and called on the local government and Environment Agency for help and better funding to protect homes.

References

External links

Villages in Kent Populated coastal places in Kent Beaches of Kent Isle of Sheppey Civil parishes in Kent {{kent-geo-stub

History

In the news

Further reading

References

External links