When was Thanet a proper island?

This is a question I often get asked and I think the answer is roughly between 1400 and 1500. I will do my best to back this up with some maps. 

The first map, the one that says “mappa thaneti insule” along the top in latin dates from around 1400, different historians date it between 1380 and definitely before 1414 as it appears in the book by Thomas Elmham called “Historia Monasterii S Augustini Cantuariensis” Definitely and island then.

The second map, the one with the yellow and green watercolour shading on it, is a detail from a navigational chart for 1590. As you can see the Wantsum channel that used to separate the Isle of Thanet from the rest of the UK has silted up by then. 

The third map, the one with the blue sea and green land, is one I drew to show the approximate situation back in 1400 and before. 

In terms of books that explain about Thanet as an island, the main one and the one from which pretty much all of the information is derived is from 1736 “The History and Antiquities as well Ecclesiastical as Civil of the Isle of Tenet, in Kent The Second Edition, With Additions.”   An original copy of this will set you back anything between £500 or £1,000 depending on the state it's in and whether it's got all of its pictures. A word of warning here: don't buy or read the first edition which I think was 1723 as it's only got about half the information in it. Here at Michaels bookshop in Ramsgate we do a cheap modern reprint of the 2nd edition, so you can always come into the bookshop and give it a browse.

The Royal Victoria Pavilion Ramsgate

With Papa’s Fish & Chips, due to open soon in the part that was empty next to Wetherspoons. I thought I should do a post about it.

Anyone who has lived in Ramsgate is likely to have memories of it.  I first remember it as The Show Bar in the 1960s (The Golden Goose comes to mind, is that right?).

Sometime in the 1970s I worked for a bit in Stardust amusement arcade that was in the bit where the fish and chips are going. I certainly remember the nightclub that was there for a while, see the picture with the banana. And of course Tiberius Casino especially for their superb breakfasts after working in a nightclub. And more recently going to Wetherspoons to have a meal and do a watercolour sketch of the inside. When it first opened in 1903 its main function was a theatre. See the picture showing the inside with the stage in the distance.

There is a very good full page spread advertisement in the 1904 tourist guide to Ramsgate, we publish a cheap modern reprint of this guide here at Michaels Bookshop so you can always come in and give that a browse.

The main snag with the building is that it's a bit too low relative to spring tides and tidal surges, picture 2009. As you can see from the picture, even during a normal spring tide the water gets very close. In the 1953 tidal search storm it was washed through completely and was left in a position where it looked like it was in the middle of the beach.