St. Peter's Village Tour

MATTERS OF INTEREST...

The village sign

In 1920 the Duke of York ( later King George VI ) made a speech at the Royal Academy on the revival of Village Signs.

Following this the Daily Mail organised a competition and exhibition offering a total of £2200 in prizes for the design of the best signs. Ten awards were made, and the design for a Village Sign for St Peter's won, out of 525 entries, the first prize of £1000. The designer was Mr P H Matthews of Ramsgate.
The village takes its name from the 11th century Parish Church of St Peter-in- Thanet, and the Saint is shown on the Sign.

When the Sign was first constructed it was erected in Vicarage Street, by the Church yard wall, outside the Baptist Church.It was removed during the Second World War so as not to assist identification by invading troops, then erected on the other side of the road on the wider pavement by the Red Lion. It was moved to its present position when the Village Green was laid out in the 1970s.

Visit by Prof Norton from Australia

In 1848 the Overseers of the Poor decided that, from the local rates which they collected, they would provide £100 to enable John Norton of St Peter's Parish to emigrate to Australia with his wife and their 10 children. John was a labourer.
Prof Kevin Norton is a direct descendent, and is Head of a Department at the University of South Australia. He visited our Tour on 18th July 2002, and was joined by the Chairman of Thanet District Council (who are todays rating authority here).

Unveiling the Air Crash Memorial

On Sunday 27th April 1952 an American Thunder Jet F84 based at Manston crashed in St Peter's at 12.14pm following an engine fire. The tragedy occured at the junction of St Peter's High Street and Ranelagh Grove. As a result the pilot Capt Clifford Fogarty and three local people died.

On that Sunday the Vicar had preached a longer sermon than usual, which saved many lives as people were later coming out of Church. In the 50th Anniversary year the Tour have arranged, in conjunction with others, for a York stone Memorial to be erected on the site as a permanent reminder of this tragic accident.

On Tuesday 8th April 2003 it was unveiled by the Mayor of Broadstairs and St Peter's Cllr Hazel Pinder-White and Lieutenant-Colonel Ron Bernal, Marine Attaché at the United States Embassy in London. He brought with him a personal message from the Ambassador. The Memorial was dedicated by a former Vicar of St Peter's Canon John de Sausmarez.

The event was shown on Meridian and BBC television the same night. Two children from St Peter's School, Jennifer and Luke, placed a floral tribute.