Acol (formerly Acholt) is a hamlet and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Birchington.

[4] The conditions for labourers throughout Kent at the end of the Napoleonic Wars deteriorated to the point where unrest brought about the start of the Swing Riots in 1833–4.

At the same time, many labourers left Kent, often with the grateful assistance of their parish councils who did not want to keep supporting them, to take up new lives in the colonies in North America and particularly Australia and New Zealand.

The building's apse, which replaces the usual chancel arch found in similar churches of its size, contains stained glass windows which depict Christ's Crucifixion, Our Lady and St John the Evangelist, and were designed by Gibbs & Howard, who work out of Charlotte Street in Fitzroy Square, London.

In the swirling mist on that night in Thanet, just as Exciseman Gill caught up with the Smuggler, he drove his horse off the top of the chalk pit, as did the riding officer.