Pegwell Bay

Pegwell Village to the West of Ramsgate has been much changed over the years.

What you see today isn't how it was originally seen.

The bottom picture (from the Pegwell regatta) shows a large bay where today much of it has been reclaimed. This article from the National Piers Society shows the why.
"Britain’s shortest-lived pleasure pier at just five years was conceived as part of the Ravenscliff Gardens development by the Pegwell Bay Aquarium and Hotel Company. The Company was formed by James Tatnell, who owned the Clifton Hotel in the village, in 1872 to reclaim six acres of foreshore for the gardens. The aquarium part of the scheme was later dropped, but the Clifton Hotel was enlarged, and in addition to the pier, the gardens were also to house a swimming pool, restaurant, skating rink and photographic studio.
An application was forwarded to the Board of Trade in June 1874 and work began on reclaiming the cove the following year. On 16th September 1879 the Ravenscliff Gardens and Pier were formally opened and a basic entrance fee of 2d was charged to use the gardens and pier, although this was increased to up to 6d for special occasions such as regattas. The pier was a rather fragile structure, 300ft in length, constructed of wood with slender iron supporting columns. A kiosk was placed on the pier head, which also had two small landing stages. However, no evidence has come to light that any vessels ever called there and the gardens and pier were a colossal failure; leading to the failure of the Pegwell Bay Aquarium and Hotel Company within a year of opening.
The Clifton Hotel and Ravenscliff Gardens and Pier passed to the mortgage company (the Sheffield & South Yorkshire Building Society) who leased them in 1880 to John Garratt Elliott, who, as a member of the London Swimming Club, was principally interested in the swimming pool. However he departed in the following year and the mortgage company tried unsuccessfully to sell the development. It appears that in 1883-4 the gardens and pier were leased to Jane Carter at the Belle Vue Tavern (famous for its shrimp paste), but the short and rather sad life of the little pier came to an end on 4th December 1884 when the hull of the wrecked barge Usko drove through the shore end of the structure during a gale. In January and February 1885 the surviving portion of the pier was sold off upon the cliff top.
The gardens eventually came into the hands of the Working Men’s Club & Institute Union, which had utilised the former Clifton Hotel since August 1894. A corner was also used by the Conyngham Café for various entertainments between the years 1894-1908. The swimming pool was filled in in1895 and the gardens steadily over the years became unkempt. They were abandoned by the convalescent home in the late 1960s and are now very overgrown. However, at low tide, the piles of the head of the long-lost pier may still be seen.
A booklet by Martin Easdown about this Kentish resort and its failed attempts to become a watering place to rival neighbouring Ramsgate is available via the NPS Shop webpage. The booklet has a particular emphasis on the development and decline of the Ravenscliff Gardens and Pier during the period 1872 to 1908."

The land reclaimed is very clear on the picture above. With a large retaining wall it has survived many a storm unlike the cliff behind it see picture below.

 to this

"PEGWELL, a hamlet in St. Lawrence parish, Kent; on a bay of its own name, 1 mile W S W of Ramsgate. The bay extends from Ramsgate to the vicinity of Sandwich; penetrates 2 miles westward, to the mouth of the river Stour; presents a large expanse of sands at lowwater; is famous for shrimps and lobsters; and was, near its head, the traditional landing-place of Hengist and Horsa and of St. Augustine." In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales

 Painting by William Dyce
Pegwell Bay is also famous as the site of the disused Hoverport operating from 1969-1987. The land still bears much of the structure of the port including the apron. Some pictures during its operation and disuse.

 Pegwell has always attracted people and the Belle Vue has been serving teas for over 200 years.

Pegwell even has its own gun emplacement during the Second World War

Pegwell has been used for shrimping and smuggling and much of the chalk has been extensively tunneled to enable both products rapid access to the top of the cliffs. Seaweed has also been harvested to improve the fields above.

Here are some views of the village both present and past.

Here are two views of the Coastguard station (well what's left of it anyway)

And a view of Pegwell Lodge from 1920 which, I believe, is the Caravan Park today.

And a view of the Westcliff House from 1837 (no longer here)

Another group of buildings now long gone is Assumption Convent. all that is left in Downs Road is and entrance and a small cemetery in the grounds of the housing estate.

"The Convent of the Assumption, West cliff, erected in 1873, at a cost of about £16,000, was enlarged in 1890, and has been occupied since 1878 by 16 nuns, who conduct a school for Catholic children of the higher classes; a limited number of lady boarders are received."

 One of the most memorable buildings is the Pegwell Bay Hotel however that isn't how it started life in 1878. Built buy John Passmore Edwards as a Convalescent home.
A brief history. "As far back as 1878 the Council of the Union considered the possibility of establishing a Seaside Home for members, their wives, and families but an initial attempt foundered, "its principal achievement being to add another heavy financial burden up on the slender and embarrassed finances of the Union". At a meeting of the Council of the Union, held at the East St Pancras Reform Club on Saturday, 6 February 1892, the Council resolved to " take into consideration the advisability of a Convalescent Home, and that a committee be appointed for the purpose of drawing up a scheme".
The appointed committee, N W Oviatt, F Campbell, Ben Ellis, J W Dorman, J H Holmes, T J Mason, and Jessie Argyle, who had agreed to act as honorary secretary, met and produced a very modest scheme, estimating an annual expenditure of £600 per annum, and subscriptions from the clubs varying from one guinea to £4 4s per annum. The proposal was to lease a large house on the South East coast and adapt this for the residence of 15 "patients". Circulars were sent out to all of the clubs but response was insufficient for the project to proceed. The following year, June 1893, Hodgson Pratt reported to B T Hall, Secretary of the Union, that he had spoken to Passmore Edwards who would like to see a deputation on the matter. At the ensuing meeting Passmore Edwards sought assurances that that the Union would guarantee to keep a home going if he gave them one. After giving such an assurance the meeting ended with Passmore's response of "very well, go and find your site, and I will buy it, and build you a home on it".

However, the search for a suitable site proved as difficult a task as any and it was Passmore Edwards himself, who in May 1894 informed them that he had purchased a disused hotel and grounds at Pegwell Bay and that he thought that this would suit their purposes. An inspection by the Secretary followed and found that the builders and decorators were already in attendance, the conversion almost complete

 An urgent appeal for funds to furnish the Home raised £250 in two months and an order for the furniture made out. Clubs or individuals were asked for £5 and for which the name of the donor would be fixed over the door of a room within the Home.
The next task was to advertise for a superintendent and matron and out of 120 applicants Mr and Mrs Boyland were appointed " and no better selection was anywhere or ever made" The home was opened by Passmore Edwards in the presence of the Hodgson Pratt, the Mayor of Ramsgate, Alderman Blackburn.and 600 Club members who cheerily braved the stormy weather.
From the day of its opening, on August Bank Holiday of 1894, the Home was a success. As each resident came back to his club he spread the tale of its charms. Large excursions organised by the Home Committee took tens of thousands of London clubmen to Pegwell. Far and wide spread its fame. A picture fund realised £100 in a few months. The Home then accommodated 32 residents, but before the third year of its life had passed it was clear to the committee that extension would be required. The foundation stone was laid on 10 July 1897 by Mrs Passmore Edwards and just 12 months later, on 2 July 1898, the new wing was opened by Passmore Edwards, raising the accommodation to 62. The response of the clubs to the debt created from the building works was enormous and it was cleared by 1905 when the committee again met to consider further expansion."

You can read the complete history here http://www.passmoreedwards.org.uk/pages/history/Hospitals/Pegwell%20Bay%201.htm

I hope you enjoy these blogs and would encourage comments as to what can improve them.