Fordwich

Fordwich
Fordwich Town Hall
Fordwich  Fordwich shown within Kent
OS grid reference	TR179597
- London	65.8 miles
District	City of Canterbury
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CANTERBURY
Postcode district	CT2
Dialling code	01227
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Canterbury
List of places UK England Kent

Fordwich /ˈfɔrdwɪtʃ/ is the smallest place in Britain with a town council,^[1] having a population of 351 recorded in the 2001 census. It lies in Kent, on the River Stour, northeast of Canterbury.

Although it now lies many miles inland, it was the main port for Canterbury before the Wantsum Channel silted up. The channel once separated the Isle of Thanet from the rest of Kent.

History

The town grew in the Middle Ages as a port for boats on their way upriver to Canterbury. All of the Caen stone used by the Normans to rebuild Canterbury Cathedral in the 12th and 13th centuries was landed at Fordwich. It later became a limb of the Cinque Ports. It lost its status as a town in 1880 when it no longer had a Mayor and Corporation. However, in a reorganisation in 1972, Fordwich was again made a Town as much as anything because of its prior importance in what is now a rather sleepy corner of Kent. Fordwich Town Hall, supposedly the smallest in England, dates from the earlier period, having been rebuilt in 1555.

The ancient Church of St Mary the Virgin, now redundant but open to the public, and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, contains part of a carved sarcophagus reputed to have contained the remains of St Augustine of Canterbury. The 16th-century building next the Town Hall, now known as Watergate House, was the family home of John and Gregory Blaxland, early 19th-century pioneers of Australia.

Culture and community

There are two pubs in the town, the George & Dragon and Fordwich Arms. Fordwich is also known as the home of a legendary large fish (according to Izaak Walton): the Fordwich trout.

See also

• Manningtree in Essex, the other claimant for smallest town in England, with 700 people in 20 hectares
• Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales has a population of 601

Notes and references

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fordwich.

• The Official Website of Fordwich Town Council, information and history about Fordwich, local organisations and links

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