Cheriton

Cheriton is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Dover.  The church is named for St. Martin with registers commencing 1562.

Cheriton, a parish in Elham district, Kent;  on the coast, at Thorncliffe rail station, 2-3/4 miles west-by-north of Folkestone.  It includes part of Sandgate village, and has a post office under Hythe.  Acres, 1,861, of which 75 are water.  Real property in 1860, £10,498.  Population in 1851, 1,658;  in 1861, 7,434 - of whom 4,204 were military in Shorncliffe camp.  Houses, 342.  The increase of population arose from the establishing of Shorncliffe camp.

The living [Cheriton] is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury;  and till 1867 was united with Newington[near Hythe].  Value, £550 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, the Rev. T. Brockman.  The church is ancient.

There is a national school.

Sandgate - a village and a chapelry in Elham district, and within Hythe borough, Kent.  The village stands on the coast, at the foot of an extensive range of hills, 1 mile south of Shorncliffe and Sandgate rail station, and 1-1/2 miles west-south-west of Folkestone;  was founded in 1773, by a shipbuilder of the name of Wilson;  grew and prospered as a place of ship building, and as a sea bathing resort;  possesses good advantages and fine amenities for sea bathing visitors;  enjoys very salubrious air, and highly picturesque and romantic environs;  commands a clear and extensive view of the French coast;  is governed by a local board of health;  has undergone much improvement by drainage, by introduction of good water supply, and otherwise;  and has a post office under Folkestone with a savings banks and a money order office, a church rebuilt in 1822, a neat Wesleyan chapel, reading rooms, a literary institution, a national school, a dispensary, numerous charities, and a fair on 23 July.

Sandgate Castle, adjacent to the village, dates from very early times;  was, for six weeks, the residence of Henry of Lancaster, afterwards Henry IV;  was rebuilt, for defence of the coast, by Henry VIII;  gave entertainment, in 1588, to Queen Elizabeth;  and underwent repairs and enlargement in 1806, to adapt it to purposes of modern warfare.  Part of the line of Martello towers, erected during the war with France, is in the neighbourhood.

A military camp, called Shorncillfe camp, was formed on a plateau above the village, about the time when the Martello towers were built;  was made permanent, with the erection of barracks, in 1854;  forms three sides of a square;  and contains accommodation for about 6,000 soldiers.  The troops in the camp were reviewed on the neighbouring downs, by Queen Victoria, in 1855.  The military canal commences near Sandgate, and goes thence to Rye.  Shorncliffe coastguard station also is in the vicinity.

The chapelry is partly in Folkestone parish, but chiefly in Cheriton;  and was constituted in 1848.  Population in 1861, exclusive of the military, 1,669.  Houses, 257.  The property is much subdivided.

Enbrook is the seat of the Hon. Sir J. D. Bligh.  A pack of fox-hounds is kept by F. Brockman, Esq..

The living [Sandgate] is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury.  Value, £270 with a habitable glebe house.  Patron, the Hon. Sir J. D. Bligh. ¹

¹  John Marius Wilson, comp.  The Imperial Gazatteer of England and Wales. (London, England: A. Fullerton & Co., 1870).

Cheriton Bibliography

-- various. 'Archaeologia Cantiana'. Publisher: Kent, England: Kent Archaeological Society, various dates.  [Note:  The following volumes can be found on archive.org:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (1876), 11, 12, 13 (1880), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34, 35, vol. 1907 supplement.]

• General references to Cheriton: vol. , pp.
• Currently in revision

Location of Records

The following list of records is not intended to be exhaustive.  There are many records that are awaiting discovery in archive offices throughout Kent and England.  This list is intended only to set out those records that are available via at least two relatively easy-to-access avenues.  If you have used or discover a record that would be of benefit to other researchers, that is not on this list, please send me an email with the details of the archive - name, address and archival call number.

Census | Church of England | Non-Conformist | Parish chest | Workhouse and Poor Law | Land | Assizes and Sessions | School

Census

Church Records, Church of England

Church Records, Non-Conformist

Parish chest records

Workhouse and Poor Law Records

Land Records

Assizes and Sessions Records
(poor laws, jail terms, oaths, and other municipal and public records)

School Records