West Hythe is a hamlet near

Palmarsh Palmarsh is a community (OS grid reference TR1333) in Folkestone and Hythe district, in the County of Kent, England. In origin it was a hamlet on the edge of the Romney Marsh, but modern development to the west of Hythe (mostly housing, together w ...

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, and a few miles west of the

cinque port The Confederation of Cinque Ports () is a historic group of coastal towns in south-east England – predominantly in Kent and Sussex, with one outlier ( Brightlingsea) in Essex. The name is Old French, meaning "five harbours", and alludes to t ...

town of

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

Location

Modern settlement is mostly on the plain south of the Royal Military Canal, and immediately north and north-west of Palmarsh, but the ancient parish church (in ruins) stands at the foot of the escarpment north of the canal, where much of the ancient village was located. Modern development to the west of Hythe (mostly housing, together with some local shops) in a corridor along the A259 coastal road, has led to the joining together of the ancient town of Hythe and the rural hamlet of

in a single urban conurbation, which itself reaches almost to the West Hythe community.

Parish church

The ancient parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is disused and in ruins. Nonetheless, it is listed as a Grade II monument, and is a structure monitored by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. It was constructed in the twelfth century and heavily rebuilt in the fourteenth century. The British Listed Buildings website reports that the church was burnt down in 1620. There is some evidence that St Mary's may have been, in origin, a minster church.

Botolph's Bridge

Botolph's Bridge is a small hamlet, consisting of a few family homes and a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

named "Botolph's Bridge Inn" (formerly "The Botolph's Bridge"). The hamlet is associated with West Hythe, with which it shares community activity and history. Its name is derived from the Saxon monk and evangelist St Botolph. A railway station formerly served the community on the

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romney ...

, half a mile to the south; the railway still operates, but Botolph's Bridge Halt railway station closed in 1939. Botolph's connection with the community is unclear, and the name may be derived from the saint's patronage of farming. It is also possible that the saint visited the area during one of his known preaching trips from his native

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

to the

South Saxon Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

people. A chapel dedicated to St Botolph formerly stood on Folkestone's East Cliff, 7 miles to the east, and a group of three churches dedicated to St Botolph are located in West Sussex, 70 miles to the west. According to local legend, the name Botolph's Bridge is derived from the time of the Danish invasions of eastern England, or shortly thereafter, when Botolph's body was exhumed and carried to an unknown location by monks of Ikenhoe. The legend reports that the body was brought to West Hythe and there guided by a mysterious light from above to the only safe crossing of a deep drainage dyke, at the place now known as Botolph's Bridge.See an account of the legend on th
website
of the Botolph's Bridge Inn. The legend is represented artistically on the pub sign of the Botolph's Bridge Inn.

Location

Parish church

Botolph's Bridge

References

See also