Sandwich, Kent

Sandwich
The 14th-century St Thomas' Hospital
Sandwich  Sandwich shown within Kent
Population	4,989 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	TR335585
District	Dover
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sandwich
Postcode district	CT13
Dialling code	01304
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	South Thanet
List of places UK England Kent

Coordinates: 51°16′29″N 1°20′20″E / 51.27472°N 1.33888°E / 51.27472; 1.33888

Sandwich /ˈsændwᵻdʒ/ is a historic town and civil parish on the River Stour in the non-metropolitan district of Dover, within the ceremonial county of Kent, south-east England. It has a population of 4,985.^[1]

It was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including several listed public houses and gates in the old town walls, churches, almshouses and the White Mill. While once a major port, it is now two miles from the sea, its historic centre preserved.^[2]

Sandwich Bay is home to nature reserves and two world-class golf courses, Royal St George's and Prince's. The town is also home to educational and cultural events.

Etymology

The name is of Old English origin, meaning 'a trading-centre on sand' (from wic, a special purpose building such as a trading post).^[3] Contrary to popular belief, it is not directly named after the food item with the same name.

History

In 1028 King Canute granted a charter to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury to operate a ferry across the river and collect tolls.

In 1192 Returning from the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart was jailed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. Henry released Richard in February 1194. On 13 March 1194, Richard landed at the port of Sandwich and came back to England.^[4]

The coat of arms of Sandwich is Per pale Gules and Azure three demi-Lions passant guardant in pale Or conjoined with as many sterns of demi-Ships Argent,.^[5] It is one of the earliest heraldic examples of dimidiation, an early method of combining two different coats of arms, which in this case combines elements of the Arms of England (1198-1340), Gules three lions passant guardant Or langued and armed Azure, and of the Arms of the Cinque Ports, Azure three ships Or.

Before Sandwich became a Cinque Port, the ancient Saxon town of Stonar, located on the bank of the Wantsum estuary, but on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Stour, was already well established. It remained a place of considerable importance until it disappeared almost without trace in the 14th century. The ruins of the major Roman fort of Richborough are close by. It was the landing place of the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.^[6] In 2008, an archaeological dig proved that this was a defensive site of a Roman beachhead, protecting 700 metres of coast.^[7]

On 21 May 1216, Prince Louis of France landed at Sandwich in support of the barons' war against King John of England.^[8]

The Port of Sandwich is no stranger to odd events in English history. It was here in 1255 that the first captive elephant was landed in England.^[9] The prize beast arrived at Sandwich quayside, delivered as a gift to the English monarch Henry III, from the French king, and was then taken on foot to the king's zoo at the Tower of London. The journey through Kent is reported to have proceeded without incident, except when a bull in a field adjacent to the roadside took umbrage to the great beast passing and attacked it. In one move the animal was thrown by the elephant and killed outright.^[10]

The Fisher Gate

The Fisher Gate on the quay dates from 1384 and has been scheduled as an Ancient Monument. It is the only one of the original mediaeval town gates to survive. It is a Grade I listed building.^[11] The nearby Barbican dates from the 14th century and stands at the end of the bridge over the River Stour where it acted as a toll house.^[12]

On 28 August 1457, after four years of uneasy peace in England the king presided over a wasting realm, with feudal barons lording over the population of the north and the west of the realm.^[13] The French took advantage of the situation by sending a raiding party to Kent, burning much of Sandwich to the ground. A force of around 4,000 men from Honfleur, under the command of Marshal de Breze came ashore to pillage the town, in the process murdering the mayor, John Drury. It thereafter became an established tradition, which survives to this day, that the Mayor of Sandwich wears a black robe in mourning for this ignoble deed.

Sandwich was later to gain significantly from the skills brought to the town by many Flemish settlers, who were granted the right to settle by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I, dated 6 July 1561.^[14] Sandwich was the only town in England that housed more so-called "strangers" than native Englishmen in the sixteenth century. Historian Marcel Backhouse estimated there were at least 2,400 Flemish and 500 Walloon exiles living in Sandwich at the time.^[15] These settlers, brought with them techniques of market gardening, and were responsible for growing the first English celery, which was already and still very popular in Flanders. Elizabeth I granted 25 Flemish families permission to live in Sandwich and St Peter became the "Stranger's Church" in 1564 when the plague came to the town in an effort to halt the spread of the disease. The 1661 tower collapse was repaired by the Flemish community and the distinctive tower reflects their work. The Huguenot refugees also brought over Flemish architectural techniques, that are now as much a part of Kent as the thatched cottage. People still can see the difference in English (lower section) and Flemish (upper section) of the tower. In addition techniques of silk manufacture were imported, enhancing the Kent cloth industry.

The title Earl of Sandwich was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu.

A map of Sandwich from 1945

In 1759, Thomas Paine had his home and shop in a house at 20 New Street, Sandwich.^[16] The house is now marked with a plaque and is a listed building.^[17]

In 1912 Sir Edwin Lutyens built The Salutation in Queen Anne style. The gardens were laid out by Gertrude Jekyll.^[18]

In World War One, Sandwich was important as a transit location for troops heading to Ypres.^[19]

In 1980 Jean Barker was made Baroness Trumpington of Sandwich.^[20]

In 2014 an original copy of the Magna Carta, issued in 1300, was found in conjunction with a copy of the Charter of the Forest. It was only the second time in history that the two documents have been found together.^[21]

Governance

The Guildhall

The town and parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council’s operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also the responsibility of the council.

The town falls within the non-metropolitan district of Dover. The district council is responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism.

Kent County Council is responsible for running the largest and most expensive local services such as education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, trading standards, waste disposal and strategic planning.

It is also part of a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and at the general election in 2010 became part of the South Thanet constituency.^[22] It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election, and part of the South East England constituency of the European Parliament which elects ten MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.

Twin towns

Sandwich is twinned with:

• Honfleur in France^[23][24]
• Ronse in Belgium,
• Sonsbeck in Germany.

Geography

Boats on the River Stour at Sandwich

There is Monk's Wall nature reserve and a bird observatory at Sandwich Bay, which provides a home for wild duck and other wildlife in a wetland habitat. The reserve was opened by celebrity bird-watcher Bill Oddie in May 2000. Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory Trust proposed the design and a Management plan including modifications to ditches and control of water levels to create ecological conditions that attract wetland species of plants, animals and birds. Historically the land was reclaimed from the river and sea by the monks of Sandwich and the northern boundary is still the old Monks' wall of the 13th century. In the 1953 floods the sea covered the whole area around Sandwich and after these fields were drained a new river bank was created and the land ploughed for arable farming with heavy use of fertiliser.^[25]

There is also a 15 acres (6.1 ha) Local Nature Reserve known as Gazen Salts.^[26]

Sandwich lies at the southern end of Pegwell Bay which includes a large nature reserve, known for its migrating waders and wildfowl, with a complete series of seashore habitats including extensive mudflats and salt marsh.

Economy

The local economy has benefited from significant investment by Pfizer UK, the British subsidiary of the multinational pharmaceuticals company Pfizer, which has built a research and development centre near Sandwich, employing over 3,000 people. Laboratory experiments at the site have aroused negative comment by animal rights activists. On 18 June 2007 Pfizer announced it will move the Sandwich Animal Health Research (VMRD) division to Kalamazoo, Michigan.^[27] Several important drugs including Viagra, Pfizer's treatment for erectile dysfunction and Maraviroc, a drug used for treatment of HIV, were developed here. On 1 February 2011 Pfizer announced that the entire research and development facility at Sandwich would be closed within 18–24 months, with a loss of 2,400 jobs,^[28] though it later announced up to 650 jobs would stay.^[29] The University of Kent is considering use of the campus style site.^[30]

Landmarks

The Barbican

The Guildhall, in the town square, was built in 1579. Work in 1812 encased the building in yellow brick, this was removed 100 years later in 1912, when the south-west wing was also added. Further alterations were undertaken later in the 20th century. It contains antique panelling and paintings, particularly within the council chamber. It is a Grade II* listed building.^[31] It includes a stained glass window, showing Queen Elizabeth I arriving at Sandown Gate in 1573, which was added in 1906.^[32]

The Admiral Owen is a pub in a two storey 15th century timber-framed building. It was refronted in the 18th century but this preserved the overhang of its 1st floor on a Bressummer and massive corner post with 3 brackets.^[33] The nearby Crispin Inn was originally called the Crispin and Crispianus. It has similar timber framing and was built in the 16th century.^[34] Across the road on the quay is the Bell Hotel, which underwent major rebuilding in the 18th and 19th centuries. There’s been a Bell Inn on the quay since the 14th century.^[35]

The three pubs cluster around The Barbican which was built in the late 14th century. It consists of 2 round towers, with chequered work of stone and flints. A narrow road passes between the towers with a semi-circular timber barrel roof over it. A small 2-storeyed 20th-century house built on to north side of the north west tower was occupied by the toll collector for the bridge.^[36] The bridge itself was built in 1773 of Portland stone with a Dutch type timber raised platform which was replaced in 1892 with an iron swing bridge.^[37]

Windmills

White Mill

Sandwich has had at least eight windmills over the centuries, the earliest reference to a mill being dated 1608.^[38] Two windmills were marked by Hasted at the New Cut on the Stour estuary. They were most likely pumping mills associated with the saltworks there in the late eighteenth century.^[38]

The White Mill is the only survivor. It was built in 1760 and worked by wind until 1929, then by engine until 1957. Today it has been restored and is a heritage and folk museum. The Black Mill was a smock mill which burnt down circa 1910.^[39] There was also a post mill which stood near the Black Mill, and was worked in conjunction with it.^[39] A smock mill on the Millwall was also known as the Town Mill. It was burnt down. Another mill of unknown type is known to have stood on the Millwall.^[39] A sixth windmill stood to the north west of Sandwich, and west of the railway. It formed a group of three with the Black Mill and its neighbour.^[39]

Transport

The town is served by Sandwich railway station. It was formerly also served by Sandwich Road railway station on the East Kent Light Railway.

Sandwich has been bypassed by the A256 road, which connects the Thanet towns to Dover. It is reached from Canterbury by the A257, which joins the A256 at Sandwich.^[40]

Stagecoach in East Kent operate local buses to other major towns in East Kent. Sandwich is on The Diamond network also including Canterbury, Dover and Deal. The Diamond route from sandwich is 13 and 14 to Canterbury, where you can transfer to the rest of The Diamond or other routes, or Deal, where you can transfer on to the rest of The Diamond or local routes to. Local bus routes 87,88 between Dover and Ramsgate and route 89 between Dover and Canterbury also serve the town.

Religious sites

St. Peter's Church

St Bartholomews Chapel was restored and enlarged by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 19th century.^[41] Nearby were two religious almshouses; St. Barts Hospital dates back to around 1190 and St. Thomas's Hospital which was built in the 14th century and named in honour of St. Thomas Becket.^[42]

The Church of St Peter includes some evidence of early Norman work, but was rebuilt in the early 13th century. In 1661 the top of the central tower collapsed, destroying the south aisle.^[43] The Anglican parish church is St. Clement which has a tower dating from the latter half of the 12th century, with the rest of the church being from the 12th and 14th centuries.^[44] St Mary's Church also has Norman features and was built on the site of a convent founded by Domne Eafe, cousin to King Ecgberht of Kent.^[45]

Sport

Sandwich has two world-class golf courses, Royal St George's which hosts The Open Championship approximately every 10 years,^[46] and Prince's which hosted The Open Championship in 1932,^[47] and is currently an Open Championship Final Qualifying course. The Open Championship has returned to Sandwich in 2011.

Education

Within the immediate area of Sandwich there are 4 schools, Sandwich Infants for children aged 4 to 8, Sandwich Juniors for children from the ages of 8 to 11, and Sir Roger Manwood's School, for 11-18 and Sandwich Technology School, again, 11-18.

Culture

The town's connection with the snack of the same name is that John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who lived in the 18th century allegedly invented it. As the story goes, he was an avid gambler, and since he often did not have time to sit for a meal due to his gambling habits, he would order his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread. Because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!" ^[48] However, the exact circumstances of the invention are still the subject of debate. A rumour in a contemporary travel book called Tour to London (although not confirmed) by Pierre Jean Grosley formed the popular myth that bread and meat sustained Lord Sandwich at the gambling table.^[49] The sober alternative is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N. A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his desk.^[50]

Sandwich Festival

The town of Sandwich has an annual festival period towards the end of August^[51] where a number of events are staged. During Sandwich festivals of the past there have been European markets, motorcycle meets, illuminated boat parade or dressed ship parade on The Quay, a street Barn Dance, various concerts (both classical and modern pop/rock), Simultaneous Chess Tournament with Grand Master John Emms and a vintage Car Show. The festival usually lasts for 8 days.

Newspapers

Sandwich has two paid-for newspapers, the Deal and Sandwich Express (published by Kent Regional News and Media) and the East Kent Mercury (published by the KM Group). Free newspapers for the town include the Dover Extra, part of the KM Group; and yoursandwich, part of KOS Media. Free digital only news is provided by SNOOZ.

Radio

The local radio station for Sandwich is KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country, although the town has good coverage of KMFM Thanet. Sandwich is also served by the county-wide stations Heart, Gold and BBC Radio Kent.Sandwich is also covered by Podcasting service Dover Community Radio ^[52] who cover Dover District with local podcasts on their website. They hope to create a district-wide internet based radio station in the future leading to a community licence. Academy FM Thanet can also be well received in the Sandwich area.

Road signs

There is a nearby hamlet to the south called Ham. A fingerpost some miles away in the village of Worth points towards both Ham and Sandwich, thus reading:"Ham Sandwich.".

References

External links

• Discover Sandwich, Kent, UK including a brief history of the Town
• Open Sandwich Kent a guide, many history pages, photos and events
• White Mill Heritage Centre
• Sandwich Bay bird observatory
• Interactive virtual tour of the town
• The Bell Hotel, Sandwich's oldest hotel
• Clubs and societies in Sandwich
• Thomas Paine's House, New Street, Sandwich
• Dover Community Radio - Podcasting Service for Dover, Deal and Sandwich
• Sandwich Festival events page

Ceremonial county of Kent Kent Portal Unitary authorities Borough of Medway Boroughs or districts Borough of Ashford Borough of Dartford Borough of Gravesham Borough of Maidstone Borough of Swale Borough of Tonbridge and Malling Borough of Tunbridge Wells City of Canterbury District of Dover District of Sevenoaks District of Shepway District of Thanet Major settlements Ashford Broadstairs Canterbury Chatham Cranbrook Dartford Deal Dover Edenbridge Faversham Folkestone Fordwich Gillingham Gravesend Greenhithe Hawkinge Herne Bay Hythe Lydd Maidstone Margate Minster New Romney Northfleet Paddock Wood Queenborough Rainham Ramsgate Rochester Royal Tunbridge Wells Sandwich Sevenoaks Sheerness Sittingbourne Snodland Southborough Strood Swanley Swanscombe Tenterden Tonbridge Walmer West Malling Westerham Westgate-on-Sea Whitstable See also: List of civil parishes in Kent Rivers See: Rivers of Kent Topics Flag Parliamentary constituencies Geography Places SSSIs Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings History Schools Museums Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs People Transport Windmills Culture

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