sign in sign up
<<
Home , Blue Town, Eastchurch, Elmley, Harty, Isle of Sheppey, Kingsferry Bridge

Minster Abbey Minster Queenborough Beach Shellness

on the Island and one of the largest in . Kent. in largest the of one and Island the on

Minster-on-Sea, as it is now known, is by far the largest parish largest the far by is known, now is it as Minster-on-Sea,

surrounding an old inn, The Halfway House. House. Halfway The inn, old an surrounding times. medieval in here began Abbey Benedictine

predominantly of a growing number of streets of houses of streets of number growing a of predominantly a that you remind Abbey century twelfth and

main road between Queenborough and , comprises Sheerness, and Queenborough between road main church hilltop The Sheppey. all over manor paramount the was

will dovetail with the best of local heritage. Halfway, on the old the on Halfway, heritage. local of best the with dovetail will and nuns of maintenance the for Abbey Minster the endowed

however a significant regeneration project is underway which underway is project regeneration significant a however and built Egbert King monarch ruling the and Sexburga, Queen memorabilia. aviation early of lots view

home to a small housing estate and various light industries, light various and estate housing small a to home Thames. the of mouth the guarding Minster of neighbourhood and drink a or meal a for Manor Muswell visit can you Now

Rushenden is a small outlying area of Queenborough that is that Queenborough of area outlying small a is the in themselves settled and , up threw Sheppey,

The heritage can be seen at the Guildhall Museum. Guildhall the at seen be can heritage The of Isle the onto swarmed Saxons the when interesting very others. many with together Sopwith T.O.M.

important role as a base for the ’s minesweepers. minesweepers. Navy’s Royal the for base a as role important becomes Minster of history the period Saxon Anglo the during and McClean Frank Roe; AV Brewer; Griffith Rolls; CS Hon the

World War. During the Second World War the town played an played town the War World Second the During War. World and times Roman as back far as Minster in living people of Moor-Brabazon; JTC met; past the from names historical where

and the Dutch port of , and continued up until the First the until up continued and Vlissingen, of port Dutch the and evidence is There Minster. from radiates and in, centres Sheppey built was factory airplane first world’s the site, this on Also,

passenger service, which started in 1876 between Queenborough between 1876 in started which service, passenger of Isle the of interest whole the tradition, even or record, here. experiments flying their conducted and Shellbeach at field

by the coming of the railway in 1860 and by a Cross-Channel a by and 1860 in railway the of coming the by historic authentic any have we which of times earliest the From flying a acquired they where Manor Muswell at headquarters

recovery of the town from this grim period was greatly helped greatly was period grim this from town the of recovery their up headed club aero the and Brothers Short The flight”.

Mayor Greet seized control of the town’s oyster beds. The beds. oyster town’s the of control seized Greet Mayor coast. English the “first the of birthplace the is Shellness for – history aeronautical

town was reduced to a state of starvation when the tyrannical the when starvation of state a to reduced was town of part other any by eclipse to impossible is effect panoramic of tapestry rich a with interwoven is heritage its However,

for survival. In the first quarter of the nineteenth century the century nineteenth the of quarter first the In survival. for Its other. the on hills Kentish the with ; the and Swale the

a small impoverished community relying on its fishing industries fishing its on relying community impoverished small a Sea, North the over also but Island the of whole the of only not East. South the of towns main the and from distance

Queenborough, thereafter, would remain for many generations many for remain would thereafter, Queenborough, views delightful and extensive offers that plateaux a has erected driving easy within also is it that attraction added the has

its main purpose, was demolished by Parliament in 1650. in Parliament by demolished was purpose, main its was fortress this which upon hill The . natural It visitor. summer the for tastes of range whole a offer that food

modern . Unfortunately the castle, which gave the town the gave which castle, the Unfortunately borough. modern ancient this of site the occupy kingdom, the in kind its of oldest good and sites, caravan and camping clubs, night amusements,

castle and adjacent town, completed in 1368, on the site of the of site the on 1368, in completed town, adjacent and castle the church, preserved well its and Abbey ruined The wonderful. beaches, sandy long with resorts, seaside traditional

Queenborough owes its existence to Edward III who founded a founded who III Edward to existence its owes Queenborough are here views the so point highest Sheppey’s is Minster as known are Shellness and Warden Leysdown, Today

QUEENBOROUGH MINSTER SHELLNESS & WARDEN LEYSDOWN,

EASTCHURCH, & SHEERNESS

The quiet parish of is surrounded by enjoyable country Sheerness is the gateway to the Island by rail and sea. It is the walks with some beautiful views across and to the north main shopping and commercial centre. . However it is also steeped in history. Eastchurch In the middle of the seventeenth century Sheerness was just an Welcome to is the home of early aviation. 100 years ago in 1909 Eastchurch uninhabited promontory of marshland. That would all change became a leading centre in this Country for the race to fly machines in 1665 when Charles II decided to construct a fort there for the that were powered and capable of being controlled, not at the defence of the navy anchorage up the , and build an discretion of the wind, but at the will of the pilot of the airplane. accompanying dockyard. In the years that followed a small The Isle of The aerodrome used during those exhilarating and inspiring times collection of houses grew up adjacent to the dockyard. This little was used in both World Wars. There’s a memorial to all this collection of dockyard workers’ homes would become known opposite the peaceful 14th century church, and it was at nearby as supposedly after the colour of the paint, Shurland Hall (that is currently being restored) that Henry VIIII and originating from dockyard sources that was used to decorate the Sheppey Anne Boleyn visited in 1532. buildings’ exteriors. The beginning of the nineteenth century Nearby, Harty is really a separate island, and until comparatively would witness a total rebuilding of the dockyard on a much recently the neighbourhood was known as the “Isles of Sheppey”, enlarged scale and requiring a greatly increased workforce. This which included the main Island and the smaller ones of Elmley and produced a need for much more housing and, to the east of the Harty. Visiting Harty one cannot but feel the remoteness of the original naval quarter, the modern town of Sheerness began to place in fact the little St. Thomas the Apostle Church has been grow. The eventual closure in 1960 of the dockyard and described as Kent’s most remote church famous for its annual garrison, the main sources of prosperity in Sheerness, was a huge Harvest and Flower festival. However, if you thought there was no blow to the town. wilderness left in the south east, come and have a look at Elmley Marshes! The RSPB Reserve has windswept salt marshes that are The High Street has may local shops as well as several national inhabited by many breeding wetland birds, marsh frogs, insects, companies. The leisure centre and swimming pool, sand pit and birds of prey and aquatic plants, plus much more and certainly paddling pool are situated by the beach and within easy walking worth a visit. distance from the bus and train stations RSPB members are free but there is a small charge for non members. Parking and toilets are available. For more information call 01795 665969/01634 222480 or log on to the website: www.rspb.org.uk/reserves

Your Guide to the Towns & Villages of Sheppey i Elmley Bird Reserve The TOURIST INFORMATION FOR SHEPPEY Find out about tours of the Island, local events, 18 history talks & walks as well as places to eat and visit Tourism Information at: 7 i Blue Town Heritage centre 69 High Street, Blue Town Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey ME12 1RW 01795 662981 3 9 Email: [email protected] 25 www.bluetownhertiahecentre.com 4 5

i 12 11 1

17

16 24 6 2 15 ISLE OF SHEPPEY 22 20 21 14 13 21 ELMLEY ISLAND 23

26 10 ISLE 8 OF HARTY 19

1. Abbey Gatehouse Museum 14. Naturist Beach 2. All Tide Landing Stage 15. Queenborough 3. Blue Flag Beach 16. Queenborough Church 4. Blue Town 17.Queenborough Guildhall Museum The is 1.27 km long, rises to a height of 34.7m above the Swale. This gives 29m 5. Clock Tower, Sheerness 18. Richard Montgomery Wreck clearance for shipping above high water level. It is 6. Eastchurch Church 19. RSPB Bird Reserve 21½ metres in width and carries two lanes of traffic 7. Garrison Point Fort 20. Shurland Hall in each direction. 8. Harty Ferry Inn 21. Site of Early Flight 9. Historic Dockyard 22. Site of 10. 23. St Thomas at Harty 11. Minster Abbey 24. The Creek - Queenborough 12. Minster Cliffs 25. The Grotto

PRINTED BY WWW.JENWOODS.CO.UK WWW.JENWOODS.CO.UK BY PRINTED 13. Muswell Manor 26. The Sheppey Crossing