The small sea side resort of the village of Hythe, in the District of Shepway, (derived from ship-way) is one of the five original Cinque Ports on the Coast of South Kent, in England. Although it is situated besides a broad bay on the English Channel, 4 miles to the west of Folkestone, silting of the coast has completely removed any sign of its port and harbour.
A wide promenade overlooks a long stretch of beach, and is followed by the main road to Dover or Hastings. Ample parking along the beach front is available with a good view of the distant French coast opposite.
Long since having become isolated from the sea by the silting of its estuary by the accumulation of shingle, hythe was once geographically the central cinque port, situated between the ports of Hastings and New-Romney to the west with Dover and Sandwich to the east.
According to Hasted, a French fleet approached Hythe in the year 1293 and succeeded in landing up to 200 men, but the townsmen came upon them and slew every one of them: upon which the rest of the fleet hoisted sail and made no further attempt '
The town has had a succession of disasters, including a fire that destroyed about 100 houses. In 1348 the black death afflicted the port, and in 1400 the plague further decimated the towns population.
Francis Pettitt-Smith, the inventor of the marine screw propeller, born and raised in Hythe.
The Romney Marsh lies immediately to the west of Hythe. The Royal Military canal runs a course across the northern edge on Romney marsh, to Winchelsea, along with a series of Martello towers built at the same time along the coast from Folkestone to Seaford. (Martello is a corruption derived from Mortella- from Corsica where a similar prototype forts of this design first came to the attention of the English military, late in the C18th). Two of the many (43) Martello towers along this coast survive at Hythe. Geologically the town had developed upon a succession of parallel terraces, rising from the level ground around the Royal military canal up towards the steep incline upon which the parish church of St. Leonard's was built.
A short distance from Stade Street, the old Royal Military canal, something of a folly, (considering is was intended to dissuade the threat of a French invasion that never happened, during the Napoleonic wars (1804-15)), gives central hythe much of its character, now shaded by tall trees, the canal, a defensive moat 30 foot (10 m) in width passes into the marsh from the middle of the town. From the High Street narrow alley-ways lead up to the steeper levels of the town.
The 11th century church is positioned high above the town, some way up the hill, a large mediaeval building, the tower at its eastern end once having been destroyed by an earth tremor in 1739, was restored in 1750.
The chancel dating from 1220, covers a processional ossuary, (a structure for preserving bones more common to the continent), lined with 200 skulls and 8000 thighbones, dating from the mediaeval period, having been stored in all probability after removal, to make way for new graves, the old church yard having become full. (a much forgotten method of maintaining old churchyards common in England during the period, was to dispose of old graves by dispersal, this is thus a rare collection, preserved for reasons unexplained).
Lionel Lukin credited with the invention of the lifeboat, is buried in the parish church yard of Hythe.
Hythe was once of such significance that it was defended by two castles, being respectively known as Saltwood and Lympne. Saltwood derives its name from the village, in its shadow. During the reign of king Canute the manor of Saltwood was granted to the priory of Christchurch in Canterbury, but during the C12th it was was for a while to become the home of Henry d' Essex constable of England.
Thomas a Becket had sought from king Henry II, for the Church, the restoration of the castle, as an ecclesiastical palace. Henry instead granted the castle to one of his loyal barons Rranulf de Broc.
That the castle had been returned to the control of Becket, as archbishop of Canterbury, and remained a church property until the reign of Henry VIII, when Hythe and Saltwood were to be sequestrated to the Crown, leads to the implication that some complicity in the murder of Becket, by the baron Rranulf de Broc was possible. It was during this time at Saltwood, on December the 28th, 1170, four knights plotted the death of Becket, which took place the following day.
From the moment Hythe came under Crown control the senior official of the town was also to become a bailiff appointed by the Crown, this state of affairs remained (uniquely for a Cinque Port) until 1575 when under a charter given by Elizabeth I, the town regained control of its domestic affairs.
Curiously, however the last Crown bailiff of Hythe was also to become the first mayor of the town. His name was John Bredgman, a brass inscription baring his name remains in the parish church, dated 1581.
A monumental cross now indicates the position of what was once from 1358 a meeting place of the confederation of the Cinque ports, located several miles to the west of Hythe, and known then as 'the Shepway crossroads.' Shepway cross erected in 1923, the monument to the Court of Shepway, known as the Shepway cross may be found beside the Hythe to Lympne road. (b2067) The lathe of Shepway was the Saxon name for most of modern Kent.
Hythe is one of the terminals of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, the world's smallest public railway, running scale models of steam locomotives. The track runs a parallel course to the coastline passing through the towns of Dymchurch, New Romney and Dungeness, where their is a lighthouse, power station and RSPB National Nature Reserve.
The original founders of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Light Steam Railway were Captain JEP Howey and the count Louis Zborowsky. Something of a hobby the project was begun in 1925, and opened in 1927. The locomotives and trains run on a narrow gauge of 15 inches (380 mm) in width, and the track is nearly 14 miles (23 km) in length.
During the Second World War the service was taken over by the military and used to transport the secret 'Pluto' pipeline, it now carries children to nearby schools.
Every two years, Hythe Corporation hosts the Hythe Venetian Fete, when local organisations and individuals create decorated floats which travel up and down the Royal Military Canal.
Folkestone and Hythe are represented in Parliament by Conservative Michael Howard, the former Home Secretary, and present Leader of the Conservative Party.
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For further information on Kent's Garden Coast, please see their official tourism website.