History of Margate
Like its neighbours Ramsgate and Broadstairs it has been a traditional holiday destination for Londoners drawn to its sandy beaches.
Edward Hasted, writing in the 18th century, described Margate as a "poor fishing town", but in 1810, when describing the shore, he wrote: "... [it] was so well adapted to bathing, being an entire level and covered with the finest sand, which extends for several miles on either side of the harbour... [near which] there are several commodious bathing rooms, out of which the bathers are driven in the machines, any depth along the sands into the sea; at the back of the machine is a door, through which the bathers descend a few steps into the water, and an umbrella of canvas dropping over conceals them from the public view.
Upwards of 40 of these machines are frequently employed..." The town's history is tied closely to the sea and it has a proud maritime tradition.
About 1816 The Times reported that the introduction of steamboats had given the whole coast of Kent (and) the Isle of Thanet in particular, "a prodigious lift".
However, Sir Rowland Hill (creator of the 1840 Penny Post), while in Thanet during 1815, remarked: "It is surprising to see how most people are prejudiced against this packet."
In 1820 it was said that "the inhabitants of Margate ought to eulogise the name of Watt, as the founder of their good fortune; and steam vessels as the harbingers of their prosperity".
The SER had the rail monopoly until 5 October 1863, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway completed its North Kent coast line and opened a station at Margate West.
An inspection the previous month by the Care Quality Commission uncovered what the inspectors called "shocking examples of institutionalised failings and abuse" and the trust running the schools subsequently went into administration.
The main builder of these Thanet wherries was Brockman's of Margate, which turned them out in large numbers before World War I.
Howard Primrose Knight, coxswain of the Ramsgate lifeboat Prudential, and Edward Duke Parker, (nearly always incorrectly stated as Edward DRAKE Parker), coxswain of the Margate lifeboat Lord Southborough (ON 688), were both awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in recognition of their gallantry and determination when ferrying troops from the beaches of Dunkirk during the evacuation of 1940.
The storm of early March 1949 caused widespread damage in Margate and along the North Kent Coast.
The tidal surge swept down the North Sea, into the Thames Estuary and up the river valleys, reaching 15 miles (24 km) inland.
So bad was the flooding that Chatham, Rochester, Strood, Upnor, Gravesend, Sheerness, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Herne Bay, Whitstable, Dover and Margate were declared one incident.
[3] Dreamland amusement park was established in the 1920s and is home to the oldest roller coaster in the UK, namely the wooden Scenic Railway.
The date of erection is not known, but it would seem to have been in existence by March 1791, when there was an advert in the Kentish Gazette in relation to the patent vanes used in the mill.
