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Herne Bay' HistoryHere follows a very potted history. I have now added a short article about the history behind Kent's division (men of Kent/Kentish Men), which can be found here. The title is perhaps a bit ambitious. What you actually have here are snippets that I have cobbled together regarding the town's history, from a number of sources. Please don't expect to write a dissertation based on this. However, if anyone has any items of historical interest they would like to share, please |
| "Herne Bay" is derived from the old English "Hyrne", meaning corner. In this case, it would have referred to the village of Herne, which developed in a corner of land. It is from Herne that the Bay gets it's name. |
| The coast provided a (relatively) sheltered landing point for the small hoys that would bring coal from the northern counties and send corn up the Thames to London. There are records of a service taking passengers across the estuary and by the late 18th Century, a service up to London. This was certainly less hazardous than trying to use the highwayman-strewn roads. |
| Herne Bay was officially established in June 1833, by virtue of being founded by an Act of Parliament, detaching it from the ancient parish of Herne. A few years earlier, a small community was being set up around the Ship Inn on the coast, at what is now the eastern end of the seafront. In fact, the 1801 census records show Herne Bay to have a population of 1200. By 1820, a turnpike road to Canterbury with a tollgate at Herne Bay was in use, so it's importance was already being established by the time of the Parliament Act. |
| A group of businessmen got together and started a trust to set up a pier on the coast, as Herne Bay is roughly halfway between London and Margate. The aim was to publicise the town as a stop-over point for the paddle steamers that frequented the Thames estuary in those times. Maps of the town show how it grew between the pier and the railway being built at the same time, fanning out from the railway station and spreading in a more linear fashion on the sea front, very typical of Victorian town planning. |
| In 1833, a Board of Improvement Commissioners was formed. It's first task was to draw up a new street layout based on three street squares, Hanover, Brunswick and Oxenden. These still exist pretty much as they were and run parallel with the the seafront. The board was responsible for a number of activities in the town, including setting up the first police force. Well, policeman, actually, William Day, formerly a general labourer for the Commission. Day was initially sworn in as a Watchman, then as a constable by the local magistrate. As well as his "security" duties, he was also lamplighter and rate collector. A somewhat different role to that played by today's constabulary..... |
| The town still bears witness to it's Victorian roots, particularly along the seafront, with the Clock Tower (erected in 1837), the sunken gardens (refurbished to their original glory in recent years) and the bandstand next to the pier. The iron pier itself is all but gone, having been laid low by a series of violent storms in the late 1970's. It was once the second longest pier in the country, after Southend in Essex. All that remains now are the Pavilion, attached to the land, and the pier head out to sea. Whilst there has been talk recently of rebuilding the pier and thus complete the town's transformation, a great deal of money will be involved. Much of this talk has been associated with the planned windfarm out on the Kentish Flats. Whether or not any company would be prepared to come up with the (presumably) large sums involved in such a project remains to be seen. So, we'll not hold our breath. There is a page in this section that has a more detailed history of the three piersthat have existed in the town's lifetime. |
| Smuggling Herne Bay, like Whitstable and indded many coastal towns, has it's own association with smuggling. Today's evidence includes the Divers Arms, a pub on the front set up by an alleged ex-smuggler who started diving legitimately after supposedly retiring from smuggling. It seems, however, that he was unable to resist "keeping his hand in" because even after he had gone, there were still tunnels from the pub to the eastern slipway on the beach. How much of this is urban myth I cannot say. All my information here comes from a few local books. |
| Another pub linked to an aspect of smuggling is The Ship an the eastern end of the front. It is here that events leading to a major reduction in smuggling occurred. On 24 April 1820, a lugger came ashore on the early tide to land a major haul. The smugglers were from the notorious North Kent Gang, in all around 60 men. They had come from many villages around the bay but were perhaps too confident, as they had posted few lookouts. As a result, they did not see the Royal Navy patrol, under the command of Midshipman Sydenham Snow, watching them closely. Once they reached the lugger, the patrol charged the smugglers and a fierce battle broke out. Midshipman Snow pointed his pistol at a smuggler and demanded his surrender. When the smuggler did not comply, Snow pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, his pistol failed to go off and the smuggler shot him where he stood. |
| Snow's loyal patrol lost interest in the fight to surround their CO. Thomas Norris, landlord of the Ship, had seen what happened and sent a rider to get the naval surgeon, William Cooper from Birchington, about eight miles to the east. In the meantime, the magistrate was called and got a first hand account from the mortally wounded Snow, who was later buried in Herne with full honours. His murder caused outrage and smuggling declined rapidly thereafter. |
| Some of the smugglers were caught and arrested but acquitted at their trial. However, they were caught again after a fierce battle at Bishopstone Glen soon after, following another smuggling attempt. The Revenue men were waiting, along with the Army, for them and, better prepared, all the smugglers were caught. The three leaders were hanged and the rest of the gang transported for life. So it seems that Midshipmans Snow's death was eventually avenged. |
| Other more obviously named examples are Smugglers Cottage and Smugglers Inn in Herne. Even Herne Mill played it's part, it's direction and the position of the sails advising if the Customs men were about. Also in Herne is Box Iron Cottage, which once served as a contraband distribution house. It had a tunnel running from it's cellar down to Canterbury Road from where the goods could disappear to their intended destination.< |
| Herne Bay Today As the years passed, Herne Bay began to deteriorate. With limited employment (mostly seasonal tourist-based jobs) and funds being spent almost exclusively on Canterbury, Herne Bay was rapidly turning into a ghost town. Certainly by the 1970's the resorts of southern Spain were gaining in popularity (and affordability). Herne Bay suffered the same way as most of the other British seaside resorts. |
| Since the late 80's, however, the whole northeast coastal region has undergone a major transformation. Money has been put in and Herne Bay is now a very pleasant place to live and visit, particularly in the summer months. The entire sea front has been restored or rebuilt, pedestrian areas have been set up and a new leisure centre constructed. It is not a huge tourist draw. Tourists tend to go to Margate if they want the seaside, or Canterbury for heritage. However, Herne Bay provides a pleasant stay for visitors, many of whom come down from London to see the sea and have an ice-cream or a bag of chips. |
| Herne Bay is often maligned as being a dull, characterless town. An unkind (and inaccurate) view, I would say. Especially of late. Much has been done to improve the lot of residents and visitors. There are also still lots of free parking areas, very unusual for a tourist town. We've got the Pavilion and Herons for sporting activities, the Bandstand for concerts and teas, the marina at Neptunes Arm for boating, plus lots of wonderful walks along the coast or in the country. However, I digress; this was supposed to be the history page. |
| Herne Bay used to be one of those English towns with a higher death than birth rate, on account of the number of people coming here to retire by the seaside. Changes in local planning policies in the last few years have seen the number of new bungalows being built reduce as a proportion of all new housing. However, there are still a significant number of residential homes for the elderly. |
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