Sheerness
Encyclopedia
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway
on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey
in north Kent
, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island.
Sheerness began as a fort built in the 16th century to protect the River Medway from naval invasion. In 1665, plans were first laid by the Navy Board
for a Royal Navy
dockyard where warships might be provisioned and repaired, a site favored by Samuel Pepys
, then Clerk of the Acts of the navy, for shipbuilding
over Chatham
. After the raid on the Medway
in 1667, the older fortification was strengthened; in 1669 was established the Royal Navy
dockyard the town, where warships were stocked and repaired until its closure in 1960.
Beginning with the construction of a pier
and a promenade in the 19th century, Sheerness acquired the added attractions of a seaside resort
. Industry retains its important place in the town and the port of Sheerness is one of the United Kingdom's
leading car and fresh produce importers. The town is the site of one of the UK's first co-operative societies and also of the world's first multi-storey building with a rigid metal frame.
to prevent enemy ships from entering the River Medway
and attacking the naval dockyard
at Chatham. In 1666 work began to replace it with a stronger fort. However, before its completion, this second fort was destroyed during the 1667 Dutch raid on the Medway
. The Secretary of the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys
, subsequently ordered the construction of a naval dockyard at Sheerness as an extension to that at Chatham, where naval ships would be maintained and repaired. Low quality housing and the poor water supply near the dockyard led to a lack of workers and caused construction delays, and the first dry-dock was not completed until 1708. Using materials they were allowed to take from the yard, dockyard construction workers built the first houses in Sheerness. The grey-blue naval paint they used on the exteriors led to their homes becoming known as the Blue Houses. This was eventually corrupted to Blue Town
, the modern name of northwest area of Sheerness.
From the completion of the dockyard until 1960 Sheerness was one of the bases of the Nore Command of the Royal Navy
, which was responsible for protecting British waters in the North Sea
. The command was named after the Nore sandbank in the Thames Estuary
, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Sheerness. In 1797, discontented sailors in the Royal Navy
mutinied
just off the coast of Sheerness.
By 1801 the population of the Minster-in-Sheppey parish, which included both Sheerness and the neighbouring town of Minster
, reached 5,561. In 1816, one of the UK's first co-operative societies was started in Sheerness, chiefly to serve the dockyard workers and their families. The Sheerness Economical Society began as a co-operative bakery but expanded to produce and sell a range of goods. By the middle of the 20th century, the society had spread across the Isle of Sheppey and had been renamed the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society.
In the early 1820s a fire destroyed many buildings at the dockyard, including all the Blue Houses. New houses and a major redevelopment of the dockyard followed. On 5 September 1823, the rebuilt dockyard was formally opened by the Duke of Clarence (later William IV
). A high brick wall and a moat were constructed around the yard to serve as a defence measure and remained in place until the end of the 19th century. As the settlement expanded eastwards, away from the dockyard and the Blue Houses, the wider area became known as Sheerness, taking its new name from the brightness or clearness of the water at the mouth of the River Medway. Completed in 1860 and still standing today, the Sheerness Boat Store was the world's first multi-storey building with a rigid metal frame. In 1863, mains water
was installed in the town, and the Isle of Sheppey's first railway station opened at the dockyard. Towards the end of the 19th century, Sheerness achieved official town status and formed its own civil parish, separate from Minster-in-Sheppey. The 1901 Census recorded the Sheerness parish as having 18,179 residents and 2,999 houses.
The town's low rainfall and ample sunshine made it popular as a seaside resort
, with tourists arriving by steamboat and train. The Sheppey Light Railway
opened in 1901, connecting the new Sheerness East station with the rest of the island. However, by 1950, lack of demand led to the railway's closure. The Sheerness tram
way, which opened in 1903, only lasted until 1917.
In 1944 the United States cargo ship SS Richard Montgomery
ran aground and sank 1 miles (1.6 km) off the coast of Sheerness, with 3,172 tonnes of explosives on board. Due to the inherent danger and projected expense, the ship and its cargo have never been salvaged; if the wreck were to explode, it would be one of the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time. A 2004 report published in New Scientist
warned that an explosion could occur if sea water penetrated the bombs.
In March 1960 the Royal Navy ceased operating the Sheerness dockyard and the Medway Port Authority took over the site for commercial use. The dockyard closure led to thousands of job losses, and most of the nearby houses and shops in the Bluetown area were eventually abandoned and demolished. By the 1961 census, the population of Sheerness had fallen to 13,691. The dockyard closure also led to the decline of the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society, as many of its members were dockyard workers. At the time, the society was the island's main retailer, but it has since been reduced to a few shops and been merged with a larger society. As of 2007, Bluetown is an industrial area, and Sheerness has become the largest port in the UK for motor imports.
Dr Richard Beeching
(later Lord Beeching), the first chairman of the British Railways Board
, was born in Sheerness in 1913. The programme of railway closures in the 1960s became known as the Beeching Axe
.
s. They were the Little Mill, a smock mill
that was standing before 1813 and burnt down on 7 February 1862; The Hundred Acre Mill, a small tower mill
which was last worked in 1872 and demolished in 1878 leaving a base which remains today; The Great Mill
, a smock mill, the building of which was started in 1813 and completed in 1816, which was demolished in 1924 leaving the base, upon which a replica mill body is being built to serve as flats. On 23 January 2008 a fire started in the mill tower. The fire was later declared not to have been a case of arson
; Sheerness and Kent police have since confirmed that the fire was Arson related. Little is known of the fourth windmill, said to have been a vertical axle windmill designed by Stephen Hooper.
was Derek Wyatt
of the Labour Party
. As of 2010, the current Member of Parliament
is Gordon Henderson
of the Conservative Party
. Aefore 1997, Sheppey and Sittingbourne were part of the constituency of Faversham
. Sheerness is in the local government district of Swale
. The town is split between the two local government wards of Sheerness East and Sheerness West, which have four of the forty-seven seats on the Swale Borough Council. As of the 2007 local elections
, three of those seats were held by the Labour Party and one by the Sheppey First party. Swale Borough Council is responsible for running local services, such as recreation, refuse collection and council housing
; Kent County Council
is responsible for education, social services and trading standards. Both councils are involved in town planning and road maintenance. From 1894 to 1968, Sheerness formed its own local government district, Sheerness Urban District, and lay within the administrative county
of Kent. Over much of the past century, the Labour Party has received the most support in Sheerness, mainly due to the town's industrial nature. As early as 1919, the town had four Labour councillors; Faversham elected its first only in 1948.
. To the west, the outlet of the River Medway flows into the Estuary. An area of wetland
s known as The Lappel lies between the river and the southwestern part of town. Marshland lies to the south and the east. The main rock type of the Isle of Sheppey is London Clay
, which covers most of North Kent. Along with most of the Kent coast, the uninhabited coastal areas of the island have been designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest, due to their wildlife and geological features.
The nearest towns to Sheerness are Minster
, 1 miles (1.6 km) to the east, and Queenborough
, 1 miles (1.6 km) to the south. The villages of Minster-on-Sea and Halfway Houses
are 1 miles (1.6 km) to the southeast, and the village of Grain
is 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west, across the River Medway.
The main commercial and leisure areas of the town are located around the north coast, where there is easy access to the pleasure beach. The industrial areas are in the west, beside the wetlands and the River Medway. The Bluetown industrial area and the Port of Sheerness are in the northwestern part of the town. The residential districts of Mile Town and Marine Town are in the central and the eastern areas respectively.
The mean annual temperature in Sheerness is 10 °C (50 °F). The average annual maximum temperature is 14 °C (57 °F), and the average annual minimum temperature is 6 °C (43 °F). The warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average 21 °C (70 °F). The coolest time of the year is January and February, when minimum temperatures average 2 °C (36 °F).
The average annual rainfall in Sheerness is 28 inches (711 mm). The average annual duration of sunshine is 1,700 hours; the months May to August have the most hours of sunshine. On average, there are fewer than six days of lying snow per year, and 16 days with thunder per year.
As of the 2001 UK census
, Sheerness had a population of 11,654. The Office for National Statistics
estimated the population in mid-2005 to be 11,000, a decrease of 5.6% since the 2001 Census.
The population density as of the 2001 Census was 9.8 persons per acre
(24.2 persons per hectare
) and for every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. Residents of Sheerness had an average age of 34.7 years, younger than the 38.2 Swale average. Of all residents, 51% were single (never married) and 24% married; in Swale, 42% were single and 35% were married. Of the 4,870 households, 34% were one-person households, 15% were married couples with dependent children, and 11% were lone parents with dependent children. Of those aged 16–74 in Sheerness, 44% had no academic qualifications, higher than the 34% in all of Swale.
Compared to the rest of England, Sheerness has a low proportion of foreign-born residents, only 3%. Ninety-eight percent of residents were recorded as white; the largest minority group was recorded as Asian, at 1.1% of the population.
s. The major employers are HBC Engineering Solutions, Sheerness Steel, Regis Furniture and The Bond Group. The steel mill was established in 1972, designed to recycle scrap steel into rods and coils. It has survived a number of closure threats and changes of ownership. Since 2003 it has been operated by Thamesteel.
The seafront is popular with tourists, and as of 2007 Sheerness' recently refurbished town centre had more than 200 shops.
As of the 2001 UK census, 35.8% of residents aged 16–74 were employed full-time, 11.6% part-time, 5.8% self-employed and 6.2% unemployed, while 1.5% were students with jobs, 3.4% students without jobs, 11.9% retired, 10.6% looking after home or family, 8.5% permanently sick or disabled and 4.8% economically inactive for other reasons. The unemployment rate of 6.2% was high compared to the national rate of 3.4% and was the highest rate throughout the Swale district. Five percent of Sheerness residents aged 16–74 had a higher education
qualification compared to 20% nationally.
Employment by industry was 22% manufacturing; 18% retail; 10% construction; 10% transport and communication
s; 9% real estate; 8% health and social work
; 6% public administration
; 5% education; 5% hotels and restaurants; 1% finance; 1% agriculture; 1% energy and water supply; and 4% other community, social or personal services. Compared to national figures, Sheerness had a relatively high percentage of workers in manufacturing, transport and communications, and a relatively low percentage in agriculture, hotels, restaurants, education, health, social work and finance.
As of the 2001 UK census, 4,292 of the town's residents were employed and there were 5,532 jobs within the town. According to Office for National Statistics
estimates, the average gross weekly income of households in Sheerness from April 2001 to March 2002 was £
385 (£20,075 per year).
for cleanliness and safety. Flower gardens decorate the seafront, and a sea wall forms a promenade along the coast. The Sheppey Leisure Complex located near the beach contains a swimming pool and badminton, squash and tennis courts. Other sports clubs include Sheerness Town Bowls Club, Sheerness East Cricket Club, Beachfields Skatepark, Sheerness East Table Tennis Club, Catamaran Yacht Club, and Sheerness Swimming Club and Lifeguard Corps. Sheerness Golf Club was founded in 1906, and has an 18-hole course just to the southeast of town. Sheerness East Football Club
, established in 1932, play in the Kent County League Premier Division. Sports can be played for free at the town's recreation grounds at Beachfields Park, Festival Playing Field, and Seager Road Sports Ground.
The annual Sheerness arts and heritage festival, Promenade, opened in September 2011 with appearances by Michael Palin
and Dan Cruickshank
. It is the only heritage festival on the Isle of Sheppey
and takes place in September in The Sheppey Little Theatre, the Heritage Center in Blue Town and various other venues in Sheerness.
Sheerness has a library and clubs for photography, music, singing, dancing and writing.
Sheerness' town centre is home to the largest freestanding cast iron clock tower in Kent. It is 36 feet (11 m) tall and was built in 1902 at a cost of around £360 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII
. In 2002, the clock tower was restored to celebrate the Golden Jubilee
of Queen Elizabeth II
.
, which provides news related only to the town, and the Sheppey Gazette, which provides news on the wider Sheppey area. The KM Group
owns the Sheerness Times Guardian and Northcliffe Media
owns the Sheppey Gazette.
The Island has its own radio station, BRFM 95.6FM which can also be heard online at www.brfm.net that broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a Week from Minster-on-Sea. The station is run by a dedicated team of volunteers. BRFM 95.6 plays a wide range of music, with news, weather and local events being broadcast around the clock, the station also provides for specialist music during weekday evenings.
is on the Sheerness Line
, run by the Southeastern
rail company. The line connects Sheerness with the town of Sittingbourne
, 6 miles (10 km) south on the mainland of Kent. Sittingbourne is on the Chatham Main Line
, which connects London
with Ramsgate
and Dover
in East Kent
. Train journeys from Sheerness-on-Sea to London Victoria take 1 hour 45 minutes.
The Arriva
transport company operates bus routes reaching most of the island, as well as Sittingbourne, Maidstone
, and Canterbury
Arriva Bus company use several routes, including 334, 341, 361, 360, 362, 363 and special day trips to Bluewater Shopping Centre, Hempstead Valley, Pentagon in Chatham, Maidstone Market and Lakeside Shopping Centre. Chalkwell Bus & Coach Company also serve Sheerness and the local area, going from Sheerness to Warden Bay via Minster-On-Sheppey. The A249 road
terminates at Sheerness, running from Maidstone via Sittingbourne. The road crosses the M2 motorway near Sittingbourne, and the M20 motorway
near Maidstone. No passenger ferry
services currently operate from Sheerness, although in the past there has been a service to Vlissingen in the Netherlands
.
Coach Link (part of the Kingsferry Coach Company) also provide service from Sheerness, Minster, Halfway, Queenborough and part of the mainland to London Victoria Rail Station early in the morning and a return journey in the evening. Three school buses run from the Isle Of Sheppey to Sittingbourne school in the morning and after school finishes.
system. On the island, primary schools taught pupils from ages 4–9, middle schools from ages 9–13 and secondary school
s from ages 13–18. Minster College in the neighbouring town of Minster was the only secondary school on the island. Sheerness had one middle school, Isle of sheppey Academy, with 800 pupils, although Danley Middle School and St George's Middle School were found in Halfway and Minster, respectively. In 2006, the Cheyne Middle School's Key Stage 2
performance ranked 322nd out of Kent's 386 primary and middle schools. The town's primary schools are Richmond First School, Rose Street Primary School, St Edward's Roman Catholic Primary School (ages 4–11) and West Minster Primary School. Sheppey College, in Sheerness, is a branch of Canterbury College
that provides a range of further education
courses.
On the 1st September 2009, Cheyne Middle school and Minster College merged to become The Isle of Sheppey Academy. Danley Middle school and St George's Middle School were closed, and Richmond First School now houses an extra year of students. This change was to bring the Island up to date with the rest of the UK with the two-tier system (Primary school, and then secondary school). Respectively, The Isle of Sheppey Academy now ranges from students of year 6 - 11, as well as housing the Island's 6th form students.
For a while nobody was sure whether or not the plans for the Academy would go ahead, after the news that the current Government was scrapping Labour's 'Building Schools for the Future' scheme. For weeks Students, Teachers and Staff and Parents waited to hear whether or not the Academy would be built, and after much pressure on the Government from our local MP Gordon Henderson
, it was announced that the Academy would receive the full £56 million funding and the go-ahead for all building to take place. Building for the Isle of Sheppey Academy is now expected to start within the first few months of 2011.
Past pupils of Cheyne Middle School and Minster College with further assistance from Groundwork Medway Swale and the Local Heritage Initiative, researched the funfair, bandstands, Prisoner of the War hut, boating lake and bowling green.
The pupils created questionnaires and have interviewed many local residents. The Local History Society, the Sheerness Society and The Sheerness Times Guardian were all actively involved in the project.
The pupils and students have also written an award winning book to accompany the project. Tales of Beachfields Park has been awarded the Historical Association Young Historian Primary School Award for Local History.
Grants:
Heritage Lottery Fund: £7,214
Nationwide Building Society: £500.
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
in north Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island.
Sheerness began as a fort built in the 16th century to protect the River Medway from naval invasion. In 1665, plans were first laid by the Navy Board
Navy Board
The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
for a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
dockyard where warships might be provisioned and repaired, a site favored by Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, then Clerk of the Acts of the navy, for shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
over Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
. After the raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
in 1667, the older fortification was strengthened; in 1669 was established the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
dockyard the town, where warships were stocked and repaired until its closure in 1960.
Beginning with the construction of a pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
and a promenade in the 19th century, Sheerness acquired the added attractions of a seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
. Industry retains its important place in the town and the port of Sheerness is one of the United Kingdom's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
leading car and fresh produce importers. The town is the site of one of the UK's first co-operative societies and also of the world's first multi-storey building with a rigid metal frame.
History
The first structure in what is now Sheerness was a fort built by order of Henry VIIIHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
to prevent enemy ships from entering the River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
and attacking the naval dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
at Chatham. In 1666 work began to replace it with a stronger fort. However, before its completion, this second fort was destroyed during the 1667 Dutch raid on the Medway
Raid on the Medway
The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of the Medway, Raid on Chatham or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English naval ships, laid up in the dockyards of their main naval base Chatham, that took place in June 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War...
. The Secretary of the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
, subsequently ordered the construction of a naval dockyard at Sheerness as an extension to that at Chatham, where naval ships would be maintained and repaired. Low quality housing and the poor water supply near the dockyard led to a lack of workers and caused construction delays, and the first dry-dock was not completed until 1708. Using materials they were allowed to take from the yard, dockyard construction workers built the first houses in Sheerness. The grey-blue naval paint they used on the exteriors led to their homes becoming known as the Blue Houses. This was eventually corrupted to Blue Town
Blue Town
Blue Town is a suburb of the town of Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. It sits on the A249 Brielle Way which runs from Queenborough to Sheerness....
, the modern name of northwest area of Sheerness.
From the completion of the dockyard until 1960 Sheerness was one of the bases of the Nore Command of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, which was responsible for protecting British waters in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. The command was named after the Nore sandbank in the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Sheerness. In 1797, discontented sailors in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
mutinied
Spithead and Nore mutinies
The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. There were also discontent and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year. They were not violent insurrections, being more in the nature of strikes, demanding better pay and conditions...
just off the coast of Sheerness.
By 1801 the population of the Minster-in-Sheppey parish, which included both Sheerness and the neighbouring town of Minster
Minster-in-Sheppey
Minster is a small town on the north coast of the Isle of Sheppey and in the Swale district of Kent, England.-Toponymy:The name of the town derives from the monastery founded in the area...
, reached 5,561. In 1816, one of the UK's first co-operative societies was started in Sheerness, chiefly to serve the dockyard workers and their families. The Sheerness Economical Society began as a co-operative bakery but expanded to produce and sell a range of goods. By the middle of the 20th century, the society had spread across the Isle of Sheppey and had been renamed the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society.
In the early 1820s a fire destroyed many buildings at the dockyard, including all the Blue Houses. New houses and a major redevelopment of the dockyard followed. On 5 September 1823, the rebuilt dockyard was formally opened by the Duke of Clarence (later William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
). A high brick wall and a moat were constructed around the yard to serve as a defence measure and remained in place until the end of the 19th century. As the settlement expanded eastwards, away from the dockyard and the Blue Houses, the wider area became known as Sheerness, taking its new name from the brightness or clearness of the water at the mouth of the River Medway. Completed in 1860 and still standing today, the Sheerness Boat Store was the world's first multi-storey building with a rigid metal frame. In 1863, mains water
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
was installed in the town, and the Isle of Sheppey's first railway station opened at the dockyard. Towards the end of the 19th century, Sheerness achieved official town status and formed its own civil parish, separate from Minster-in-Sheppey. The 1901 Census recorded the Sheerness parish as having 18,179 residents and 2,999 houses.
The town's low rainfall and ample sunshine made it popular as a seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
, with tourists arriving by steamboat and train. The Sheppey Light Railway
Sheppey Light Railway
The Sheppey Light Railway was a railway on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, England which ran from Leysdown to Queenborough, where it connected with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway's Sheerness Line. It was engineered by Holman Fred Stephens and opened in 1901 and closed on December 4, 1950...
opened in 1901, connecting the new Sheerness East station with the rest of the island. However, by 1950, lack of demand led to the railway's closure. The Sheerness tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way, which opened in 1903, only lasted until 1917.
In 1944 the United States cargo ship SS Richard Montgomery
SS Richard Montgomery
SS Richard Montgomery was an American Liberty ship built during World War II, one of the 2,710 used to carry cargo during the war. The ship was wrecked off the Nore in the Thames Estuary in 1944 with around 1,400 tons of explosives on board, which continue to be a hazard to the area.-History:The...
ran aground and sank 1 miles (1.6 km) off the coast of Sheerness, with 3,172 tonnes of explosives on board. Due to the inherent danger and projected expense, the ship and its cargo have never been salvaged; if the wreck were to explode, it would be one of the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time. A 2004 report published in New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
warned that an explosion could occur if sea water penetrated the bombs.
In March 1960 the Royal Navy ceased operating the Sheerness dockyard and the Medway Port Authority took over the site for commercial use. The dockyard closure led to thousands of job losses, and most of the nearby houses and shops in the Bluetown area were eventually abandoned and demolished. By the 1961 census, the population of Sheerness had fallen to 13,691. The dockyard closure also led to the decline of the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society, as many of its members were dockyard workers. At the time, the society was the island's main retailer, but it has since been reduced to a few shops and been merged with a larger society. As of 2007, Bluetown is an industrial area, and Sheerness has become the largest port in the UK for motor imports.
Dr Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching
Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching , commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer...
(later Lord Beeching), the first chairman of the British Railways Board
British Railways Board
The British Railways Board was a nationalised industry in the United Kingdom that existed from 1962 to 2001. From its foundation until 1997, it was responsible for most railway services in Great Britain, trading under the brand names British Railways and, from 1965, British Rail...
, was born in Sheerness in 1913. The programme of railway closures in the 1960s became known as the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
.
Mills
Sheerness has had four windmillWindmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
s. They were the Little Mill, a smock mill
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...
that was standing before 1813 and burnt down on 7 February 1862; The Hundred Acre Mill, a small tower mill
Tower mill
A tower mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind....
which was last worked in 1872 and demolished in 1878 leaving a base which remains today; The Great Mill
Great Mill, Sheerness
Great Mill or Ride's Mill is a Grade II listed smock mill just off the High Street in Sheerness, Kent, England that was demolished in 1924, and now has a new smock tower built on it as residential accommodation.-History:...
, a smock mill, the building of which was started in 1813 and completed in 1816, which was demolished in 1924 leaving the base, upon which a replica mill body is being built to serve as flats. On 23 January 2008 a fire started in the mill tower. The fire was later declared not to have been a case of arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
; Sheerness and Kent police have since confirmed that the fire was Arson related. Little is known of the fourth windmill, said to have been a vertical axle windmill designed by Stephen Hooper.
Governance
Sheerness is in the parliamentary constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey. Since the constituency's creation in 1997 until 2010 the Member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
was Derek Wyatt
Derek Wyatt
Derek Murray Wyatt FRSA is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey from 1997 to 2010, having previously been a councillor in the London Borough of Haringey.-Early life:...
of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. As of 2010, the current Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
is Gordon Henderson
Gordon Henderson (politician)
Gordon Henderson is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency in Kent, having won the seat at the since 2010 general election.-Professional career:...
of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. Aefore 1997, Sheppey and Sittingbourne were part of the constituency of Faversham
Faversham (UK Parliament constituency)
Faversham was a parliamentary constituency centered on the town of Faversham in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
. Sheerness is in the local government district of Swale
Swale
Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The borough is named after the narrow channel called The Swale, a channel that separates the mainland of Kent from the Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the...
. The town is split between the two local government wards of Sheerness East and Sheerness West, which have four of the forty-seven seats on the Swale Borough Council. As of the 2007 local elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2007
The 2007 UK local government elections were held on 3 May 2007. These elections took place in most of England and all of Scotland. There were no local government elections in Wales though the Welsh Assembly had a general election on the same day. There were no local government elections in Northern...
, three of those seats were held by the Labour Party and one by the Sheppey First party. Swale Borough Council is responsible for running local services, such as recreation, refuse collection and council housing
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
; Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
is responsible for education, social services and trading standards. Both councils are involved in town planning and road maintenance. From 1894 to 1968, Sheerness formed its own local government district, Sheerness Urban District, and lay within the administrative county
Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...
of Kent. Over much of the past century, the Labour Party has received the most support in Sheerness, mainly due to the town's industrial nature. As early as 1919, the town had four Labour councillors; Faversham elected its first only in 1948.
Geography
Sheerness is located at 51°26′28"N 0°45′39"E (51.441, 0.7605), in the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in North Kent. To the north, sandy beaches run along the coast of the Thames EstuaryThames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
. To the west, the outlet of the River Medway flows into the Estuary. An area of wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s known as The Lappel lies between the river and the southwestern part of town. Marshland lies to the south and the east. The main rock type of the Isle of Sheppey is London Clay
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for the fossils it contains. The fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the flora being tropical or subtropical...
, which covers most of North Kent. Along with most of the Kent coast, the uninhabited coastal areas of the island have been designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest, due to their wildlife and geological features.
The nearest towns to Sheerness are Minster
Minster-in-Sheppey
Minster is a small town on the north coast of the Isle of Sheppey and in the Swale district of Kent, England.-Toponymy:The name of the town derives from the monastery founded in the area...
, 1 miles (1.6 km) to the east, and Queenborough
Queenborough
Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England.Queenborough is two miles south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to The Swale where it joins the River Medway...
, 1 miles (1.6 km) to the south. The villages of Minster-on-Sea and Halfway Houses
Halfway Houses
Halfway Houses is a village on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in England. It is bordered to the west by the town of Queenborough and the village of Minster-on-Sea, and to the east by the town of Minster. It is one mile south of the town of Sheerness....
are 1 miles (1.6 km) to the southeast, and the village of Grain
Isle of Grain
The Isle of Grain, in the north of Kent, England, is the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula. No longer an island, the Isle is almost all marshland and the Grain Marshes are an important habitat for birdlife...
is 2 miles (3.2 km) to the west, across the River Medway.
The main commercial and leisure areas of the town are located around the north coast, where there is easy access to the pleasure beach. The industrial areas are in the west, beside the wetlands and the River Medway. The Bluetown industrial area and the Port of Sheerness are in the northwestern part of the town. The residential districts of Mile Town and Marine Town are in the central and the eastern areas respectively.
The mean annual temperature in Sheerness is 10 °C (50 °F). The average annual maximum temperature is 14 °C (57 °F), and the average annual minimum temperature is 6 °C (43 °F). The warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average 21 °C (70 °F). The coolest time of the year is January and February, when minimum temperatures average 2 °C (36 °F).
The average annual rainfall in Sheerness is 28 inches (711 mm). The average annual duration of sunshine is 1,700 hours; the months May to August have the most hours of sunshine. On average, there are fewer than six days of lying snow per year, and 16 days with thunder per year.
Demography
| Sheerness | Swale | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total population | 11,654 | 122,801 | 49,138,831 |
| Foreign born | 3.1% | 3.6% | 9.2% |
| White | 98% | 98% | 91% |
| Asian | 1.1% | 0.7% | 4.6% |
| Black | 0.2% | 0.3% | 2.3% |
| Christian | 72% | 76% | 72% |
| Muslim | 0.6% | 0.4% | 3.1% |
| No religion | 19% | 15% | 15% |
| Over 65 years old | 13% | 16% | 16% |
| Source: 2001 UK census United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.... |
|||
As of the 2001 UK census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, Sheerness had a population of 11,654. The Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimated the population in mid-2005 to be 11,000, a decrease of 5.6% since the 2001 Census.
The population density as of the 2001 Census was 9.8 persons per acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
(24.2 persons per hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
) and for every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. Residents of Sheerness had an average age of 34.7 years, younger than the 38.2 Swale average. Of all residents, 51% were single (never married) and 24% married; in Swale, 42% were single and 35% were married. Of the 4,870 households, 34% were one-person households, 15% were married couples with dependent children, and 11% were lone parents with dependent children. Of those aged 16–74 in Sheerness, 44% had no academic qualifications, higher than the 34% in all of Swale.
Compared to the rest of England, Sheerness has a low proportion of foreign-born residents, only 3%. Ninety-eight percent of residents were recorded as white; the largest minority group was recorded as Asian, at 1.1% of the population.
Economy
The Port of Sheerness is a significant feature of the Isle of Sheppey's economy. Covering more than 1.5 million square metres, it is one of the largest foreign car importers in the UK, and it handles thousands of tonnes of fruits and meat products from all over the world. Inexpensive land and good infrastructure, including a rail network that branches off the main passenger line, have attracted industries to the port area, including producers of pharmaceuticals, steel, sausages and garden gnomeGarden gnome
A garden gnome or lawn gnome is a figurine of a small humanoid creature, usually wearing a pointy hat, produced for the purpose of ornamentation and protection from evil sorcery, typically of gardens or on lawns....
s. The major employers are HBC Engineering Solutions, Sheerness Steel, Regis Furniture and The Bond Group. The steel mill was established in 1972, designed to recycle scrap steel into rods and coils. It has survived a number of closure threats and changes of ownership. Since 2003 it has been operated by Thamesteel.
The seafront is popular with tourists, and as of 2007 Sheerness' recently refurbished town centre had more than 200 shops.
As of the 2001 UK census, 35.8% of residents aged 16–74 were employed full-time, 11.6% part-time, 5.8% self-employed and 6.2% unemployed, while 1.5% were students with jobs, 3.4% students without jobs, 11.9% retired, 10.6% looking after home or family, 8.5% permanently sick or disabled and 4.8% economically inactive for other reasons. The unemployment rate of 6.2% was high compared to the national rate of 3.4% and was the highest rate throughout the Swale district. Five percent of Sheerness residents aged 16–74 had a higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
qualification compared to 20% nationally.
Employment by industry was 22% manufacturing; 18% retail; 10% construction; 10% transport and communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s; 9% real estate; 8% health and social work
Social work
Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...
; 6% public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
; 5% education; 5% hotels and restaurants; 1% finance; 1% agriculture; 1% energy and water supply; and 4% other community, social or personal services. Compared to national figures, Sheerness had a relatively high percentage of workers in manufacturing, transport and communications, and a relatively low percentage in agriculture, hotels, restaurants, education, health, social work and finance.
As of the 2001 UK census, 4,292 of the town's residents were employed and there were 5,532 jobs within the town. According to Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimates, the average gross weekly income of households in Sheerness from April 2001 to March 2002 was £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
385 (£20,075 per year).
Culture
Sheerness' sand and shingle beach was awarded a European Blue FlagBlue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...
for cleanliness and safety. Flower gardens decorate the seafront, and a sea wall forms a promenade along the coast. The Sheppey Leisure Complex located near the beach contains a swimming pool and badminton, squash and tennis courts. Other sports clubs include Sheerness Town Bowls Club, Sheerness East Cricket Club, Beachfields Skatepark, Sheerness East Table Tennis Club, Catamaran Yacht Club, and Sheerness Swimming Club and Lifeguard Corps. Sheerness Golf Club was founded in 1906, and has an 18-hole course just to the southeast of town. Sheerness East Football Club
Sheerness East F.C.
Sheerness East F.C. is an English football club based on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. The club are currently members of the Premier Division of the Kent County League and play at the Sheerness East Working Mens Club Ground.-2010-11 season:...
, established in 1932, play in the Kent County League Premier Division. Sports can be played for free at the town's recreation grounds at Beachfields Park, Festival Playing Field, and Seager Road Sports Ground.
The annual Sheerness arts and heritage festival, Promenade, opened in September 2011 with appearances by Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
and Dan Cruickshank
Dan Cruickshank
Dan Cruickshank is an art historian and BBC television presenter.-Early life:As a young child he lived for some years in Poland...
. It is the only heritage festival on the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
and takes place in September in The Sheppey Little Theatre, the Heritage Center in Blue Town and various other venues in Sheerness.
Sheerness has a library and clubs for photography, music, singing, dancing and writing.
Sheerness' town centre is home to the largest freestanding cast iron clock tower in Kent. It is 36 feet (11 m) tall and was built in 1902 at a cost of around £360 to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
. In 2002, the clock tower was restored to celebrate the Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
.
Media
There are two local newspapers: the Sheerness Times GuardianSheerness Times Guardian
The Sheerness Times Guardian is a weekly newspaper serving the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. It is owned by the KM Group and is published on Thursdays.-History:...
, which provides news related only to the town, and the Sheppey Gazette, which provides news on the wider Sheppey area. The KM Group
KM Group
The KM Group, formerly known as the Kent Messenger Group until 2008, is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England...
owns the Sheerness Times Guardian and Northcliffe Media
Northcliffe Media
Northcliffe Media Ltd. is a large regional newspaper publisher in the UK and Central and Eastern Europe, owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. The company's name was changed to Northcliffe Media from Northcliffe Newspaper Group in 2007.It operates from over 30 publishing centres, and also...
owns the Sheppey Gazette.
The Island has its own radio station, BRFM 95.6FM which can also be heard online at www.brfm.net that broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a Week from Minster-on-Sea. The station is run by a dedicated team of volunteers. BRFM 95.6 plays a wide range of music, with news, weather and local events being broadcast around the clock, the station also provides for specialist music during weekday evenings.
Transport
Sheerness-on-Sea railway stationSheerness-on-Sea railway station
Sheerness-on-Sea railway station is on the Sheerness Line in north Kent, and serves the town of Sheerness. Train services are provided by Southeastern.The only platform now used is platform 1.-History:...
is on the Sheerness Line
Sheerness Line
The Sheerness Line connects Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent with Sittingbourne on the mainland, and with the Chatham Main Line for trains to London and elsewhere in Kent. It opened on 19 July 1860....
, run by the Southeastern
Southeastern (train operating company)
London & South Eastern Railway Limited, trading as Southeastern is a train operating company in south-east England. On 1 April 2006 it became the franchisee for the new Integrated Kent Franchise , replacing the publicly owned South Eastern Trains on the former South East Franchise...
rail company. The line connects Sheerness with the town of Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne is an industrial town about eight miles east of Gillingham in England, beside the Roman Watling Street off a creek in the Swale, a channel separating the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent...
, 6 miles (10 km) south on the mainland of Kent. Sittingbourne is on the Chatham Main Line
Chatham Main Line
The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...
, which connects London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
and Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
in East Kent
East Kent
East Kent and West Kent are one-time traditional subdivisions of the English county of Kent, kept alive by the Association of the Men of Kent and Kentish Men: an organisation formed in 1913...
. Train journeys from Sheerness-on-Sea to London Victoria take 1 hour 45 minutes.
The Arriva
Arriva
Arriva plc is a multinational public transport company owned by Deutsche Bahn and headquartered in Sunderland, United Kingdom. It has bus, coach, train, tram and waterbus operations in 12 countries across Europe, employs more than 47,500 people and services over 1.5 billion passenger journeys each...
transport company operates bus routes reaching most of the island, as well as Sittingbourne, Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
Arriva Bus company use several routes, including 334, 341, 361, 360, 362, 363 and special day trips to Bluewater Shopping Centre, Hempstead Valley, Pentagon in Chatham, Maidstone Market and Lakeside Shopping Centre. Chalkwell Bus & Coach Company also serve Sheerness and the local area, going from Sheerness to Warden Bay via Minster-On-Sheppey. The A249 road
A249 road
The A249 is a road in Kent, England, running from Maidstone to Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. It mainly functions as a link between the M2 and M20 motorways, and for goods vehicle traffic to the port at Sheerness....
terminates at Sheerness, running from Maidstone via Sittingbourne. The road crosses the M2 motorway near Sittingbourne, and the M20 motorway
M20 motorway
The M20 is a motorway in Kent, England. It runs from the M25 motorway to Folkestone, providing a link to the Channel Tunnel and the ports at Dover. It is long...
near Maidstone. No passenger ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
services currently operate from Sheerness, although in the past there has been a service to Vlissingen in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Coach Link (part of the Kingsferry Coach Company) also provide service from Sheerness, Minster, Halfway, Queenborough and part of the mainland to London Victoria Rail Station early in the morning and a return journey in the evening. Three school buses run from the Isle Of Sheppey to Sittingbourne school in the morning and after school finishes.
Education
Until September 2009, The Isle of Sheppey was the only area in Kent to still have a middle schoolMiddle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
system. On the island, primary schools taught pupils from ages 4–9, middle schools from ages 9–13 and secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s from ages 13–18. Minster College in the neighbouring town of Minster was the only secondary school on the island. Sheerness had one middle school, Isle of sheppey Academy, with 800 pupils, although Danley Middle School and St George's Middle School were found in Halfway and Minster, respectively. In 2006, the Cheyne Middle School's Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when pupils are aged between 7 and 11. The term is applied differently in Northern Ireland where it refers to pupils in Year 5, Year 6 and...
performance ranked 322nd out of Kent's 386 primary and middle schools. The town's primary schools are Richmond First School, Rose Street Primary School, St Edward's Roman Catholic Primary School (ages 4–11) and West Minster Primary School. Sheppey College, in Sheerness, is a branch of Canterbury College
Canterbury College, Kent
Canterbury PEN IS College is a major provider of Further and Higher Education courses and training in Kent, England with more than 12,000 students each year Canterbury PEN IS College is a major provider of Further and Higher Education courses and training in Kent, England with more than 12,000...
that provides a range of further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
courses.
On the 1st September 2009, Cheyne Middle school and Minster College merged to become The Isle of Sheppey Academy. Danley Middle school and St George's Middle School were closed, and Richmond First School now houses an extra year of students. This change was to bring the Island up to date with the rest of the UK with the two-tier system (Primary school, and then secondary school). Respectively, The Isle of Sheppey Academy now ranges from students of year 6 - 11, as well as housing the Island's 6th form students.
For a while nobody was sure whether or not the plans for the Academy would go ahead, after the news that the current Government was scrapping Labour's 'Building Schools for the Future' scheme. For weeks Students, Teachers and Staff and Parents waited to hear whether or not the Academy would be built, and after much pressure on the Government from our local MP Gordon Henderson
Gordon Henderson (politician)
Gordon Henderson is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Sittingbourne and Sheppey constituency in Kent, having won the seat at the since 2010 general election.-Professional career:...
, it was announced that the Academy would receive the full £56 million funding and the go-ahead for all building to take place. Building for the Isle of Sheppey Academy is now expected to start within the first few months of 2011.
Tales of Beachfields Park
Beachfields Park provided a green oasis between the town of Sheerness and the sea. However, this has been systematically encroached on by development. This project is aiming to reveal and publicise the Park's heritage and to preserve it for future generations.Past pupils of Cheyne Middle School and Minster College with further assistance from Groundwork Medway Swale and the Local Heritage Initiative, researched the funfair, bandstands, Prisoner of the War hut, boating lake and bowling green.
The pupils created questionnaires and have interviewed many local residents. The Local History Society, the Sheerness Society and The Sheerness Times Guardian were all actively involved in the project.
The pupils and students have also written an award winning book to accompany the project. Tales of Beachfields Park has been awarded the Historical Association Young Historian Primary School Award for Local History.
Grants:
Heritage Lottery Fund: £7,214
Nationwide Building Society: £500.
External links
Further reading
- Tales Of Beachfields Park, (2003), Winner of the 2003 Historical Association Young Historian Primary School Award for Local History
- Sheerness and the mutiny at the Nore, (1997), ISBN 0-9530665-0-9
- Branch lines around Sheerness, (1993), ISBN 1-873793-16-2