In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Sheppey like this:
SHEPPEY, an island, a district, and a liberty, in the N of Kent. The island is bounded by the Thames, the Swale, and the Medway; measures 10½ miles in length south-eastward, 5 in breadth, and about 30 in circuit; was known to the Saxons as Sceapige, signifying "sheep island;'' suffered devastation by the Danes in 832, 849, 851, 854, and some subsequent years; retains vestiges of Danish invasion, in the form of "coterels'' or tumuli; rises toward the centre, with diversity of hilland dale; is edged, along most of the N, by cliffs of from 60 to 80 feet high; suffers so much encroachment by the sea as to lose about 50 acres in 20 years; and consists entirely of the London clay formation, very rich in interesting fossils, and containing many pyrites or copperas-stones. ...
-The district is identical with the island and its foreshores; comprises 22,928 acres of land and 8,155 of water or foreshore; and is divided into the sub-districts of Minster and Eastchurch. Poor rates in 1863, £3,514. Pop. in 1851, 13,385; in 1861, 18,494. Houses, 2,684. Marriages in 1863, 97; births, 677,-of which 15 were illegitimate; deaths, 407,-of which 215 were at ages under 5 years, and 3 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851 60,1,068; births, 5,661; deaths, 3,083. The places of worship, in 1851, were 9 of the Church of England, with 3,738 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 1,082 s.; 4 of Baptists, with 302 s.; 7 of Wesleyans, with 1,426 s.; 1 of Primitive Methodists, with 200 s.; 1 of Bible Christians, with 200 s.; 1 of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, with 168 s.; 2 of Latter Day Saints, with 240 s.; 1 of Roman Catholics, with 120 s.; and 1 of Jews, with 39 s. The schools were 8 public day-schools, with 644 scholars; 39 private day-schools, with 1,094 s.; and 14 Sunday schools, with 1,936 s. The workhouse is in Minster.-The liberty is mainly identical with the district, and is in the lathe of Scray. See Sheerness.
Sheppey through time
Sheppey is now part of Swale district. Click here for graphs and data of how Swale has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Sheppey itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Sheppey, in Swale and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20066
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Sheppey".