Burmarsh is a village 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Folkestone and Hythe District of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. The village is located three miles (4.8 km) west of

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a hamlet in Canada England *The ...

on the

Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the ...

. The Burmarsh Road connects the village to the once fully operating Burmarsh Road train station. The closest major settlement is

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

which is a minimum of 9.5 mile car journey. In the 1870s Burmarsh was described by John Marius Wilson as:

"...a parish in Romney-Marsh district, Kent; on the coast, adjacent to the Military canal... Acres, 1,796. Real property, £4,612. Pop., 170. Houses, 32."

History

The meaning of Burmarsh comes from Old English. Bur comes from "Burh-Ware" which equates to "Town Dwellers, and "Mersc" which means "Marsh". Therefore, if we collaborate these, Burmarsh means "Marsh of Town Dwellers". When Burmarsh was discovered by the Romans around the year 275AD, they extracted salt from the area for use by the empire. Burmarsh appears in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as both Borchemeres and Burwarmaresc. It was one of the first known settlements on the

. During the reign of

King Æthelwulf King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

, around the year 848AD, the King's grandson, for the sum of four thousand pence, gave the manor of Burmarsh to his friend Wynemund, who gave it to the monastery of St. Augustine. After which it remained part of the possessions of the monastery, eventually being entered in the record of the Domesday book, under the general title of the land of the church of St. Augustine in Littlestone.

Demographics

Burmarsh Kent Population Change over time

According to the 2011 Census there were 170 males and 160 females living in the parish. The 330 usual populace were spread out across an area of 1,724 hectares. This means the population density recorded was 0.2 hectares per person. Of the 330 people who permanently live in Burmarsh 246 of them are between 16-74. Of this figure 77 people had no qualifications which is equivalent to 28.5%. When compared to the national rate of 22.5% we can see that Burmarsh is a little higher. There are still 167 usual residents employed. This could suggest that the small, isolated nature of the parish may have something to do with a number of people working in jobs which require no qualifications. The graph of population change shows an overall rise in population size. From the 1890s up until around the year 1950 there is some oscillation in population size that could be due to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After 1950 it seems like there is a sharp rise in population, there could be a link to the establishment of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

(NHS) in the year 1948.

Church

The Burmarsh Parish Church is dedicated to the All Saints. The chapel was originally built in

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

times but was extended into a church by monks of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

during the

Norman era Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

, post the year 1066 (11th century). The church was expanded again in the 13th century. The west tower was built in the 15th century and the porch was then added in the 17th century. The interior was renovated in the late 19th century with the removal of the box pews, pulpit and the sound board. Two of the three original bells at the church dating back to mediaeval times (the year 1375) and are still used to this day. The other bell is cracked and can now be seen on the floor of the church.

Train Station

The Burmarsh Road railway station was opened on the 16th of July 1927, when it was called Burmarsh for East Dymchurch. The station had 2 platforms, a ticket office, waiting room and signaling facilities. Following the war the station was demoted to a 'halt', and renamed as Burmarsh Road Halt. It was closed down due to lack of use in 1948. The buildings were demolished, with exception of the roof of the waiting hall. In September 1977 the station was reopened to offer a school transport service to the Southlands Comprehensive School. The school service last ran 2015.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Kent Civil parishes in Kent Folkestone and Hythe District