England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Thanet St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Thanet St Peter. one of 3 such Thanet parishes making up the former island and now peninsula of Thanet, lies in the extreme northeast of Kent forming an extensive stretch of the county's coastline with the North Sea. Whilst St Peter is the ancient parish the area is better known today as the resort of Broadstairs. Thanet St Peter sits inland from that resort around the meeting of A255 and A256 roads which connect to Margate and Ramsgate respectively. This is an area which has much changed over modern times, early maps show a nuclear village of St Peter gathered around the church with a short extension northeast and a long straggle southeastwards along today's High Street towards the new development of Broadstairs around its sandy bay. At the time of this transcript Broadstairs would have been merely a sleepy fishing hamlet with the majority of the wider parish in farming with arable the main crop. Growth in Broadstairs began with the Victorian craze for sea-bathing and was enhanced by the arrival of the railway line from London which describes a circuit around the former island granting Broadstairs a station. Ranks of 19th century hotels and guest houses now make the urban area of Broadstairs contiguous all of the way through from North Foreland lighthouse to Pegwell Bay, some 5 miles of built up coastline, indeed only a small gap separates from the similar development of Margate. The Isle of Thanet, it was such in Roman times, is almost devoid of at surface water-courses it being made of porous rock all water makes its way to the sea by sub-surface means. The church of St Peter sits at 40 metres above the sea, almost the highest ground in Thanet and only beaten by spot heights of 50 metres to the south in Northwood. Thanet St Peter parish covered some 2,800 acres, almost the entire eastern third of the island, and would have supported a population of around 3,000 parishioners albeit growing substantially throughout the period of this transcript, the volume of marriages recorded is indicative of an average population of the low 2,000s during the transcript period. Thanet St Peter is not mentioned in Domesday Book but was certainly settled and prosperous, many larger towns are not recorded in detail and this may apply in this case.

The Church

St Peter's church sits at the western end of Broadstairs High Street at its junction with Church Street. Whilst the church has ancient origins it has received two major phases of change, the late medieval period saw a marked expansion in volume whilst the typical Victorian period saw repeated restorations that also left a major mark on the fabric. At its core St Peter is a Norman 12th century Romanesque church but the fabric of such a structure is only visible internally in the eastern and southern walls of the chancel such is the degree of change since its first construction, whilst the nave is undoubtedly of the same period it too is changed by later work. The 13th century Early English Gothic period saw arches pierced through the Norman walls, their pointed arch being characteristic, the 13th century saw the addition of a 3-bay arcade to the northern chapel whilst the somewhat short period of the Transitional, between Early English & Decorated styles, is represented solely by the northern doorway. The 14th century saw a marked widening of the church to accommodate an increased congregation, the aisles were considerably widened as a consequence. Also in this century and in an early Perpendicular style was the tower added west of the northern aisle, an unusual position, it has 3 stages and a sheer polygonal stair turret making it quite distinctive. At least 4 phases of restoration are recorded by Pevsner from the first in 1852 and followed by further work in 1859, 1872 and 1903 amounting to an over-restoration according to Pevsner. Like most urban churches parking is tricky close by and it may be better to seek a local car park for an extended visit. The church also present major challenges for the photographer given it is hemmed in by a churchyard barely larger than the church, itself with all of the favoured aspects removed. Views from Church Street and from spots along St Peter's Footpath are only bettered from the northwest, a challenging aspect on a sunny day.