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Kent Online Parish Clerks |
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A View of the ParishYour Online Parish Clerk for Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey is: VACANT. Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey is, ecclesiastically, in the diocese of Canterbury, in the archdeaconry of Canterbury and in the deanery of Sittingbourne. There is no ancient church. There is a chapel with registers commencing 1836. Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey is a town and a chapelry in Minster parish, Kent. The town stands on the northwest extremity of the Isle of Sheppey, at the influx of the Medway to the Thames, and at the terminus of branch of the London, Chatham and Dover railway, 3-1/2 miles southwest of the Nore light, and 7-3/4 miles north of Sittingbourne; occupies low ground, which was a swamp so late as the time of Charles I; originated, and acquired a fort with 12 guns, in the time of Charles II; was taken in 1667, by the Dutch Admiral DeRuyter; became afterwards a place of greater note with increase of its fort to a regular fortification, and with formation of government docks; was the scene, in 1797, of the outbreak of the mutiny of the Nore; is now defended by works, 1-1/2 miles in extent, constructed at a cost of about £100,000, and mounting more than 100 guns; has dockyards covering 60 acres, formed at a cost of little less than £3,000,000, surrounded by a brick wall built at a cost of £40,000, and giving employment to about 2,500 mechanics and artisans; has also barracks, with accommodation for about 1,750 men; is a sub-port to Rochester, a coast guard station, and a seat of county courts; consists of four sections, called Blue Town, Mile Town, Banks Town, and Marine Town – the first within the limits of the garrison, the other three beyond; includes also a suburban tract, called West Minster, partly allotted for streets, and partly occupied by gas works, drainage works and water works – the last two constructed in 1862; publishes a weekly newspaper; and has a head post office with savings bank and money order office; a railway station with telephone; a banking office, three chief inns, a handsome county courthouse, three churches, five dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, a Jews’ synagogue, a mechanics’ institute and reading room, a national school, a public cemetery, a building society, a benevolent society, and some other institutions. The dockyard includes docks of sufficient capacity for the largest men-of-war; two smaller basins, a storehouse 6 stories high with capacity for about 30,000 tons of naval stores, a mast house, a rigging house, smitheries, a sail loft and residences for the port-admiral and other officers. The harbour fronts the Medway; underwent much recent enlargement; and has a steamboat pier 3,000 feet long. The Royal Hotel, in Banks Town, is a noble building, and was originally the mansion of the late Sir E. Banks. The three churches are one for the chapelry, one for the dockyard, and one for soldiers; and the last was built in 1864. A large public hall, with reading rooms, was built in 1869. Water supply was formerly very scanty, but is now obtained from deep artesian wells. A subterranean forest was discovered at the sinking of one of the wells; and the workmen burned their way through it. Considerable business is done in the corn and seed trade, in oyster fishing and in the furnishing of supplies to ships. Population of the town in 1851, 8,549; in 1861, 12,015. Houses, 1998. The chapelry was constituted in 1851. Population in 1861, 13,186. Houses, 2,018. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £300. Patron, the Incumbent of Minster.1 A very informative website for places on Sheppey is that maintained by Colin Penney. If you have family lines in Sheerness or Minster I would strongly suggest that you spend some time on his site. Many of the links to resources (see below) are links onto his wonderful website.
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Send mail to the Administrator, Kent OPC or Contact Us with questions or comments about this web site. Kent Online Parish Clerks ©2006, all rights reserved. No part of this page or web site may be reproduced either in part or in its' or their entirety in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of Kent Online Parish Clerks or its' assigns or successors, as the case may be, and the author hereof. This page was written & produced by Susan D. Young. Date last modified: 1/14/2007 10:06:56 AM |