Hythe is a small coastal market town on the edge of
Romney MarshThe Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles .-Quotations:*“As Egypt was the gift of the Nile, this level tract .....
, in the District of
ShepwayShepway is a local government district in Kent, England. It includes the towns of Folkestone and Hythe and the Romney Marsh. It is named after the Jutish lathe of Shepway; the Royal Court of Shepway, which met near Lympne at a place called Shepway Cross, was the principal court of the Cinque Ports...
(derived from Sheep Way) on the south coast of
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
. The word
Hythe or
Hithe is an Old English word meaning
Haven or
Landing Place.
The town has medieval and
GeorgianGeorgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the...
buildings, as well as a
SaxonAnglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066....
/
NormanThe term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used for English Romanesque architecture...
church on the hill and a seafront promenade. Hythe was once defended by two castles,
SaltwoodSaltwood is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Within the parish are two other settlements: Pedlinge and Sandling; both being small hamlets.-Geography:...
and
LympneLympne village is situated on the once sea cliffs above the Romney Marsh in Kent. It lies approximately 11 km west of Folkestone, 2 miles west of Hythe and 17 km east of Ashford....
. The town hall, a former guildhall, was built in 1794, its fireplace designed by the
Adam BrothersAdam Brothers may refer to:Scottish architects, three sons of William Adam:*John Adam *Robert Adam *James Adam French sculptors, three sons of Lambert Adam:...
.
Hythe's market once took place in Market Square (now Red Lion Square) close to where there is now a Farmers' Market every second and fourth Saturday of the month. Hythe has gardening, horse riding, bowling, tennis, cricket, football, squash and sailing clubs. Lord Deedes was patron of Hythe Civic Society, and the hounds of The East Kent Hunt are kennelled in nearby Elham.
Hythe is one of the Cinque Ports, but although it is beside a broad bay on the
English ChannelThe English Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover...
, silting removed its harbour hundreds of years ago. Hythe was once the central Cinque Port, between Hastings and
New RomneyNew Romney is a small town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marshan area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea. New Romney was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now over a mile from the sea...
to the west and Dover and
SandwichSandwich is a historic town in Kent, south-east England. It was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings. While once a major port, it is now two miles from the sea, its historic centre preserved.....
to the east.
According to Hasted, a
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
fleet approached Hythe in 1293 and landed 200 men, but "the townsmen came upon them and slew every one of them: upon which the rest of the fleet hoisted sail and made no further attempt".
In 1348 the
black deathThe Black Death was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. It is widely thought to have been an outbreak of bubonic plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, but this view has recently been challenged...
afflicted Hythe, and in 1400 the
plaguePlague is a deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis . Plague is a zoonotic, primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas. Plague is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death and devastation it brought...
further reduced the population.
The Royal Military Canal and Martello Towers
The
Royal Military CanalThe Royal Military Canal is a canal running for 28 miles between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh.- Construction :...
runs across the northern edge of the marsh, to
WinchelseaWinchelsea is a small town in East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately two miles south west of Rye and seven miles north east of Hastings. The present town replaced an earlier town of the same name, sometimes known as Old Winchelsea...
. Running under Stade Street, the canal, intended to repel invasion during the
Napoleonic warsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
of 1804 to 1815, gives central Hythe its character. Now shaded by trees, the canal, 30 feet (10m) wide passes into the marsh from the middle of the town. The canal begins at Seabrook and runs through Hythe and across Romney Marsh to Winchelsea. Its 26-mile length can be walked.
Also built around the same time as a defence against possible invasion by Napoleon were the Martello Towers. In total 74 of these towers were built between
FolkestoneFolkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site lay in a stream valley in the cliffs here; and its subsequent development was through fishing and its proximity to the Continent as a landing place and trading port...
and
SeafordSeaford is a coastal town in the county of East Sussex, England, on the south coast, east of Newhaven and Brighton and west of Eastbourne. It has a population of about 23,000....
. The walls were up to thick, and each tower held 24 men and had a huge cannon mounted on the top. They were named after a similar tower at Mortella Point in
CorsicaCorsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
which the Navy had captured from the French. Although never needed for their original purpose they were later used to combat smuggling and also as signalling stations and coastal defences during the two World Wars. Three of the towers survive at Hythe; one was converted to a house in the 1930s and can be seen along West Parade, and the other two are on the beach and are owned by the
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
.
Geologically the town developed on a succession of parallel terraces, rising from the level ground around the Royal Military Canal towards the steep incline upon which the parish church of St Leonard was built. From the High Street, alleys lead up to the steeper levels of the town.
The 11th century parish church of St Leonard
The large 11th-century church is up the hill; the tower at its eastern end was destroyed by an earth tremor in 1739 and restored in 1750.
The chancel, from 1220, covers a processional
ossuaryAn ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary...
(a bone store, more commonly found on the continent) lined with 2,000 skulls and 8,000 thighbones. They date from the medieval period, probably having been stored after removal, to make way for new graves. This was common in England, but bones were usually dispersed, and this is thus a rare collection.
Lionel LukinLionel Lukin Lionel Lukin Lionel Lukin (May 18, 1742 (Great Dunmow, Essex, England) - February 16, 1834 (Hythe, Kent, England) is considered by some to have been the inventor of the lifeboat (although see William Wouldhave for the competing claim)....
, credited with inventing the
lifeboatThe meaning of lifeboat or motor lifeboat, for the purposes of this article, is that of 'a shore-based boat designed with special features for searching for, rescuing and saving the lives of people in peril at sea in inshore waters'. This is in contrast to a survival craft type of lifeboat that is...
, is buried in the parish churchyard.
The castles at Saltwood and Lympne
Hythe was once defended by two castles,
SaltwoodSaltwood Castle is a castle in Saltwood village—which derives its name from the castle—1 mile north of Hythe, Kent, England.The castle is known as the site where the plot was hatched to assassinate Thomas Becket...
and
LympneLympne Castle is a mediaeval castle near the village of Lympne, Kent, above Romney Marsh.Today, it is used primarily as a venue for corporate events and weddings....
. Saltwood derives its name from the village in its shadow. During the reign of king Canute the manor of Saltwood was granted to the priory of
Christ ChurchCanterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion...
in
CanterburyCanterbury lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, but during the 12th century it became home of Henry d'Essex, constable of England.
Thomas BecketThomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to his death. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
had sought from
King Henry IIHenry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France...
restoration of the castle as an ecclesiastical palace. Henry instead granted the castle to Ranulf de Broc.
That the castle had been returned to Becket, as archbishop of Canterbury, and remained a church property until the reign of
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
, when Hythe and Saltwood were to be sequestrated to the Crown, suggests that some complicity by the baron Rranulf de Broc was possible in the murder of Becket. It was during this time at Saltwood, on 28 December 1170, that four knights plotted Becket's death the following day.
Hugh de MorevilleSir Hugh de Morville was an Anglo-Norman knight who served King Henry II of England in the late 12th century. He is chiefly infamous as one of the assassins of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1170...
was one of the knights, along with
Reginald FitzurseWoodspring Priory is a former Augustinian priory beside the Severn Estuary about north-east of Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset. It was founded in the early thirteenth century, and dedicated to Thomas Becket . After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the priory was converted into a farmhouse...
,
William de TraceySir William de Tracy, Knt., was Lord of the Manor of Toddington, Gloucestershire, feudal Baron of Bradninch, near Exeter, and Lord of Moretonhampstead, Devon...
, and
Richard le BretonSir Richard le Breton was one of the four knights who murdered Saint Thomas Becket. He is said to have broken his sword when attacking Thomas Becket. He shouted "take that, for the love of my lord William, the king's brother!" when he delivered the fatal blow...
.
From the moment Hythe came under Crown control, the senior official of the town was also a bailiff appointed by the Crown. This state of affairs (uniquely for a Cinque Port) remained until 1575 when
Elizabeth IElizabeth I was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
gave the town control of its affairs.
The last Crown bailiff became the first mayor. His name was John Bredgman. A brass inscription bearing his name remains in the parish church, dated 1581.
The Cinque port Court of Shepway
A monumental cross now indicates what was from 1358 a meeting place of the confederation of the Cinque ports, several miles west of Hythe, known then as "the Shepway crossroads". Shepway cross, erected in 1923, the monument to the Court of Shepway, is beside the Hythe to Lympne road (B2067). The lathe of Shepway was the Saxon name for south east Kent, roughly corresponding with the modern District of Shepway, comprising Folkestone, Hythe, Romney Marsh and nearby villages as far north as Elham.
Many think this monument marks where the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports held his court for Shepway, and it is referred to as the “Shepway Cross”. In fact the Shepway Cross is a civic war memorial erected in 1923. It was placed on the top of Lympne Hill because that was traditionally the site of the Court of Shepway.
Shepway Cross was paid for and unveiled in August 1923 by Earl Beauchamp, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, attended the ceremony. The memorial now shows signs of decay. The lettering denoting the monument's true purpose is hardly legible.
The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Hythe is the northern terminus of the
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch RailwayThe Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a gauge light railway in Kent, England. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St...
, running third-scale steam and diesel locomotives. The track runs parallel to coast through
DymchurchDymchurch is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District of Kent, England. The village is located on the coast five miles south-west of Hythe, and on the Romney Marsh. It is typical of this part of the coast, having been a village which became larger during the 1930s...
and
New RomneyNew Romney is a small town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marshan area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea. New Romney was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now over a mile from the sea...
to Dungeness. The founders were Captain J Howey and
Count Louis ZborowskiCount Louis Zborowski was a racing driver and automobile engineer.His father, Count William Eliot Morris Zborowski was also a racing driver, and died in a racing crash, in 1903 at La Turbie Hillclimb in France near Nice...
. It opened in 1927. The trains run on a gauge of 15 inches (380 mm) in width, and the track is nearly 14 miles (23 km) long. During the Second World War the service transported the
Operation PlutoOperation Pluto was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company...
pipeline.
Every two years, Hythe Corporation hosts the
Hythe Venetian FeteThe Hythe Venetian Fete is a traditional "floating tableaux" that dates back to the 1860s and takes place on the third Wednesday in August, every two years, on the Royal Military Canal at Hythe in Kent, England....
, when organisations and individuals create decorated floats which travel up and down the
Royal Military CanalThe Royal Military Canal is a canal running for 28 miles between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh.- Construction :...
.
FolkestoneFolkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site lay in a stream valley in the cliffs here; and its subsequent development was through fishing and its proximity to the Continent as a landing place and trading port...
and Hythe are represented in Parliament by
ConservativeThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
Michael HowardMichael Howard QC, MP is a British politician. He served as the leader of the Conservative Party from November 2003 to December 2005...
, former home secretary and former Conservative party leader.
Local places of interest
- Brockhill Country Park
Brockhill Country Park was previously part of a large estate dating back to Norman times. You can still see the old manor house adjacent to the park. The rest of the park, , is dominated by a large grassy valley, bisected by the Brockhill Stream as it makes its way to the Royal Military Canal at...
- Port Lympne Wild Animal Park & Gardens
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park near the town of Ashford in Kent, England is set in and incorporates the historic mansion and landscaped gardens designed by architect Sir Herbert Baker for Sir Philip Sassoon during World War I....
- Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a gauge light railway in Kent, England. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St...
- Woodchurch Rare Breeds Centre
Theatre
The
Folkestone & Hythe Operatic & Dramatic SocietyFolkestone & Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society, FHODS, is a charitable organization that holds performances and events at its theatre in Shorncliffe, the Tower Theatre...
owns the
Tower TheatreThe Tower Theatre is a theatre located in Shorncliffe Folkestone, Kent. The venue is owned by Folkestone & Hythe Operatic & Dramatic Society, . FHODS is a charitable organisation that has been running in Folkestone and Hythe since 1902. It is an operatic and dramatic society for amateurs...
at
ShorncliffeShorncliffe can refer to:* Shorncliffe, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane in Australia** Shorncliffe railway line, Brisbane** Shorncliffe railway station, Brisbane* Shorncliffe, Kent, a district of Folkestone, Kent, England, home to an army barracks...
. It is a charitable organisation which performs several shows a year.
Newspapers
Hythe has two paid for newspapers, the
Hythe Herald (published by Kent Regional News and Media) and the
Kentish ExpressThe Kentish Express is a weekly newspaper serving southern Kent. It is published in four editions - Ashford, Folkestone, Hythe and the Romney Marsh, and Tenterden. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays.-History:...
(published by the
KM GroupThe KM Group, formerly known as the Kent Messenger Group until 2008, is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England...
. Free newspapers for the town include the
Folkestone and Hythe Extra, part of the KM Group; and
yourshepway, part of
KOS MediaKOS Media is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England. The company operates local newspapers and internet sites throughout the county.-History:...
.
Radio
The local radio station for Hythe is
KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs CountryKMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country is an Independent Local Radio serving the districts of Dover and Shepway and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group....
. Hythe is also served by the county-wide stations Heart, Gold and
BBC Radio KentBBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Kent. Launched in 1970 as BBC Radio Medway, originally serving the Medway Towns from Chatham...
.
Notable people
- The novelist Elizabeth Bowen
Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen, CBE was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer.-Life:Elixabeth Bowen was born in Dublin and later brought to Bowen’s Court in County Cork where she spent her summers. When her father became mentally ill in 1907, she and her mother moved to England, eventually...
spent part of her childhood in Hythe and retired to a house on Church Steps (overlooking the parish church) where she died.
- The novelist H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary....
built Spade House at nearby SandgateSandgate is a village in the Folkestone & Hythe Urban Area in the Shepway district of Kent County, England. In 2004, the town re-acquired civil parish status....
.
- Saltwood Castle
Saltwood Castle is a castle in Saltwood village—which derives its name from the castle—1 mile north of Hythe, Kent, England.The castle is known as the site where the plot was hatched to assassinate Thomas Becket...
was the home of Lord Deedes and was the home of Lord Kenneth ClarkKenneth McKenzie Clark, Baron Clark, OM, CH, KCB, FBA was a British author, museum director, broadcaster, and one of the best-known art historians of his generation...
, the art historian, and his son Alan ClarkAlan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark was a British Conservative MP, military historian, and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Trade, and Defence, and became a privy councillor in 1991...
, Conservative MP.
- The novelist Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was an English author and playwright. Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1941, Jamaica Inn, and her short stories The Birds and Don't Look Now. The first three were directed by...
lived with her family at Hythe in the early years of World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
- Francis Pettit Smith
Sir Francis Pettit Smith was a British inventor and, along with Frédéric Sauvage and John Ericsson, one of a number of people with a claim to having been the inventor of the screw propeller...
, inventor of the marine screw propellerA propeller is a type of fan which transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and air or water is accelerated behind the blade...
, was born and raised in Hythe; a plaque is on the wall above Paydens Chemist in High Street.
- Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield
The title of Baron Wakefield was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on 20 January 1930 for Charles Cheers Wakefield, , who was created Viscount Wakefield on 28 June 1934...
, philanthropistA philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
& founder of the CastrolCastrol is a brand of industrial and automotive lubricants which is applied to a large range of oils, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications...
Oil Company.
- Michael Howard
Michael Howard QC, MP is a British politician. He served as the leader of the Conservative Party from November 2003 to December 2005...
is Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators. Members of...
for FolkestoneFolkestone is the principal town in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Its original site lay in a stream valley in the cliffs here; and its subsequent development was through fishing and its proximity to the Continent as a landing place and trading port...
& Hythe; he lives at nearby LympneLympne village is situated on the once sea cliffs above the Romney Marsh in Kent. It lies approximately 11 km west of Folkestone, 2 miles west of Hythe and 17 km east of Ashford....
.
- Noel Redding
David "Noel" Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
(1945-2003), bassist with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, gave his first public performance at Hythe Youth Club.
- The former Royal photographer, Lisa Sheridan, lived at Hythe until her death in 1966.
See also
- Hythe, Alberta
Hythe is a village in northern Alberta, Canada. It is located approximately 54 km west of Grande Prairie, the nearest major urban centre, on Highway 43. It is located in the center of the Peace River Country, and supports a rural agricultural economy. It has an elementary school and a junior high...
- Hythe, variant of the Short Sunderland
External links