The City of Canterbury () is a
local government district with
city status in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England. As well as
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...
itself, the district extends north to the coastal towns of Whistable and Herne Bay.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the existing city of Canterbury with the
Whitstable and
Herne Bay Urban District
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...
s, and
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
-
Blean
Blean is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The developed village within the parish is scattered along the road between C ...
Rural District. The latter district entirely surrounded the city; the urban districts occupied the coastal area to the north.
Politics
Elections for to all seats on the city council are held every four years. After being under
no overall control for a number of years, the
Conservative party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
gained a majority in 2005 following a by election and defection from the Liberal Democrats.
Following the
2019 United Kingdom local elections the political composition of Canterbury council is as follows (2017 results follows by-elections):
Meeting place
After the Church of the Holy Cross, which was commissioned by
Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
Simon Sudbury and completed before his death in 1381,
was declared redundant and de-consecrated in 1972, it was acquired by the city council and converted for municipal use: it was officially re-opened by the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...
as the new
Canterbury Guildhall
Canterbury Guildhall, formerly the Church of the Holy Cross, is a municipal building in St Peter's Place in Canterbury, Kent, England. The structure, which is the meeting place of Canterbury City Council, is a Grade II* listed building.
Histor ...
and meeting place of the city council on 9 November 1978.
Geography
Within the district are the towns of
Herne Bay and
Whitstable, which, with the rural parishes and the cathedral city itself, make up the district of the City of Canterbury. There are 27 parishes within the district, as follows:
*
Adisham
Adisham (formerly Adesham) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Kent. It is twinned with Campagne-lès-Hesdin in France.
Geography
The village centre, six miles south-east of Canterbury is on the B2046 road between Wingham ...
*
Barham
*
Bekesbourne-with-Patrixbourne
*
Bishopsbourne
Bishopsbourne is a mostly rural and wooded village and civil parish in Kent, England. It has two short developed sections of streets at the foot of the Nailbourne valley south-east of Canterbury and centred from Dover. The settlement of ...
*
Blean
Blean is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. The civil parish is large and is mostly woodland, much of which is ancient woodland. The developed village within the parish is scattered along the road between C ...
*
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
*
Chartham
Chartham is a village and civil parish in the Canterbury district of Kent, England. It is situated on the Ashford side of the city, and is in the North Downs area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, south west of Canterbury, England. The Great S ...
*
Chestfield
*
Chislet
*
Fordwich, which has town status
*
Hackington
Hackington is an area of Canterbury in Kent, England, also known (especially historically) as St Stephen's, incorporating the northern part of the city, as well as a semi-rural area to the north.
It is an ancient ecclesiastical parish, with the ...
*
Harbledown and Rough Common
Harbledown is a village in Kent, England, immediately west of Canterbury and contiguous with the city. At local government level the village is designated as a separate civil parish, that of Harbledown and Rough Common. The High Street is a cons ...
*
Hersden
*
Herne and Broomfield
*
Hoath
Hoath is a semi-rural village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury local government district. The hamlets of Knaves Ash, Maypole, Ford, Old Tree, Shelvingford and Stoney Acre are included in the parish.
History
Hoath was part of the estat ...
*
Ickham
*
Kingston
*
Littlebourne
Littlebourne is a village and civil parish east of Canterbury in Kent, South East England.
History
The significant Howletts Anglo-Saxon cemetery is in the parish. It is regarded as " Jutish"; finds are in the British Museum and elsewhere, and ...
*
Lower Hardres and Nackington
*
Petham
Petham is a rural village and civil parish in the North Downs, five miles south of Canterbury in Kent, South East England.
The village church is All Saints, Petham and is Grade I listed. It was built in the 13th century but suffered from a fire ...
*
Sturry
*
Thanington Without
*
Upper Hardres
Upper Hardres is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury, in the district of Kent, England.
The name of the Hardres family is perpetuated in the twin villages of Upper Hardres and Lower Hardres (pronounced 'hards'), on the Roman ...
*
Waltham
*
Westbere
Westbere is a small village and civil parish in Kent, England, centred north-east of Canterbury city centre along the A28 road to the Isle of Thanet.
Geography
The relatively small area parish in this district is agricultural in most of its land ...
*
Wickhambreaux
Wickhambreaux ( ) is a small rural village in Kent, England. The village is just off the A257 Sandwich Road, four miles east of the city of Canterbury. Since Roman times the village has had connections to the Church and the Crown, including bei ...
*
Womenswold
Womenswold is a village and civil parish centred south-east of Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It li ...
Swalecliffe is an unparished area within the district.
The district is largely rural, with a coastal strip taken up by the almost unbroken spread of seaside towns and beaches from
Seasalter, west of Whitstable, to
Herne Bay. Between them and the city the hills rise into the wooded area of Blean, south of which the
Great Stour flows from its source beyond
Ashford Ashford may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Ashford, New South Wales
*Ashford, South Australia
*Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia
Ireland
*Ashford, County Wicklow
*Ashford Castle, County Galway
United Kingdom
*Ashford, Kent, a town
**B ...
.
Demography
Twin towns
The district participates in the
Sister Cities programme, with
links
to
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, and
Vladimir, Russia
Vladimir ( rus, Влади́мир, p=vlɐ'dʲimʲɪr, a=Ru-Владимир.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, located on the Klyazma River, east of Moscow. It is served by a railway and the M7 motorway ...
.
The Three Towns Association was founded in 1985 on the initiative of three local clergymen to promote person-to-person contact between ordinary people in the UK, the U.S. and Russia. The name was subsequently changed to the Three Cities Association. The Association chose Vladimir as the twin city in Russia because it is the seat of Christianity in that country as Canterbury is the seat of Christianity in England. Vladimir was already twinned with Bloomington-Normal. Among other activities, the Association arranged home-stay exchanges between the two Simon Langton Schools in Canterbury and School No. 23 in Vladimir, where the teaching was conducted in English.
Several towns and villages within the City of Canterbury have their own twinning arrangements:
see the articles on
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...
,
Whitstable and
Herne Bay.
See also
*
List of mayors of Canterbury
*
References
External links
Canterbury City Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canterbury, City of
Cities in South East England
Non-metropolitan districts of Kent
Boroughs in England