Thanet Villages

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Just a short distance from the coast visitors discover a treasure chest of delights in Thanet’s 9 coastal and rural traditional villages.

Popular visitor gems include:

• Birchington and Westgate – Coastal villages with Blue Flag beaches at Minnis Bay, West Bay and St.Mildred’s Bay. (2022 awards)

• Internationally acclaimed Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex House and Gardens 

• Quex Park Estate with a wide range of attractions including activities for children, adventure golf, farmers market and craft village. Plus full and varied diary of annual events including Monsterslam 

• The Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum at Manston, with a Spitfire cockpit Simulator is home to these iconic Battle of Britain fighters

• RAF Manston History Museum, illustrating the airfields history from 1916 to present day

• Minster Abbey is possibly the oldest inhabited house in the country near where St.Augustine led the first Christian mass in Britain

• Minster Show – since 1886, Minster and neighbouring villages work together to present entertainment, celebrating the success of flower and vegetable growers, cooks, jam and preserve makers and more.

• Monkton Nature Reserve a 16 acre wildlife oasis in a reclaimed former chalk quarry with trails, UK’s first artificial bat cave, fossils and visitor centre

• St.Mary the Virgin Church at Minster, a large Roman Catholic church with 18 fine mediaeval misericords, which are amongst the best in south east England.

• Rascal Bay Adventure Golf  18 hole site featuring pirates, dinosaurs, safari animals and rafts.

• Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), one of the founders of the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood, moved to Birchington, near Margate, in 1882 hoping to recover from a serious illness. He died soon after his arrival. His grave is marked by a Celtic cross by the south door at  All Saints Church, Birchington.

• A Royal Naval Air Service Station, used by seaplanes and land planes, was opened at St Mildred’s Bay, Westgate, at the start of WWI. The site was soon the scene of several night accidents. As a result, in the winter of 1915- 16 aircraft started to use open farmland at Manston for emergency landings. Shortly afterwards, Manston officially developed into a Royal Naval Station. In WWII it became a frontline Battle of Britain airfield.

• The first manufacturer of cycles specially designed for ladies was in Birchington

• St Augustine’s Cross, a celtic stone cross was erected in 1884 to commemorate where St Augustine celebrated the first mass when he arrived, bringing Christianity to England

Discover more about our villages here