Manston, Kent

The discovery of an Anglo-Saxon sword at what is known as the Ozengell burial ground and also 200 graves including a Roman stone and lead-lined coffin, never preserved, show that the site has been occupied for many centuries. In June 1381 the Peasants' Revolt reached Manston. Two road names in the parish give clues to its past. Manston Court Road refers to Manston Court, the seat of the Manston family who held high office, including Richard de Manston at the time of King John (circa 1200) and William Manston, Sheriff of Kent in 1436; and Spratling Street gets its name from the Sprakling family who lived in Ellington in Ramsgate from 1558 to 1659, at a time when Manston was still a part of…

St Catherine's Church was built in 1872 with monies raised by locals as a Chapel of ease for those of the St Lawrence Parish who were unable to attend the church in St Lawrence. The land was donated by the Vicar of St Lawrence, Rev. G. W. Sicklemore. There is a war memorial on the village green to those who served and died in the two world wars of the twentieth century. The village pub is The Jolly Farmer, located in what was in 1672 part of a pair of farm dwellings, and originally registered as a public house in November 1738 by Lazarus Haywood under the name "Jolly Farmers". It was leased to its first tenant Keeper, Samuel Packer (a boot and shoe maker from Ramsgate) in March 1739. During…