Thanet is situated in the North - East part of the County of Kent in England. It has been called 'Tenet', 'Tanet' and 'Tened'. The name of 'Tenet' seems to have come from our Saxon ancestors - 'tene' - meant fire or beacon. The Isle of Tenet had many such beacons to warn of any Invasions or Incursions by Danes or other 'Pirates'. At that time it was a quite distinct island. Now the the water dividing Thanet from the rest of Kent is only a few feet wide in places. Thanet.jpg

Around 43 A.D. , when Thanet was separated from the mainland by the River Wansum. It was at this time that Roman Emperor Claudius sent Aulus Plautius and 40,000 men to conquer the country of Britain. It was at a port in the Wansum Estuary that they found safe anchorage. The port was on the mainland and was called ' Rutupiae ' - now Richborough. Remains of the Roman Fort still exist. Between 1400 and 1500 Thanet changed from and island to a peninsular. The silting of the channel is thought to be as a result of shingle bank which built up at the East end of the Wantsum. The area is now mostly marshland.

In 850 A.D. the Danes established a Winter camp on the Isle of Thanet.

In 1823, William Cobbett journeyed through Kent and recorded his travels. On Thursday, September 4th of that year he recorded: 'In quitting Sandwich, you immediately cross a river up which vessels bring coals from the sea'

'It is ( Thanet ), in fact, an island now, for the same reason that Portsea is an island, and that New York is an Island; for there certainly is the water in this river that goes round and connects one part of the sea with the other.'

'When I got upon the corn land in the Isle of Thanet, I got into a garden indeed. There is hardly any fallow; comparatively few turnips. It is a country of corn'

Now more and more land is being taken from agriculture for use in areas designated as Industrial - most of which appear devoid of Industry. The rest is being covered in new houses.