Thanet

Thanet, ISLE OF, forms the north-eastern corner of the county of Kent, from the mainland of which it is cut off on the western side by the river Stour and the Nethergong rivulet—the ancient Wantsome channel, completely silted up since the beginning of the 16th century. It is bounded on the N. and E. by the sea, and opens on the south side into Pegwell Bay. It measures 9 miles east and west, and 5 miles north and south, and contains 26,180 acres. On the shores of the island are the well-known watering-places Ramsgate, Margate, and Broadstairs; and on the North Foreland, in the north-east, there is a lighthouse, 85 feet high, visible 19 miles. Pop. (1871) 42,129; (1881) 50,646; (1891) 57,821. See Janies Simson's Historic Thanet (1891).