Historic buildings in Ramsgate

Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England, with a population of 39,639 in the '2001 UK Census.

The town has one of the largest marinas on the English south coast, and the Port of Ramsgate provided cross-channel ferries for many years.

Because of its proximity to mainland Europe, Ramsgate was a chief embarkation point both during the Napoleonic Wars and for the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.

The Official Illustrated Guide to South-Eastern and North and Mid-Kent Railways (June 1863) by George Measom from describes Ramsgate thus: 'It is impossible to speak too favourably of this first-rate town, its glorious sands, its bathing, its hotels, libraries, churches, etc.

not forgetting its bracing climate...The streets of Ramsgate are well paved or macadamed and brilliantly lighted with gas.'

Note the difference in spelling between that of the Village of St Lawrence and the church, which is dedicated to the Roman Martyr, Laurence.

A notable burial in the churchyard is Augusta Emma d'Este (1801–1866) wife of Thomas Wilde, Lord Chancellor and 1st Baron Truro.

The church's dedication commemorates Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, who landed at Ramsgate in AD 597 bringing Christianity to Britain for the first time since the Roman Empire.

Thomas Grant, first Bishop of Southwark, invited the Italian abbot Dom Pietro Casaretto to found an abbey on the opposite side of the road from the church.

By 1856 arrangements were concluded and the first monk, Dom Wilfrid Alcock, arrived to take charge at the Ramsgate mission.

On 23 December 2010, the monks voted to purchase the Franciscan Friary at Chilworth, Surrey, as their new home, leaving from St Augustine's.

Its lantern tower was added at the request of Trinity House as a navigational aid to passing ships and looks over the town.

The church cost £3,000 to construct on land presented by Augusta Emma d'Este (later Lady Truro).

On the evening of Friday 13 August 2004 a fire destroyed Ramsgate library just two months short of its 100th anniversary.

During an 1841 visit to the Land of Israel, Montefiore obtained permission from the Ottoman Turks to restore the tomb.

The Ramsgate Jewish Cemetery consists of an Ohel (prayer hall) and graves of approximately 400 people.

Whilst still a princess, Queen Victoria spent holidays in Ramsgate and stayed at Townley House, which is now part of Farleys Furniture Store.

Pugin was a key figure in the Gothic revival movement, and The Grange, completed in 1850, exemplifies his ideas about domestic architecture.

It marks the break from square-faced boxes of Regency style and was hugely influential in the development of British domestic architecture.

Stephen Heritage laid out the land for the construction of Albion Place and its roads, with building plots for resale.

At the end of June 1821 a Dr Andrews, doctor to the prominent banker, Mr Coutts, committed suicide whilst staying at Albion House when in Ramsgate to visit a friend.

There are plans of a billiard room originally dated March 1837 with accompanying description as to the works to be carried out but they do not appear to have been signed off until 1851.

Mary Townley's death coincided with Ramsgate becoming a less fashionable resort to stay in for the aristocracy and gentry.

"The smarter resorts on the south coast began to lose their aristocratic tone in the 1840s and 1850s, when they were discovered by middle-class Londoners.

Dr. John Collis Browne, the originator of the medicine Chlorodyne, died here on 30 August 1884 and is commemorated by a plaque.