The Isle of Thanet is situated in the County of Kent - the garden of England - in the sunny South East, and is the place at which St Augustine landed in 596 AD to bring Christianity to our pagan shores. In Roman times the Isle of Thanet lay a good mile offshore, separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel. Silting up over time, today it is barely navigable.
1837 to1850
Charles Dickens
A regular visitor to Broadstairs where many of his books were completed
including 'Pickwick Papers', 'Oliver Twist', 'Nicholas Nickelby', 'David
Copperfield', 'The Old Curiosity Shop', and 'Barnaby Rudge'. Dickens' favourite
home was Fort House, now Bleak House, which stands on the clifftop overlooking
Viking Bay. Dickens' long association with Broadstairs is commemorated annually
by the Broadstairs Dickens Festival.