In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Thanet like this:
THANET, an island and a district in the NE of Kent-The island projects to the North Foreland, at the month of the Thames; is bounded, on the N and the E, by the sea,-on the SE, by Pegwell bay,-on the S, by the river Stour,-on the W, by the rivulet Nethergong; was anciently separated from the land by the Wantsome channel, about a mile wide, along the course of the Stour and the Nethergong, and used as a short cut, in the ordinary passage between London and France; became nearly connected with the land by the silting up of that channel progressively till about the year 1500; appears to have extended much further seaward in the Saxon times than now; measures at present about 10 miles from E to W, and from 2½ to 7¼ from N to S; was known to the ancient Britons as Ruim or Inis-Ruochim, to the Saxons as Tenet or Tanet-lond, to the old geographers as Thanatos; retains, or has furnished, many relics of Roman, Saxon, and Jutish inhabitation; lay, till about the beginning of last century, in nearly as wild a condition as the remotest parts of Cornwall: is now distinguished by rich cultivation and high progress; has generally a light fertile soil on a chalky bottom; includes some rich marshes on the sides of the streams; and gave, from 1628 till 1849, the title of Earl to the family of Tufton.—The district is conterminate with the island and its foreshores; comprises 27,371 acres of land, and 3,712 of water or foreshore; contains ten parishes and a ville; and is divided into the sub-districts of Minster, Margate, and Ramsgate. ...
Poor rates in 1863, £13,250. Pop. in 1851, 31,798; in 1861, 31,862. Houses, 6,254. Marriages in 1863, 304; births, 970,-of which 60 were illegitimate; deaths, 818,-of which 248 were at ages under 5 years, and 35 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1 851-60, 2,208; births, 8,972; deaths, 6,711. The places of worship, in 1851, were 13 of the Church of England, with 12,333 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 1,675 s.; 8 of Baptists, with 2,660 s.; 2 of Quakers, with 145 s.; 13 of Wesleyans, with 3,075 s.; 3 of Primitive Methodists, with 280 s.; 1 of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, with 650 s.; 3 undefined, with 1,000 s.; 2 of Roman Catholics, with 650 s.; and 1 of Jews, with 100 s. The schools were 24 public day-schools, with 3,879 scholars; 79 private day-schools, with 1,978 s.; 29 Sunday schools, with 3,430 s.; and 2 evening schools for adults, with 66 s. The workhouse is in Minster.
Thanet through time
Click here for graphs and data of how Thanet has changed over two centuries. For statistics for historical units named after Thanet go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Thanet in Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/17319
Date accessed: 30th October 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Thanet".