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95-809: Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England . Queenborough is two miles (3 km) 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 . It is in the Sittingbourne and Sheppey parliamentary constituency. Queenborough Harbour offers moorings between

190-746: A Low Countries derby ( Derby der Lage Landen ), is a sports event between Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgium separated in 1830 from the (northern) Netherlands. The new country took its name from Belgica , the Latinised name for the Low Countries, as it was known during the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). The Low Countries were in that war divided in two parts. On one hand, the northern Federated Netherlands or Belgica Foederata rebelled against King Philip II of Spain ; on

285-506: A bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 20% nationally. A modern pharmaceutical factory and laboratories, and a steel rolling mill are among the more recent developments, but the mill has suffered greatly as a result of the restrictions in place by the American steel trade. At the 2001 UK census , the economic activity of residents aged 16–74 of Queenborough and its neighbouring villages of Minster-on-Sea, Rushenden and Halfway Houses

380-608: A salt marsh at the mouth of the Swale, which was subsequently to become known as Dead Man's Island, and can still be found as such, on local maps today. The new fort and harbour developments completed at Sheerness by this time further replaced Queenborough by being better positioned at the mouth of the Medway. Records from between 1815 and 1820 show that the Corporation of Queenborough was in some financial difficulties, owing some £14,500 that it could not hope to pay. It appears that

475-662: A "cargo hold", he airlifted one small pig. The Eastchurch airfield was also the site, in July 1911, of the competition for the Gordon Bennett Cup for powered air racing, attended by flyers from all over the world, and won that year by the American pilot C. T. Weymann . A stained glass window in the south side of All Saints' Church, Eastchurch (built in 1432), was dedicated to Rolls and Grace, who were killed in July and December 1910 respectively. In July 2009, Eastchurch celebrated 100 years of aviation history associated with

570-733: A 130 vehicle pile-up on the Sheppey Crossing bridge and its northern approach in which eight people were seriously hurt and another 30 hospitalised. Four ferries previously connected the island to mainland Kent: the King's Ferry to Iwade , the Harty Ferry to Faversham , one from Elmley , and a passenger ferry connecting to the Port Victoria railway terminus on the Grain Peninsula . The most recently active of these,

665-529: A charter of free warren for his manor of Ufton, in the parish of Tunstall . He fought on the rebel baronial side at the Battle of Boroughbridge (1322), was captured, and was held for over a year in the Tower of London . On his release, he was appointed mayor of Bordeaux (1323–1324). A curious legend (first recorded in the 17th century) surrounds Sir Robert. It is said that he killed a priest, and resolved to ask

760-455: A conquest of the Low Countries with the shortest possible notice, to forestall the French, and prevent Allied air power from threatening the strategic Ruhr Area of Germany. It would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. As much as possible of the border areas in northern France should be occupied. Germany's Blitzkrieg tactics rapidly overpowered

855-533: A few kilometres the next year to Eastchurch where a new more appropriate aerodrome had been built for the club. The Eastchurch airfield played a significant role in the history of British aviation from 1909 when Frank McClean acquired Stonepits Farm, on the marshes across from Leysdown, converting the land into an airfield for members of the Aero Club of Great Britain. The Short brothers, Horace, Eustace and Oswald , built aircraft at Battersea to be tested at

950-522: A garrison, and recorded no active military history. After being seized by Parliamentarians in 1650, after the Civil War , and being considered unsuitable for repair, being of "no practical use" it was demolished during the interregnum . Not long after this, in 1667, the Dutch captured the new Sheerness fort (then under construction) and invaded Queenborough. The occupation lasted only a few days; though

1045-415: A naturalist. He discovered much of interest to the antiquarian, naturalist, geologist and zoologist, although there was little prior knowledge. In 1777, Jacob published a book about his various fossil finds, including what he called "the remains of an elephant". The island has an established scorpion population. Euscorpius flavicaudis has been resident since the 1860s, believed to have been imported on

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1140-692: A noble on such a humble vessel was the locally hated Jesuit Edward Petre and so took his money, watch and coronation ring. At length he was recognised by one of the assailants and the group took him in custody to Faversham , where he was detained. Bluetown hosts the history and Heritage Centre for the Isle of Sheppey. The Heritage Centre contains memorabilia and artefacts pertinent to the Sheppey's history, including displays on aviation, maritime, wartime activities, and island history and offers guided walks of Sheppey Isle and Bluetown. The present Heritage Centre

1235-483: A population of 3,471. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. The age distribution was 7% aged 0–4 years, 18% aged 5–15 years, 10% aged 16–24 years, 28% aged 25–44 years, 23% aged 45–64 years and 13% aged 65 years and over. The ethnicity of the Queenborough and Halfway electoral ward , which includes the neighbouring villages of Minster-on-Sea, Rushenden and Halfway Houses,

1330-544: A relatively low percentage in agriculture, health & social work, education, finance and real estate. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from the Bluebell Hill TV transmitter. The town is served by county-wide radio stations: BBC Radio Kent , Heart South , Gold Radio . Community radio based stations are BRFM 95.6 FM , and Sheppey FM 92.2 . The Sheerness Times Guardian

1425-594: A ship. They have been found to be highly adaptable and hence have survived the relative cold by conserving energy and only acting for nutrition and reproduction. The last known colony in England of the British endemic subspecies of the Essex Emerald moth, at Windmill creek, died out as late as 1991. In 2008 palaeontologists published details of the fossil skull, found on the island, of a large flying bird from

1520-468: A significant feature of the Isle of Sheppey's economy, which includes the extensive export/import of motor vehicles, and a large steel works, with extensive railway fixtures. The island is, however, suffering from an economic recession and these industries are not as extensive as they once were. The area immediately outside the dockyard was occupied by dockyard workers, who built wooden houses and decorated them with Admiralty blue paint illegally acquired from

1615-428: Is an island off the northern coast of Kent , England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary , centred 42 miles (68 km) from central London. It has an area of 36 square miles (93 km ). The island forms part of the local government district of Swale . Sheppey is derived from Old English Sceapig , meaning "Sheep Island". Today's island was historically known as the "Isles of Sheppey" which were Sheppey itself,

1710-557: Is named after its first owners, the De Shurland family. In 1188 Adam de Shurland possessed a mill with more than 1,000 acres (405 ha) of mixed land, mostly marsh with a small meadow: he also let a number of cottages thereabouts. Sir Robert de Shurland (d. 1324), a member of the family, served in the Anglo-Scottish wars , including the siege of Caerlaverock (1300), where he was knighted; and shortly afterwards obtained

1805-559: Is on the site of two earlier establishments. Originally called the "New Inn", in 1868 the site became "The Royal Oxford Music Hall". The following year the building, which is situated a few doors down from the Bluetown court house, became the Criterion Public House, with a music hall called the "palace of varieties" situated immediately to its rear. In 1879 the building was replaced with a brick structure. On 5 June 1917

1900-537: Is the blind poet Bernlef , from c.  800 , who sang both Christian psalms and pagan verses. Bernlef is representative of the coexistence of Christianity and Germanic polytheism in this time period. The earliest examples of written literature include the Wachtendonck Psalms , a collection of twenty five psalms that originated in the Moselle-Frankish region around the middle of

1995-482: Is the highest point on the island. The rest of Sheppey is low-lying and the southern part of the island is marshy land criss-crossed by inlets and drains, largely used for grazing. The economy is driven by a dockyard and port, the presence of three prisons, and various caravan sites. Sheppey is separated from the mainland by a channel called the Swale . In concert with the Wantsum Channel that once separated

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2090-679: Is the local weekly newspaper. Trains pass through Queenborough railway station on the Sheerness line between Sittingbourne , where the line links with the rest of the network, and Sheerness-on-Sea . The harbour and creek at Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey has mooring facilities for a range of boats. There is an all-tide landing owned by Queenborough Harbour Trust situated on Crundells Wharf , which can be used by mooring holders and visiting yachtsmen. Isle of Sheppey 51°23′28″N 0°49′52″E  /  51.391°N 0.831°E  / 51.391; 0.831 The Isle of Sheppey

2185-404: Is the sole surviving feature from the medieval period. The town was first represented by two members of parliament in 1572. In Saxon times, the settlement on the site was known as Cyningburh , "king's borough ". A fortress, called Sheppey Castle or Queenborough Castle , was built to guard the passage of ships along the Swale upon the command of King Edward III between 1361 and 1377, during

2280-618: The Austrian Netherlands . The United Kingdom of the Netherlands (1815–1830) temporarily united the Low Countries again before it split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. During the early months of World War I (around 1914), the Central Powers invaded the Low Countries of Luxembourg and Belgium in what has been come to be known as the German invasion of Belgium . It led to

2375-496: The Dutch Revolt . Each of the provinces had its own laws, customs and political practices. The new policy, imposed from the outside, angered many inhabitants, who viewed their provinces as distinct entities. It and other monarchical acts, such as the creation of bishoprics and promulgation of laws against heresy , stoked resentments, which fired the eruption of the Dutch Revolt . After the northern Seven United Provinces of

2470-634: The Eocene epoch called Dasornis in the deposits of the London Clay . From 1894 to 1968, Sheppey comprised the Municipal Borough of Queenborough , Sheerness Urban District and Sheppey Rural District (consisting of the civil parishes of Eastchurch , Elmley , Harty , Leysdown-on-Sea , Minster in Sheppey and Warden ). In 1968, all these units were abolished and simultaneously a new single Municipal Borough of Queenborough-in-Sheppey

2565-652: The Franco-Flemish School were highly sought by the leading classes of all Europe. In 1477 the Burgundian holdings in the area passed through an heiress— Mary of Burgundy —to the Habsburgs . Charles V, who inherited the territory in 1506, was named ruler by the States General and styled himself as Heer der Nederlanden ( lit.   ' Lord of the Netherlands ' ). He continued to rule

2660-489: The Free County of Burgundy , which were part of their realm but geographically disconnected from the Low Countries. Governor Mary of Hungary used both the expressions les pays de par deça and Pays d'Embas ("lands down here"), which evolved to Pays-Bas or Low Countries . Today the term is typically fitted to modern political boundaries and used in the same way as the term Benelux . The name of

2755-502: The Hundred Years' War with France. It was built on the site of a much earlier, but smaller castle. Its unusual design – round and symmetrical – was described by historians Howard Colvin and R. Allen Brown as "exemplifying the principles of cylindrical and concentric fortification carried to their logical conclusion with perfect symmetry". They also suggest that the design, which bore similarities to Henry VIII 's Device Forts of

2850-472: The Isle of Thanet from mainland Britain to the east (before it silted over in the late Middle Ages ), and Yantlet Creek at the Isle of Grain to the west, it was occasionally used in ancient times by ships navigating to and from ports such as Chatham and London to reduce exposure to bad weather in the Thames Estuary or North Sea . The Kingsferry Bridge was first built in 1860, thus eliminating

2945-524: The Kingdom of France or the Holy Roman Empire . While the further history the Low Countries can be seen as the object of a continual struggle between these two powers, the title of Duke of Lothier was coveted in the low countries for centuries. In the 14th and 15th century, separate fiefs came gradually to be ruled by a single family through royal intermarriage . This process culminated in

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3040-575: The London, Chatham & Dover Railway ), which operated in conjunction with a mail and passenger service by steamer to Vlissingen in the Netherlands . The Swale was bridged when the railway was built in 1860. From the town's depression in the 1850s there began a process of recovery. New industries came to Queenborough including a glass works and a company engaged in coal washing. Besides these many other small industries developed, including potteries,

3135-572: The Roman provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior . They were inhabited by Belgic and Germanic tribes . In the 4th and 5th century, Frankish tribes had entered this Roman region and came to run it increasingly independently. They came to be ruled by the Merovingian dynasty , under which dynasty the southern part (below the Rhine ) was re- Christianised . By the end of the 8th century,

3230-418: The 12th century. In that period, they rivalled northern Italy as one of the most densely populated regions of Western Europe. Guilds and councils governed most of the cities along with a figurehead ruler; interaction with their ruler was regulated by a strict set of rules describing what the latter could and could not expect. All of the regions mainly depended on trade, manufacturing and the encouragement of

3325-450: The 16th century, may have been designed to defend against and to make best use of gunpowder artillery . Queenborough was the only true concentric castle built in England. It regained importance in the 16th century under Thomas Cheney , when it is thought to have influenced the construction of nearby Deal Castle and Walmer Castle . In those days north Kent was divided by open waters and marshes stretching inland. The safest navigation to

3420-576: The Criterion was badly damaged by a German air raid. Shrapnel marks from the attack can still be seen in the dockyard wall opposite the building. After the air raid, the building was re-built in its present form retaining some of its original features. After a variety of other uses, the site became the Heritage Centre in January 2009. A special exhibition in 2014 commemorated the centenary of

3515-604: The Dutch caused widespread panic, they were unable to maintain their offensive, and withdrew having captured the Royal Charles and burnt numerous other ships in the Thames and Medway. Following this raid on the Medway, much-needed attention was given to the improvement of the naval defences of the Medway, which at length helped strengthen the economy of Queenborough and Sheppey. Some 300 years later, in 1967, The Queenborough and Brielle (the Netherlands ) twinning project

3610-583: The Dutch took supplies, ammunition and guns, then burned everything that was combustible. Three miles (5 km) across the Swale lies Whitstable . The Swale channel was the point of departure selected by James II , when departing in some haste "from the Protestant deliverance of the nation" by William of Orange in December 1688. A hoy having been chartered, the fugitive king landed at Elmley , only to be mobbed by local fishermen. They thought such

3705-556: The First World War. Henry VIII , requiring the River Medway as an anchorage for his navy, ordered that the mouth of the river should be protected by a small fort. Garrison Fort was built in 1545. Sheerness is a commercial port and main town of the Isle of Sheppey and owes much to its origins, as a Royal Naval dockyard town. Samuel Pepys established the Royal Navy Dockyard in the 17th century. Sheerness

3800-472: The German occupation of the two countries. However, the German advance into France was quickly halted, causing a military stalemate for most of the war. In the end, a total of approximately 56,000 people were killed in the invasion. During World War II , when Adolf Hitler 's gaze turned his strategy west toward France, the Low Countries were an easy route around the imposing French Maginot Line . He ordered

3895-798: The Harty Ferry, ceased operation at the start of the First World War , although there was a short lived attempt to start a small hovercraft service between the Harty Ferry Inn and Oare Creek near Faversham in 1970. The complex of causewayed enclosures at Kingsborough Manor attests to the importance of the island's high ground during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages . Later prehistoric, Roman and medieval occupation has been found by archaeologists in advance of development at Neat's Court and St Clements CofE Primary School in Leysdown. In

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3990-471: The Isle of Harty to the south east and the Isle of Elmley to the south west. Over time the channels between the islands have silted up to make one contiguous island, which is now linked by two bridges to the Kentish mainland. Sheppey, like much of north Kent, is largely formed from London Clay and is a plentiful source of fossils. The Mount near Minster rises to 250 feet (76 metres) above sea level and

4085-647: The Low Countries formed a core part of a much expanded Francia and the Merovingians were replaced by the Carolingian dynasty . In 800, the Pope crowned and appointed Charlemagne Emperor of the re-established Roman Empire . After the death of Charlemagne , Francia was divided in three parts among his three grandsons. The middle slice, Middle Francia , was ruled by Lothair I , and thereby also came to be referred to as "Lotharingia" or "Lorraine". Apart from

4180-586: The Netherlands. However, in official use, the name of the Dutch kingdom is still Kingdom of the Netherlands , Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (plural). This name derives from the 19th-century origins of the kingdom which originally included present-day Belgium. In Dutch, and to a lesser extent in English, the Low Countries colloquially means the Netherlands and Belgium, sometimes the Netherlands and Flanders —the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium. For example,

4275-652: The Sheppy Fertilizer company (which used the old spelling of Sheppey) and the glue works. The Portland cement works opened in 1890, and there is still a considerable trade in timber. A borough charter granted in 1885 gave some renewed impetus to the struggling borough council, but it was not until 1937 that the Charity Commissioners were at last able to appoint a borough council, but the town and its fisheries never fully recovered. The present trustees are Swale Borough Council , which incorporated

4370-477: The Thames and Medway. It is possible to land at Queenborough on any tide and there are boat builders and chandlers in the marina. Admiral Lord Nelson is reputed to have learned many of his seafaring skills in these waters, and also shared a house near the small harbour with his mistress, Lady Hamilton . Queenborough today still reflects something of its original 18th-century seafaring history, from which period most of its more prominent buildings survive. The church

4465-537: The Thames estuary to London, Queenborough began to lose its importance, becoming something of a backwater. Daniel Defoe described it as "a miserable and dirty fishing town (with) the chief traders ... alehouse keepers and oyster catchers". The Royal Navy eventually became less prominent on the River Medway as other dockyards developed and ships grew in size, so that they were largely replaced by prison hulks which would frequently dispose of their dead charges on

4560-413: The country of the Netherlands has the same etymology and origin as the name for the region Low Countries, due to "nether" meaning "low". In the Dutch language itself De Lage Landen is the modern term for Low Countries, and De Nederlanden (plural) is in use for the 16th century domains of Charles V , the historic Low Countries, while Nederland (singular) is the normal Dutch name for the country of

4655-658: The defences of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. All three countries were occupied from May 1940 until early 1945. During the occupation, their governments were forced into exile in Britain. In 1944, they signed the London Customs Convention , laying the foundation for the eventual Benelux Economic Union , an important forerunner of the EEC (later the EU ). One of the Low Countries' earliest literary figures

4750-473: The dockyard. This area was, and still is, known as Blue Town , though it is now mostly occupied by the Sheerness Steel complex. Beyond Blue Town, an outlying residential area overlooking the sea was chiefly designed for various government officials. This area became known as Mile Town because it is one mile (1.6 km) from Sheerness. About 200 shipwrecks are recorded around the coast of Sheppey,

4845-470: The economy by selling land, property and the ancient oyster fishery. The oyster trade having been corrupted by smuggling and the bribery of the island's members of parliament, the town lost its franchise in the Reform Act of 1832 . The economy of Queenborough was boosted significantly by the establishment of a branch line from Sittingbourne by the Sittingbourne and Sheerness Railway (later part of

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4940-563: The end of WW2. The largest town on the island is Minster with a population of 21,319. Other towns include Sheerness and Leysdown-on-Sea . The whole north coast is dotted with caravan parks and holiday homes; there is also a naturist beach beyond Leysdown , towards Shellness. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds managed a portion of Elmley National Nature Reserve known as Elmley Marshes up until 2013, at which point it reverted to management by Elmley Conservation Trust, owners of

5035-599: The export of wool, a significant crown revenue. In 1368, the Wool Staple was transferred from Canterbury to Queenborough: Sandwich and Queenborough became the two centres in Kent for wool trading. The castle was excavated in 2005 by Channel 4 's archaeology television programme Time Team . The town was first represented by two members of parliament in 1572, one of its earlier MPs being explorer Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1580. Matthias Falconer of Brabant established

5130-405: The first copperas factory in England at Queenborough in 1579. King Charles I had the town reincorporated under the title of the "mayor, jurats, bailiffs and burgesses of Queenborough", during which time the population was chiefly employed in the local oyster fishery. However the fort having protected the Swale and Medway estuaries for 300 years was never in fact to realise its function as

5225-490: The forty seven seats on Swale Borough Council. As of the 2019 local elections , all three seats are held by the Conservative Party . Queenborough continues the traditions of having a town council and a mayor. The town council is made up of eleven elected members, seven from Queenborough and four from Rushenden. The current mayor is Councillor Richard Darby. At the 2001 UK census , the parish of Queenborough had

5320-554: The free flow of goods and craftsmen. Dutch and French dialects were the main languages used in secular city life. Historically, the term Low Countries arose at the Court of the Dukes of Burgundy , who used the term les pays de par deçà ("the lands over here") for the Low Countries as opposed to les pays de par delà ("the lands over there") for the Duchy of Burgundy and

5415-537: The heirs. By streamlining the succession law in all Seventeen Provinces and declaring that all of them would be inherited by one heir, Charles effectively united the Netherlands as one entity. After Charles' abdication in 1555, the Seventeen Provinces passed to his son, Philip II of Spain . The Pragmatic Sanction is said to be one example of the Habsburg contest with particularism that contributed to

5510-405: The island, with Queenborough enjoying some of the fruits of local investment. Queenborough is in the parliamentary constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey . As of July 2024, the constituency's member of parliament is Kevin McKenna of the Labour Party . Queenborough is within the Swale local government district and its electoral ward of Queenborough and Halfway. This ward has three of

5605-424: The island. SkySheppey brought together a number of associations and joined with many visitors to recognise the importance of British aviation history that started at Eastchurch. From March 2015 a new museum, The Aviation Museum Eastchurch, was set up at The Old Mill Green off Brabazon Way, HMP Standford Hill, to commemorate the pioneer aviators and the site as a long established RAF Station serving from WW1 through to

5700-544: The king for a pardon. Mounted on horseback, he swam out to the Nore (north of Sheppey), where the king's ship was anchored, and gained forgiveness. On his return, he met an old woman who predicted that the horse that had helped save his life would be the cause of his death. To defy the prophecy, Sir Robert killed his horse; but later encountering its bones, he kicked them in scorn, only for a shard to pierce his foot, causing an infection from which he died. The tale takes elements from Italian, Slavic and Icelandic folklore (including

5795-413: The largest and fastest expanding ports in the UK. The Port of Sheerness contains at least one Grade II listed building, the Old Boat House. Built in 1866, it is the first multi-storey iron framed industrial building recorded in the UK. Decorated with ornate ironwork, it features operating rails extending the length of the building, for the movement of stores, much like a modern crane. A large ferry terminal

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5890-404: The last 27 years of its existence. The island has a long history of aviation development in England. It was home to Lord Brabazon 's Royal Aero Club which formed in Leysdown in the early 1900s to popularise ballooning. The club took to the aeroplane with relish, and in July 1909 the Short Brothers established Shellbeach Aerodrome on nearby marshland to accommodate six Wright Flyers , moving

5985-426: The mayor and other officials had been less than honest in their duties toward the community, with the use of the public money at their disposal. This fraud caused a great financial burden upon the fishers and oyster catchers, who were driven to "unlawful and riotous assembly", in protest against unwarranted charges made upon them in the course of their trade. So serious had this deterioration in conditions become, that by

6080-429: The middle of the 19th century the corporation was bankrupt. A leading figure was Thomas Young Greet, who frequently held the office of mayor, and treasurer, and first came to Queenborough in 1814. He and his friends used their positions to cream off the profits of the fisheries. Parliament was called upon to act, vesting by an Act of Parliament much of the town's business in the hands of trustees who were able to refinance

6175-421: The most famous being the SS Richard Montgomery , a liberty ship loaded with bombs and explosives that grounded on sandbanks during the Second World War . As of 2004 plans were discussed with a view to removing the threat from the Montgomery . These include encasing the ship in concrete or removing the bombs; no firm decision has been made. New research commissioned by the Government in 2005–06 suggested that

6270-437: The need for ferries. Over time, there have been four bridges built over the Swale at this point. All bridges had to allow sufficient clearance for shipping heading to the commercial docks at Ridham . On 19 July 1860 the first bridge came into use. It was built for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway , to an Admiralty design. It had a central span raised between two towers. Trains and road traffic were able to use it, as with

6365-416: The next two bridges. On 6 November 1906 the second bridge, built for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway , replaced the first. It had a "rolling lift" design that was originally worked by hand, but later by electricity. In October 1959 Kingsferry Bridge , a lifting bridge , was completed, able to lift both the road and the railway line to allow ships to pass beneath. In May 2006 the Sheppey Crossing

6460-413: The old borough council in the local government reorganisation of 1974 . Queenborough now has a town council, which includes a mayor. Unsightly modern sea wall defences have hindered the character of the beaches but were deemed necessary; a large yachting harbour exists, where the pirate radio ship Radio Caroline (in the river Medway 2003–04) anchored for a while. Tourism is today a major feature of

6555-437: The open sea was then the route from the Thames into the Yantlet Creek (separating the Isle of Grain from the rest of Hoo Peninsula ), and thus into the Swale from the Medway estuary, around the leeward side of the Isle of Sheppey into the Wantsum Channel , navigating past the Isle of Thanet to Sandwich and only then into the open waters of the English Channel . It was thus an easily defensible planned-town centre for

6650-446: The original coastal County of Flanders , which was within West Francia , the rest of the Low Countries were within the lowland part of this, " Lower Lorraine ". After the death of Lothair, the Low Countries were coveted by the rulers of both West Francia and East Francia . Each tried to swallow the region and to merge it with their spheres of influence. Thus, the Low Countries consisted of fiefs whose sovereignty resided with either

6745-434: The other, the southern Royal Netherlands or Belgica Regia remained loyal to the Spanish king. This divide laid the early foundation for the later modern states of Belgium and the Netherlands. The region politically had its origins in the Carolingian empire ; more precisely, most of the people were within the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia . After the disintegration of Lower Lotharingia, the Low Countries were brought under

6840-484: The political secession of the autonomous Dutch Republic (or "United Provinces") in the north, the term "Low Countries" continued to be used to refer collectively to the region. The region was temporarily united politically between 1815 and 1839, as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands , before this split into the three modern countries of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Low Countries were part of

6935-525: The rule of the House of Valois , who were the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy . At the height of Burgundian influence, the Low Countries became the political, cultural, and economic centre of Northern Europe , noted for its crafts and luxury goods, notably early Netherlandish painting , which is the work of artists who were active in the flourishing cities of Bruges , Ghent , Mechelen , Leuven , Tournai and Brussels , all in present-day Belgium. Musicians of

7030-773: The rule of various lordships until they came to be in the hands of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy . Hence, a large part of the Low Countries came to be referred to as the Burgundian Netherlands . After the reign of the Valois Dukes ended, much of the Low Countries were controlled by the House of Habsburg . This area was referred to as the Habsburg Netherlands , which was also called the Seventeen Provinces up to 1581. Even after

7125-854: The seventeen declared their independence from Habsburg Spain in 1581, the ten provinces of the Southern Netherlands remained occupied by the Army of Flanders under Spanish service and are therefore sometimes called the Spanish Netherlands . In 1713, under the Treaty of Utrecht following the War of the Spanish Succession , what was left of the Spanish Netherlands was ceded to Austria and thus became known as

7220-506: The site. Low Countries Historically, the regions without access to the sea linked themselves politically and economically to those with access to form various unions of ports and hinterland , stretching inland as far as parts of the German Rhineland . Because of this, nowadays not only physically low-altitude areas, but also some hilly or elevated regions are considered part of the Low Countries, including Luxembourg and

7315-441: The site; later Moore-Brabazon, Professor Huntington, Charles S. Rolls and Cecil Grace all visited and used the flying club's services. Wilbur Wright and his brother Orville came to the Isle of Sheppey to visit the new flying grounds of the Aero Club. In 1909, Moore-Brabazon made the first live cargo flight by fixed-wing aircraft, by tying a waste-paper basket to a wing strut of his Shorts-built Wright aircraft. Then, using it as

7410-458: The sixteenth century when it was sold by Sir Henry Cheyne. During the First World War troops were billeted at the Great Hall, and it suffered considerable damage as a result. Shurland Hall is a Grade II listed building . In 2006 a grant of £300,000 was made by English Heritage to restore the hall's façade. The Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust carried out the restoration work which

7505-588: The south of Belgium. Within the European Union , the region's political grouping is still referred to as the Benelux (short for Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg). During the Roman Empire , the region contained a militarised frontier and contact point between Rome and Germanic tribes . The Low Countries were the scene of the early independent trading centres that marked the reawakening of Europe in

7600-533: The springtime, with Sheppey's minsters being used by the invaders as feasting halls or general headquarters. In 1016, Cnut the Great of Denmark and his forces are reported to have retreated to the Island of Sheppey rather than face King Edmund Ironside in battle during the winter. King Edmund gathered his forces during Lent and mounted an attack on Cnut shortly after Easter. Shurland Hall , near Eastchurch ,

7695-523: The story of Oleg the Wise , and that of Örvar-Oddr ). It was greatly popularised in a version published in 1837 by Richard Barham ("Thomas Ingoldsby"), as one of his Ingoldsby Legends . Sir Robert died in 1324 leaving as his heir a daughter Margaret, who married William, son of Alexander Cheyne of Patrixbourne . To William passed the manor of Shurland. It remained in possession of the Cheyne family until

7790-488: The territories as a multitude of duchies and principalities until the Low Countries were eventually united into one indivisible territory, the Seventeen Provinces , covered by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549 , while retaining existing customs, laws, and forms of government within the provinces. The Pragmatic Sanction transformed the agglomeration of lands into a unified entity, of which the Habsburgs would be

7885-596: The threat has passed and that constant surveillance should ensure the safety of the immediate community. In 1629 the first recorded botanical visit was paid to the island by the apothecary Thomas Johnson and colleagues. They were thought to be foreigners so were arrested and imprisoned in Queenborough Castle before being released by the Mayor. Edward Jacob (1710–1788) purchased the little Manor of Nutts, Isle of Sheppey, in 1752. There, he pursued his hobby as

7980-400: The wool trade. King Edward III had the town renamed after his Queen, Philippa of Hainault , and conferred upon it the rights of a free borough , with a governing body of a mayor and two bailiffs. He granted Queenborough a charter in 1366 and two years later bestowed the duties of a royal borough upon it. During this period, Queenborough, on the Isle of Sheppey, was an important town for

8075-551: The year 835, Viking invaders attacked Sheppey. It is the first known account of a major Viking raid in Southern England. Sheppey would go on to suffer from subsequent raids, its vulnerable coastal monasteries providing a convenient target for the Danes. In 855, Sheppey as part of the kingdom of Wessex , became the winter camp of an occupying Viking force, presumably the raiders from prior attacks. Raiding continued in

8170-460: Was 24% manufacturing, 16% retail, 9% construction, 9% real estate, 10% transport & communications, 7% health & social work, 7% public administration , 5% education, 4% hotels & restaurants, 2% finance, 1% agriculture and 3% other community, social or personal services. Compared to national figures, the town had a relatively high percentage of workers in manufacturing, construction, public administration and transport & communications, and

8265-411: Was 42.0% in full-time employment, 12.7% in part-time employment, 7.1% self-employed , 3.4% unemployed, 1.5% students with jobs, 3.0% students without jobs, 14.6% retired, 8.0% looking after home or family , 5.3% permanently sick or disabled and 2.4% economically inactive for other reasons. The unemployment rate of 3.40% was similar to the national rate of 3.35%. The industry of employment of residents

8360-616: Was 98.6% white , 0.7% mixed race , 0.3% black , 0.2% non-Chinese Asian and 0.3% Chinese or other. The place of birth of Queenborough and Halfway residents was 97.2% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland , 0.4% Germany, 0.3% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Far East, 0.3% Africa, 0.3% North America, 0.2% South Asia, 0.2% Oceania and 0.1% Middle East. Religion was recorded as 77.6% Christian , 0.1% Muslim and 0.1% Jewish . 14.7% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 7.7% didn't state their religion. 7% of Queenborough and Halfway residents aged 16–74 had

8455-478: Was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway at Queenborough Pier in 1876 and operated a nightly service to Flushing ( Vlissingen ) in the Netherlands , as well as a German mail service. These services ceased during the First World War; the terminal was used for military traffic. The small port was closed and dismantled in the 1930s. A passenger, car and lorry service was operated by Olau Line from 1974 to 1994. The dockyard and port at Sheerness today are

8550-522: Was completed and opened on 3 July. This four-lane road bridge rises to a height of 95 feet (29m) at mean high water springs above the Swale, and carries the A249 trunk road. Pedestrian, animal and bicycle traffic, as well as the railway, are still obliged to use the lifting bridge, which still provides the most direct link between the island and the Iwade / Lower Halstow area. On 5 September 2013, fog caused

8645-579: Was completed in 2011. The house was put on the open market for £1.5 million, and was sold. Sheppey is one of few parts of what is now the United Kingdom to have been (temporarily) lost to a foreign power since William the Conqueror 's invasion in 1066 . This was in June 1667, when a Dutch fleet sailing up the Thames Estuary for the Medway captured the fort at Sheerness. The fort at the time

8740-522: Was created, covering the entire island. In 1974, this local government unit was abolished and Sheppey then came within the newly created Swale district. In parliamentary terms, Sheppey has been in the constituency of Sittingbourne and Sheppey since 1997, a Conservative-Labour marginal seat; prior to this it was in the Faversham constituency , also a marginal but held by the Conservatives for

8835-558: Was established. Work began on overhauling the parish church in 1690. The parish church overhaul continued through to 1730, and a number of houses added to the growing town during the 18th century. With the general prosperity of the colonial and mercantile trades of the age, Queenborough thrived. Queenborough Guildhall was completed in 1793. With the silting up of the Yantlet creek and the Wantsum channel and improved navigation through

8930-594: Was incomplete and the garrison underfed and unpaid, so resistance to the heavily armed Dutch Navy (which, according to Samuel Pepys 's diary, was also to a large extent composed of deserters from the English Royal Navy) was hardly enthusiastic. Pepys, then secretary of the Navy Board , described Sheerness as lost "after two or three hours' dispute". The Dutch quickly overran and occupied the whole island for several days before withdrawing. Prior to leaving,

9025-620: Was the focus of an attack by the Dutch Navy in June 1667, when 72 hostile ships compelled the little "sandspit fort" there to surrender and landed a force which for a short while occupied the town. Samuel Pepys at Gravesend remarked in his diary "we do plainly at this time hear the guns play" and in fear departed to Brampton in Huntingdonshire. The dockyard served the Royal Navy until 1960 and has since developed into one of

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