Place:Westgate Holy Cross, Kent, England

Watchers
NameWestgate Holy Cross
Alt namesHoly Cross Westgatesource: name variation
Holycross-Westgatesource: FamilySearch Library Catalog
Westgate Holy Cross Withoutsource: part of parish
Westgate Holy Cross Withinsource: part of parish
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates51.281°N 1.076°E
Located inKent, England
See alsoWestgate Hundred, Kent, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Canterbury, Kent, Englandancient borough of which it was part
Bridge Rural, Kent, Englandrural district in which it was situated 1894-1912
Canterbury District, Kent, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Family History Library Catalog


A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Westgate Holy Cross ecclesiastical parish from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"HOLYCROSS-WESTGATE, a parish, consisting of two parts, [Westgate Holy Cross] Within and [Westgate Holy Cross] Without, in Kent; adjoining St. Dunstan [eccleasiasticl parish], and forming a western outskirt of Canterbury city. [Westgate Holy Cross] is in Canterbury [registration] district, and comprises 31 acres. Real property: £880. Population: 249. Houses: 48. [Westgate Holy Cross] Without is in Bridge [registration] district, and comprises 72 acres. Real property: £2,748. Population: 816. Houses: 165. The entire parish is now in Canterbury borough; but only [Holycross Westgate] Within was in it prior to the reform act [1832]. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of St. Peter, in the diocese of Canterbury. The church was rebuilt about 1381, and was recently in bad condition."

The church for the ancient parish surrounding the Westgate was dedicated to the Holy Cross, and the parish itself became known as Westgate Holy Cross. In 1894 the civil parish was split into the same two parts as the ecclesiastical parish: Westgate Holy Cross Within was immediately absorbed into Canterbury itself; Westgate Holy Cross Without became a separate civil parish until 1912 when it too was absorbed into Canterbury. Both parts of the parish have been redirected here. During its sojourn outside Canterbury, Westgate Holy Cross Without was part of Bridge Rural District.

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

The Westgate is a medieval gatehouse in Canterbury, Kent, England. This 60-foot (18 m) high western gate of the city wall is the largest surviving city gate in England. Built of Kentish ragstone around 1379, it is the last survivor of Canterbury's seven medieval gates, still well-preserved and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. The road still passes between its drum towers. This scheduled monument and Grade I listed building houses the West Gate Towers Museum.

end of Wikipedia contribution

History

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Westgate, Canterbury. This is a history of the gate, not the parish.


Research Tips

  • Kent County Council Archive, Local Studies and Museums Service. James Whatman Way, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1LQ. This incorporates the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone and the East Kent Archives Centre near Dover.
  • Canterbury Cathedral Archives see the Archives web pages on the Canterbury Catherdral site.
  • For information on the area around the Medway Towns, have a look at Medway Council's CityArk site.
  • Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales - Revised: Kent illustrates the parish boundaries of Kent when rural districts were still in existence and before Greater London came into being. The map publication year is 1931. An earlier map of 1900 may also be useful. The maps blow up to show all the parishes and many of the small villages and hamlets. Maps in this series are now downloadable for personal use.
  • Census records for Kent are available on FamilySearch, Ancestry and FindMyPast. The first site is free; the other two are pay sites but have access to microfilmed images. Steve Archer produced a very useful round-up of the available sources, but this information may not be up to date.
  • Registration Districts in Kent for the period 1837 to the present. By drilling down through the links you can follow any parish through the registration districts to which it was attached.
  • England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911 The full database from Kent Archives Office, Maidstone, has been available online from FamilySearch since June 2016.
  • Kent had five family history societies (now only four):
  • Volume 2 of the Victoria County History of Kent (published 1926) is available online through the auspices of British History Online. It includes accounts of the early history of Canterbury and Rochester cathedrals, and of several sites now within the conurbation of London.
  • Volume 3 of the Victoria County History of Kent (published 1932) This includes the text of, and the index to, the Kent Domesday survey. It has been provided by the Kent Archaeological Society.
  • In place of the other volumes of the Victoria County History, British History Online has transcriptions of the numerous volumes of The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent by Edward Hasted (originally published 1797)
  • English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, is particularly helpful in locating parishes in large ancient towns and cities like Canterbury.
  • Kent Probate Records Numerous links provided by Maureen Rawson
  • GENUKI lists other possible sources, however, it does not serve Kent so well as it does some other counties.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Westgate, Canterbury. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.