It lies on the coast facing the North Sea, east of the Thames Estuary, between the seaside resorts of Herne Bay and Margate.

The village's Minnis Bay is a family beach with attractions such as sailing, windsurfing, a paddling pool and coastal walking routes.

Its parish church, All Saints', dates to the 13th century and its churchyard is the burial place of the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Quex Park, a local 19th century manor house, is home to the Powell-Cotton Museum and a twelve-bell tower built for change ringing.

Birchington was first recorded in 1240 as Birchenton, a name derived from the Old English words 'bircen tun', meaning a farm where birch trees grow.

[2][page needed] In 1565, a report on the coast of Thanet by the commissioners of Queen Elizabeth I stated that Birchington had 42 houses and did not have an active port.

[5][page needed] Before the 19th century, the village coastline was frequented by smugglers, leading to skirmishes between them and excise officers.

The village is situated on the Isle of Thanet, which was a separate island from mainland Kent until around two hundred years ago, when the channel in between became silted up.

[12] East Kent's average annual rainfall is about 728 millimetres (29 in), with October to January being the wettest months.

[15] The ethnicity of the village was predominately white, with over 95% of its residents being born in the United Kingdom and other Western European countries.

[17] At the 2011 UK census, the economic activity of residents in the village aged 16–74 was 31.7% in full-time employment, 14.4% in part-time employment, 10.1% self-employed, 5.7% unemployed, 3.0% students with jobs, 4.3% students without jobs, 18.2% retired, 4.9% looking after home or family, 5.5% permanently sick or disabled and 2.1% economically inactive for other reasons.

[19] According to Office for National Statistics estimates, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in the Birchington-on-Sea electoral wards was £460 (£23,986 per year).

[20] The industry of employment of residents in 2011 was 16.1% retail, 17.2% health and social work, 5.8% manufacturing, 12.3% education, 1.3% real estate, 9.6% construction, 4.9% transport and storage, 2.2% communications, 6.7% public administration, 4.3% hotels and restaurants, 3.1% finance, 0.8% agriculture, 1.1% energy and water supply, and 5.2% other community, social or personal services.

[20] As a seaside resort, the village has an economy based around tourism, with several hotels, caravan parks and leisure attractions.

At the 2001 census, 1.4% of the village's population resided in a medical or care establishment, compared to the national average of only 0.8%.

Wildlife that can be observed in the Thames Estuary includes seals, velvet swimming crabs and the migrant turnstone.

Several rooms, decorated with oriental and English period furniture, are open to visitors, and guided tours are provided.

[54] During World War I, Quex House became an Auxiliary Military Hospital run by the Birchington Voluntary Aid Detachment.

He gave the southern part of the land to the people of Birchington and dedicated it in memory of his three sons who had been killed in World War I.

[66] Birchington-on-Sea railway station is on the Chatham Main Line which runs between Ramsgate in East Kent and London Victoria.

Other stations on this line include Broadstairs, Margate, Herne Bay, Faversham, Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester and Bromley South.

[68] A selection of early morning and evening trains run on weekdays to London's Cannon Street station and high speed services to St Pancras International, primarily for business commuting.

There are Stagecoach South East bus services running to Westgate-on-Sea, Margate, Broadstairs, Canterbury and Herne Bay.

3 miles (5 km) southwest of Birchington-on-Sea, the A28 crosses the A299 road which leads along North Kent towards London, becoming the M2 motorway at Faversham.

[69] Residents of Birchington-on-Sea have included the British screenwriter Tudor Gates, who wrote a number of stories about female vampires for Hammer Studios in the early 1970s.

[70] On Easter Sunday, 1882, Pre-Raphaelite illustrator, painter, translator and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti rented a bungalow in the village, in an attempt to recuperate from ill-health.

He died in April the same year and was buried in the churchyard of All Saints, under a tombstone designed by fellow artist, Ford Madox Brown.