Cliffsend is a village (sometimes written, correctly, as Cliffs End) and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

situated almost west of Ramsgate,

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 ...

, United Kingdom, in the Thanet local government district.

Hengist and Horsa Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent. Most modern scholarly consensus now rega ...

landed near here in 410AD, and

St Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

in 597. There is evidence to show that the area of Cliffsend Village was inhabited since ancient times. Excavations prior to a housing development a
Cliffs End Farm
in 2003/2004 revealed artefacts and a burial site dating to the Bronze Age. Pegwell Bay Country Park is located here. Also on permanent display on the cliff top at

Pegwell Bay Pegwell Bay is a shallow inlet in the English Channel coast astride the estuary of the River Stour north of Sandwich Bay, between Ramsgate and Sandwich in Kent. Part of the bay is a nature reserve, with seashore habitats including mudflats and ...

is a replica of the

Viking longship Longships were a type of specialised Viking ships, Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and use ...

'' Hugin'', which sailed from Denmark to Thanet in 1949 to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the invasion of Britain, the traditional landing of the two men, and the betrothal of

Hengist Hengist and Horsa are Germanic brothers said to have led the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in their invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Tradition lists Hengist as the first of the Jutish kings of Kent. Most modern scholarly consensus now rega ...

's daughter,

Rowena Rowena in the Matter of Britain was the daughter of the purported Anglo-Saxon chief Hengist and wife of Vortigern, "King of the Britons". Presented as a beautiful ''femme fatale'', she won her people the Kingdom of Kent through her treacherous ...

, to King Vortigen of Kent. The ''Hugin'' was offered as a gift to Ramsgate and Broadstairs by the '' Daily Mail'' for preservation.

Amenities

The village has a petrol station and convenience store on the former A256. The village formerly had a small family run convenience shop and sub post office in Cottington Road, which closed in about 2001 and was redeveloped. Following the closure a shop run by volunteers and a privately run post office opened in the village hall. The shop closed in 2017 and the post office became part time, being staffed by the postmaster from nearby Minster. The village has a golf club, St Augustine's GC and did have one pub, the Sportsman Inn. The pub closed permanently in April 2017 for redevelopment. The village is the site of several local tourist attractions, including 'The Viking Ship', which is a restored replica Viking Ship similar to that which landed on the site during the invasion of

. The ship sits on the cliff top, on open grass. This overlooks Pegwell Bay nature reserve and the now disused Ramsgate Hoverport. On a clear day, visitors can see a large expanse of east Kent to the West, Sandwich, Deal, and the northern tip of the French Coast. To the east, the cliffs curve round into the nearby town of Ramsgate. Though the village has no hotels itself, both Ramsgate (2 km) and Minster (4 km) have numerous facilities. The Anglican parish church of St Mary is in Foads Lane. Originally a Methodist church it was rented by the Church of England from the early 1930s, eventually being bought in 1956.

Governance

Cliffsend is part of the electoral ward called Cliffsend and Pegwell. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,703. The parish council was created in 2003.

Notable residents

Although a small area with an accordingly low population, Cliffsend has had notable residents. *

Jefferson Hack Jefferson Hack (born 1971 in Montevideo, Uruguay) is a Curator, Creative Director and co-founder of Dazed Media, an independent media company that produces stories across its print, digital and video brands. The company's portfolio includes fash ...

lived in Beech Grove for much of his childhood and early adult life. * A notable couple in the acting and entertainment world are Melanie and Martina Grant * Augustine of Canterbury briefly lived in the Cliffs End area around the year 597.

Transport

The village is between the A299, the end of the Thanet Way, and the A256, which meet at the

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

roundabouts to the east of the village. The village is divided into two by the Canterbury to Ramsgate railway line, with a station at Thanet Parkway which opened in 2023.

Manston Airport Manston Airport was a British airport. It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport and was located in the parish of Minster-in-Thanet and partly adjacent to the village of Manston in the Thanet district of Kent, England, north-eas ...

is to the north of the village, with the east end of the runway preventing the village expanding northwards. The airport partially closed in May 2014. At the south east corner of the village are the remains of Hoverlloyd's cross-channel hoverport. Vehicle and passenger carrying hovercraft were operated here from 1969 until 1982. The New East Kent Access Road intersects the village at the same point as the railway line, though here it is in a tunnel, so the effect on the village is minimal. Both the A299 and A256 have been diverted onto new roads in this scheme; the former A299 and A256 remain in place to serve the village. Access from the new road to the village can be gained from the Thanet Intersection southwards, from Ebbfleet Roundabout eastwards, from the Sevenscore roundabout along Cottington road, and at Cliffsend roundabout heading eastwards.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent Populated coastal places in Kent