Chislet is an English 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 northeast

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 ...

between

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 ...

and the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in a ...

. The parish is the second largest in the district. A former spelling, 'Chistlet', is seen in 1418. The population of the civil parish includes the hamlet of Marshside. Most of the land use is fertile agricultural and a significant minority of the land is marsh where low-lying. Chislet has a

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, Chislet CofE School, which in 2020 had 102 students aged from 4–11.

Geography

The Chislet marshes mark the western end of the

Wantsum Channel The Wantsum Channel was a strait separating the Isle of Thanet from the north-eastern extremity of the English county of Kent and connecting the English Channel and the Thames Estuary. It was a major shipping route when Britain was part of the R ...

, an arm of the North Sea that separated the

from the mainland. Saltmaking was an important activity in the marshes in ancient times.

Chislet Windmill Chislet windmill was a Grade II listed smock mill in Chislet, Kent, England. It was built in 1744 and burnt down on 15 October 2005. History The earliest record of a mill at Chislet is from 1666.''The Times'', 20 October 2005 ''Chislet windmill ...

stood north of the Thanet Way on the road to Reculver until it burnt down in 2005; a replica of the exterior minus sails was built on the same site in 2011 during a housing redevelopment. Lavender was also a grown on the land around the current Grove Ferry Public House.

History

The village is served by the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St Mary the Virgin, a Grade I listed building. Chislet church is of mainly Norman architecture, but with a general pre-normal Saxon layout. Roman funerary artifacts have been found within the graveyard – suggesting a long term usage of the site. Built mainly of rough flint capped with Caen, Bath and Kentish Rag stone, it was renovated in the 13th century, when the north and south aisles were added, and in 1866. The original Manor of Chislet was granted by Charter by King Ethelbert to Saint Augustine on 7th January 605. The Manor remained for the benefit of St Augustine's Abbey, also founded in 605, until the reformation. At that point it reverted to the King and then the Archbishop of Canterbury, from where the modern parish was formed. The church registers indicate that in 1607 Chislet collected £1,6s,8½ pence for the building of Saint Paul's Cathedral, London. The Anglo-Westphalian Coal Syndicates Ltd was set up in 1911 to lease land near Chislet, and after various setbacks they finally moved approximately two miles south to take advantage of the A28 road on one side and the railway line on the other. Sinking started in 1914, with control taken over from the German company; a new company was set up called The Chislet Colliery Ltd. Coal was finally reached in 1918 at 1350 ft (411 metres). Chislet Colliery Housing Society was formed in 1924 to build a small colliery village of 300 houses north of the colliery on the main road to Thanet. Originally called Chislet Colliery Village, the name was changed to

Hersden Hersden is a village east of Canterbury in Kent, South East England. It was established as a planned coalmining village in the 1920s and is on the A28 road between Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet. Work in the Kent Coalfield was the main source ...

in 1929 to avoid confusion with Chislet village some 2 miles away. Until its closure in July 1969, Chislet was the most northerly colliery in Kent.

Localities

Chislet parish includes several villages and localities: * Boyden Gate *Chislet *Chislet Forstal *

Highstead Highstead is a village near Chislet, off the A299 road, in the Canterbury (borough), Canterbury District, in the English county of Kent. It is near the town of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay. Highstead is known for its iron-age pottery findings.Pau ...

* Marshside *

Upstreet Upstreet is a village in the civil parish of Chislet in Kent, England. It is in the local government district of Canterbury, and the electoral ward of Marshside. It is about 62 miles away from London. Upstreet is a ribbon development along the ...

References

rchaeologia Cantiana, 1878, Slater F, volume 12, 1878 Chislet Chronicles, 2001, Williams R – ISBN 0954129504

External links

Details of the churchGENUKI page
Villages in Kent City of Canterbury Civil parishes in Kent {{Kent-geo-stub