Exploring in Sandwich was fun! It is a Mediaeval town and so the streets are higgledy-piggledy and there are surprises around every corner. Sandwich evolved from a sea port to today’s inland town in the last 1,000 years and there is a brief history here.
Pubs
Apparently there used to be up to forty pubs in the town, now ‘reduced’ to c. one dozen! The King’s Arms is apparently the oldest and Grade II listed. The date of 1592 is carved on the grotesque corner post, which means it must have started life as The Queen’s Arms…?
The George and Dragon dates from 1446!
The Red Cow stands opposite the Guildhall square, the former cattle market.
Delf Stream
The Delf Stream provided the town with water from the 13th to the end of the 19th century, and you can see it between the houses in the town. We found it at a 15th century houses known as Horse Pond Sluice. The sluice gate here controlled the water flow into the town. Apparently the water comes from springs in the Lydden Valley, but I have also read of a spring which supplied Whitefriars Monastery from Woodnesborough, c.1.7miles away. Clearly the water supply in the town needs a lot of research!
The streets
The Fishergate was one of the gates into the walled town. From here, Fisher Alley led to the Custom House.
And then lots of little sights: Ghost Alley, brickwork above a doorway, the Tudor House (the oldest house in the town), flowers on the suqyside, the boat at the Mediaeval Heritage Centre, sunlight through leaves, and allotments inside the town walls.
The River Stour
We looked out over the River Stour from our hotel bedroom and watched it flowing in, or out, every six hours. There is a seal colony at the mouth of the river and there is a boat which does to see them.
Almshouses
St Thomas’ Almshouses were founded in the late 14th century and rebuilt in the 19th century. They are Grade II listed. The almshouses stand on a street called Moat Sole. ‘Moat’ refers to the ditch which surrounded the town, and apparently ‘sole’ refers to low-lying ground.
There are more almshouses at St John’s Cottages, which stand behind the United Reform Church, and St Bartholomew’s Hospital, which is further out of the town, but we did not see these. It is curious that there were so many almshouses…
The Weavers
In the 16th century there was an influx of Protestant immigrants from Europe, fleeing religious persecution. Many were skilled tradesmen and the weavers, in particular, settled in Spitalfields (London), Canterbury, and Sandwich. The weavers who settled in Sandwich were Flemish, and although they encountered some opposition they also improved the local economy by increasing cloth production, and by introducing new techniques.
Exploring in Sandwich was defnitely fun, and I think we may well return in the future. This was just a little taste of the history, and the many sights in the town.
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