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Wareham, Dorset

Wareham is a historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles (13 km) southwest of Poole.

Situation and geography
The town is built on a strategic dry point between the River Frome and the River Piddle at the head of the Wareham Channel of Poole Harbour. The Frome Valley runs through an area of unresistant sand, clay and gravel rocks, and much of its valley has wide flood plains and marsh land. At its estuary the river has formed the wide shallow ria of Poole Harbour. Wareham is built on a low dry island between the marshy river plains. The town is situated on the A351 Lytchett Minster-Swanage road, linking Wareham with the A35 and A31 roads and the M27 motorway. Wareham is also the eastern terminus of the A352 road to Dorchester and Sherborne, both roads now bypassing the town centre. The town has a station on the South West Main Line railway, and was formerly the junction station for services along the branch line to Swanage, now preserved as the Swanage Railway. The steam railway has ambitions to extend its service, currently from Swanage to Norden, near Corfe Castle back to Worgret Junction (where the mainline and branch divided) and into Wareham again.

To the north west of the town a large conifer plantation, Wareham Forest stretches several miles to the A35 road and the southern foothills of the Dorset Downs. To the south east is Corfe Castle and the heathland that borders Poole Harbour, including Wytch Farm oil field and Studland & Godlingstone Heath Nature Reserve. About four miles (7 km) to the south is a chalk ridge, the Purbeck Hills which faces the Isle of Wight to the east, and eight miles (12 km) to the south is the English Channel.

History
The town's strategic setting has made it an important settlement throughout its long history. Excavations at the nearby Bestwall site have produced evidence of transient early Mesolithic activity dating to around 9000 BCE. At the same site four large Neolithic pits containing worked flint and pottery fragments dating to 3700 BCE were found. Three green stone axeheads discovered also probably date to this period. Flint working and potting continued throughout the Bronze Age. The first house discovered dates to the mid 15th century BCE.

Archaeological evidence exists of a small Roman settlement, though the current town was founded by the Saxons. The Roman name is unknown, but the town is referred to as Werham in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry of 784, from Old English wer (meaning 'fish trap, a weir') and hām ('homestead') or hamm ('enclosure hemmed in by water').

The town's oldest features are the town walls, ancient earth ramparts surrounding the town, likely built by Alfred the Great in the 9th century to defend the town from the Danes as part of his system of burh towns. The Danes invaded and occupied Wareham in 876, and only left after Alfred returned with an army and made a payment of Danegeld. In 998 they attacked again, and in 1015 an invasion led by King Canute left the town in ruins. The town was a Saxon royal burial place, notably that of King Beorhtric (d. 802). Also in the town at the ancient minster church of Lady St. Mary is the coffin said to be that of Edward the Martyr, dating from 978. His remains had been hastily buried there and were later taken from Wareham to Shaftesbury Abbey in north Dorset (and now lie in Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey).

By the end of the Saxon period, Wareham had become one of the most important towns in the county, to the extent that it housed two mints for the issue of Royal money. The Burghal Hidage lists the town as 1,600 hides, the third largest in the realm. During the Norman conquest of England, in late 1067, William I harried the town as his army passed into the west to lay siege to Exeter. The Normans later built a castle on the banks of the River Frome, at a site acquired from the Abbot of Shaftesbury and now known as Castle Close, which became the focus of much fighting between the forces of Stephen and Matilda during the period of civil war in the mid 12th century. The keep was destroyed at an unknown date in the 12th or 13th century, possibly under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford, and no visible trace remains. Up until this time Wareham had been an important port; however the growth of Poole and the gradual silting of the river caused a decline in trade and by the end of the 13th century most of the foreign trade had transferred to Poole. Local trade continued to be handled at the Quay until the construction of the railway in the 19th century.

During the English Civil War, Wareham changed hands several times between the Royalists and Parliamentarians and in August 1644 was the site of a fierce battle with 2,000 Cromwellian soldiers besieging the town.

After the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, Wareham was one of a number of towns in Dorset where Judge Jeffreys held the Bloody Assizes, with five rebels being hanged, drawn and quartered on the West Walls, an area known as 'Bloody Bank'. This may also have been the site of the execution of a hermit known as Peter de Pomfret who in 1213 had prophesied that before the next Ascension Day King John's rule would be over. The prophecy turned out to be incorrect, and the King decreed that Peter should be dragged through the streets of the town tied to a horse's tail and hanged together with his son.

In 1762, a fire destroyed two thirds of the town, which has been rebuilt in Georgian architecture with red brick and Purbeck limestone, following the earlier street pattern. The town is divided into four quarters by the two main roads, which cross at right-angles. The medieval almshouses escaped the fire, and some of the Georgian façades are in fact disguising earlier buildings which also survived.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Wareham became a garrison town with up to 7,000 soldiers living and training locally. The camp was re-located to nearby Bovington in 1922. The town survived the Second World War largely intact, although five houses were destroyed when a bomb dropped by a German aeroplane fell near St Martin's Church in 1942.

Because of the constraints of the rivers and marshland Wareham grew little during the 20th century, while nearby towns, such as Poole, grew rapidly.

Religious sites
Wareham contains several places of worship with the oldest being the Saxon churches of Lady St. Mary (substantially modified but the origins are pre-conquest. The Saxon nave was demolished in 1841–2) and St. Martins-on-the-Walls (built c.1030, dedicated to Martin of Tours). Both are Anglican. The 14th-century building of Holy Trinity Church stands on the site of the Saxon chapel St Andrew's and was until 2012 a tourist information centre. Other churches are the Wareham United Reformed Church in Church Street, St. Edward the Martyr Roman Catholic church on Shatters Hill, Wareham Methodist Church in North St. and the Evangelical Church in Ropers Lane. Sections of the churchyard of Lady St. Mary are managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, containing as it does a number of graves of servicemen who died in a nearby military hospital during the First World War and others, including those of German and Polish servicemen, from the Second World War.

Government
The civil parish of Wareham Town encompasses the walled town of Wareham, situated on the land between the rivers Frome and Piddle, together with the area of Northport to the north of the River Piddle, and a relatively small amount of the surrounding rural area. The parish has an area of 6.52 km2.

The sister civil parish of Wareham St. Martin covers much of the rural area to the north of Wareham, including the village of Sandford. Taken together the two Wareham parishes have an area of 36.18 km2, with a 2011 population of 8,270 in 3,788 dwellings.

Both parishes form part of the Dorset unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Dorset of which it forms the Wareham ward. They are within the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency of the House of Commons. Until 31 January 2020, they were also within the South West England constituency of the European Parliament. Prior to 2019, Wareham was also part of the Purbeck District of Dorset, before it was merged with other districts to the Dorset Unitary Authority.

Culture and Media
Wareham is twinned with Conches-en-Ouche in Normandy, France and with Hemsbach in Germany. Since the 16th century Wareham has been a market town, and still holds a market on Thursdays and Saturdays. In 2005 Wareham was named as a Fairtrade Town.

Events held in the town include the annual carnival which takes place in July with a parade, fireworks and music by the Quay. A new event is the music festival held in summer, with bands playing on the Quay, at Wareham Town Hall and in the town's pubs. The Wareham Court Leet, one of the few remaining Court Leets in Britain, meets nightly during the last week in November.

In the church of St Martin-on-the-Walls, there is a recumbent effigy of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in Arab clothing, sculpted by Eric Kennington. Lawrence is buried at Moreton Churchyard where every year a quantity (decreases by one each year) of red roses are left. Near the town is Clouds Hill and Bovington army camp where Lawrence died after a motorbike accident. Wareham Town Museum, in East Street, has an interesting section on Lawrence and in 2006 produced an hour-long DVD entitled T. E. Lawrence — His Final Years in Dorset, including a reconstruction of the fatal accident. The museum also contains many artefacts on all aspects of the history of the town.

The Royal Air Force Air Cadets has an Air Training Corps squadron based in the town, namely 2185 (Wareham) Squadron ATC. The squadron's cadets regularly partake in activities around the town for charitable purposes such as supporting the carnival, training exercises and parades. The squadron has a Detached Flight based at Swanage.

Local news and television programmes is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter.

The local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent, Heart South, Greatest Hits Radio South, Nation Radio South Coast and Wave 105.

The Wareham Advertiser is the town's local weekly newspaper.

Cultural references
Thomas Hardy in his novels based the town of "Anglebury" on Wareham. Dinah Craik used the town as one of the settings in her novel Agatha's Husband (as "Kingcombe"). Anglebury House - a tea house/restaurant still operating on the high street - was frequented by T E Lawrence. The seat where Lawrence regularly sat is marked by a plaque.

Wareham is the setting for one of the "Amazing Adventures of Scary Bones the Skeleton" series of books for children by Ron Dawson, Scary Bones meets the Wacky Witches of Wareham. The book also includes a photograph of the town bridge and nearby Corfe Castle which also features in the story.

Some scenes from the 2002 German ZDF TV production Morgen Träumen Wir Gemeinsam ("Tomorrow We Dream Together") were filmed in Wareham.

The hymn tune "Wareham" was composed by William Knapp (born at Wareham, 1698–9); Knapp composed several other hymn tunes and was parish clerk of Poole.

Wareham appears in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, under the name of Werham.

Sport
Wareham is the home of Wareham Rangers Football Club who currently play in the Dorset Premier League. It is also the home of Swanage and Wareham RFU. There is a multi activity sports centre and swimming pool situated 500 metres west of the town centre.

Twin towns
Wareham is twinned with:
 * 🇫🇷 Conches-en-Ouche, France
 * 🇩🇪 Hemsbach, Germany

Notable people

 * John Hutchins - Rector of Wareham, 1743–73; Author of The History & Antiquities of the County of Dorset. Lived in Wareham from 1744 until his death in 1773. Buried in the town at the church of Lady St. Mary.
 * Edwin Keppel Bennett - Writer, poet, Germanist and academic. Born in Wareham in 1887.
 * Shelley Preston - British singer and member of pop group Bucks Fizz grew up in Wareham and attended The Purbeck School.
 * T. E. Lawrence lived at nearby Clouds Hill and was a frequent visitor to the town in the latter years of his life.
 * David Mellor - British politician, born in Wareham in 1949.
 * Actor Edward Fox lives locally and in 2010 campaigned against the building of a supermarket on the outskirts of the town.
 * Chad Gould lived here throughout his childhood.
 * Ex-footballer David Best (footballer) was born in Wareham.

Demography
The population of Wareham according to the 2001 UK Census was 5,665 living in 2,545 dwellings. 99% of Wareham's population are of White ethnicity. 80.33% of the population state their religion as Christian, 12.24% as "No religion" with 6.59% not stated. There is a high proportion of older people in the town: 29.4% of the population are over 60 years old, against a national average of 21%. The largest industry of employment for those who live in Wareham is manufacturing which employs 16.3%. Three other significant areas of employment are: wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (13.5%), real estate renting and business activities (12.2%) and health and social work (10.5%).

title: Wareham, Dorset


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Wells-next-the-Sea

Wells-next-the-Sea is a port town on the north coast of Norfolk, England.

The civil parish has an area of 16.31 km2 and in 2001 had a population of 2,451, reducing to 2,165 at the 2011 census.

Wells is 15 mi to the east of the resort of Hunstanton, 20 mi to the west of Cromer, and 10 mi north of Fakenham. The city of Norwich lies 32 mi to the south-east. Nearby villages include Blakeney, Burnham Market, Burnham Thorpe, Holkham and Walsingham.

Origin of name
The name is Guella in the Domesday Book of 1086 (half gallicised, half Latinised from Anglian Wella, a spring). This derives from spring wells, of which Wells used to have many, rising through the chalk of the area. The town became Wells-next-the-Sea from juxta mare in the 14th century to distinguish it from other places of the same name. It appears as Wells Next the Sea (no hyphens) on the Ordnance Survey maps of 1838 and 1921. When the Wells and Fakenham Railway was opened on 1 December 1857, the terminus was given the name of Wells-on-Sea. In 1956 the Wells Urban District Council voted to re-adopt the name Wells-next-the-Sea, and this has been the official name since then.

History
The town has been a seaport since before the 14th century, when it supplied grain to London and subsequently to the miners of the north east, in return for which Wells was supplied with coal. Until the 19th century, it was easier to carry bulk cargoes by sea than overland. It was a significant port in the 16th century, with 19 ships over 16 tons burden operating out of Wells in 1580, making it the major port in the area. It had been, since the beginning of the century, an exporter of grain and an importer of coal. Wells was also from early days a manufactory of malt. At its height, the town boasted up to twelve maltings which, in 1750, contributed a third of the exports of malt from the country, mostly to Holland, more than any other port save for Great Yarmouth.

Wells was also a fishing port: in 1337, it is recorded as having had thirteen fishing boats and nearby Holkham had nine. Its mariners brought first herring and then cod from Iceland in quantity between the 15th and 17th centuries. The regulation of the harbour in order to preserve its use was by Act of Parliament in 1663; in 1769, Harbour Commissioners were appointed with powers over vessels entering and leaving (as they still have today). The quay was substantially rebuilt in 1845, as part of attempts to improve the town. At the same time, Improvement Commissioners were appointed with the task of making the town commodious and attractive to residents and the burgeoning tourist trade. As a small port, it built ships until the late 19th century; it never transferred to building motor vessels or to steel hulls. The coming of the railway in 1857 reduced the harbour trade, but it revived briefly after the Second World War for the import of fertiliser and animal feed. In 1982, there were 258 ship movements into the harbour.

Wells relies on the tides to scour the harbour because the town does not have a river running through it. The problem of siltation had preoccupied the merchants of the town for hundreds of years and occupied the attentions of various engineers, leading eventually to disputes which came to court in the 18th century. Sir John Coode, who had been knighted for his work on the completion of Portland Harbour, was recruited to solve its siltation problems in the 1880s; no attempted solution proved permanent. The growth of faster marine traffic, whose wake washes at the banks of the marshes, has widened the channel and reduced tidal flow further.

The North Sea is now a mile from the town; the main channel which once wandered through marshes, grazed by sheep for hundreds of years, was confined by earthworks to the west in 1859 when Holkham Estate reclaimed some 800 hectares of saltmarsh north-west of Wells with the building of a mile-long bank. This reclamation was claimed to have reduced the tidal scour though the West Fleet, which provided much of the water entered the channel to its north.

In the 19th century, malting assumed an industrial character dominated by merchants rather than hands-on maltsters. Eventually, the entire estate was acquired by F. & G. Smith who had maltings in Dereham and Great Ryburgh; they latterly bought out the competition becoming one of the biggest maltsters in the country. Following the First World War, demand began to fall and new methods of production were being used. After a local dispute, they closed the Wells operation down in 1929. Other agriculture-related enterprises, such as the local flour mill and the Ipswich-based Eastern Counties Farmers Cooperative, were, over the following years, bought out or closed. The post-war revival of the harbour trade made the quay a busy place from the 1960s to the 1990s. Small coasters, mostly from across the English Channel, brought in fertiliser and animal feed, latterly mostly soya beans until 1992 when changes in government regulations and the increasing size of vessels made the port uneconomic. Wind-farm support began in 2009, with the building of the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind Farm. The transfer of operations to Yarmouth, on the closure of the facility in Wells in 2021, repeated the long-term pattern of opportunity and reversal in the town.

Tourism, which had begun on a small scale a century before, became a major draw; it was based on the Pinewoods Caravan site much expanded post-war first by the Town Council and subsequently by Holkham Estates. As with many coastal towns, the number of second homes resultant on the tourist trade has increased dramatically over the last few years, reaching over 34% in 2019.

Geography
The town has long thrived as a seaport and is now also a seaside resort with a popular beach that can be reached on foot or by car. (The narrow-gauge railway, built in 1976, that ran partway alongside the mile-long sea wall north of the harbour closed in 2021). The beach is known for its long flat terrain, abstract sand dunes, varied beach huts and a naturist area situated to the west at Holkham. A landlocked brackish pool called Abraham's Bosom was for many years used for pleasure boating and canoeing; it is all that remains of the West Fleet which once drained the Holkham marshes. The beach is backed by dense pine woods which are part of the Holkham National Nature Reserve. The woods comprise Scots pine, Maritime pine and Corsican Pine growing on sand.

More pinewoods exist to the east of the beach over the shipping channel at an area called the East Hills. This can be accessed on foot at low tide though all of the tidal sands in the area are extremely dangerous due to the speed and currents of the rising tide. It is not advisable to cross the channel without detailed local knowledge.

The majority of shops and other such businesses are now found on Staithe Street but up to the 1960s commercial premises were also to be found along High Street which continues south towards St Nicholas's Church. The church burned down after a lightning strike in 1879; the exterior shows the original stonework, but the interior, while light and airy, lacks stained glass, once found. The Victorian bench ends are worth a look. John Fryer, Captain Bligh's sailing master on HMS Bounty, was born at Wells and is buried in the churchyard. His gravestone is in the church porch.

The distinctive landmark of the seafront is the granary with its overhanging gantry on the quay, started in 1904 and finished in 1905. This has now been converted into flats, having ceased operating as a granary in 1990. The maritime tradition of the town meant it used to have a remarkable number of public houses for a town of its size although many of these have since closed. The northern end of the town used to be notable for parallel 'yards', narrow rows of cottages similar to the northern 'ginnels', which may derive from the rebuilding of the port in the eleventh century. (The original port is reputed to have been adjacent to the church.) Most of these remain though some have been lost to development and slum clearance. The North Sea flood of 1953 affected the northern edge of the town, breaching the beach bank and causing damage to houses on both east and west ends of the town. It also destroyed the Pinewoods caravan site. The pines themselves, which had been planted in the nineteenth century to stabilise the dunes and which fringed Abraham's Bosom, survived. Today there is a large moving floodgate next to the harbour car park and many of the houses have their own flood defences. It proved its worth in December 2013 when a flood exceeded both the 1953 and 1978 events, holding back the waters so that the west end of the town was unaffected.

A feature of the town is the area known as The Buttlands, a large green ringed by lime trees. Large elegant Georgian houses overlook The Buttlands, as do the Crown Hotel, Globe Inn and the Wells Catholic Church. If one exits The Buttlands down the hill at its south-west corner they can see Ware Hall, a medieval house which was rebuilt over a period of years from the 1970s by Miss May Savidge, who brought it in parts when she moved from Ware in Hertfordshire.

Governance
There are three tiers of local government covering Wells-next-the-Sea, at parish (town), district, and county level: Wells-next-the-Sea Town Council, North Norfolk District Council, and Norfolk County Council. The town council has its offices at the Wells Community Hospital on Mill Road, on the western outskirts of the town.

Wells-next-the-Sea was an ancient parish within the hundred of North Greenhoe. Until 1844 the parish was governed by its vestry, in the same way as most rural parishes. In 1844 an act of parliament established improvement commissioners to look after the secular aspects of local government in the town.

Under the Local Government Act 1894 the improvement commissioners were replaced by an elected urban district council. Until 1954 the urban district council was based at the offices of the solicitor who acted as clerk to the council, at the corner of Chancery Lane and The Buttlands. In 1954 the council bought the former Park Cinema at 62 Mill Road for £1,600 and converted it to become their offices and meeting place, holding their first meeting there in December 1954.

The urban district council was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the area becoming part of North Norfolk. A successor parish was established to cover the former urban district, with its council adopting the name Wells-next-the-Sea Town Council. The former council offices at 62 Mill Road were subsequently redeveloped for housing in the 1990s.

Railways

The coming of the railway in 1857 notably reduced the town's population, as mentioned in the 1861 census. Formerly, the town was served by Wells-on-Sea railway station and was connected to the British Rail network by two lines. The line westwards towards King's Lynn was never reinstated after damage in the North Sea flood of 1953, while the line to Norwich via Fakenham, Dereham and Wymondham was a victim of the "Beeching Axe" of the 1960s. The Wells and Walsingham Light Railway, a 10¼ inch-gauge railway (the longest of such a gauge in the world), now uses part of the track-bed and has its own separate Wells railway station.

In addition to the two passenger railway routes in and out of the town, there was a tramway from the station to the quayside at Wells Harbour, whose rails are still visible today just beneath the modern road surface along East Quay. Locomotives were not allowed along the quay and wagons were hauled by horses. The line continued in a curve to the south-east to connect with the lines at Wells station and the track bed can be walked.

The Wells Harbour Railway was a separate 10¼ inch-gauge railway that took passengers from the harbour behind the sea wall towards the beach and caravan site. It was in operation from 1976 to 2021, when the lines were taken up.

Buses
Wells was located on the high-profile Coasthopper bus route between King's Lynn and Cromer, run by Norfolk Green. The operation was handed over to Stagecoach in 2015 but, in April 2018, Stagecoach ceased operations in Norfolk. The Coasthopper service was split into two sections at Wells-next-the-Sea: the section from King's Lynn to Wells was rebranded as the Coastliner 36, extended inland from Wells to Fakenham and taken over by Lynx; the section from Wells to Cromer was taken over by Sanders Coaches.

Lifeboat
The new Lifeboat station, replacing one which had stood since 1899, was opened in 2022 to house the new Shannon-class lifeboat named the Duke of Edinburgh, which came on station in October. It replaced the Mersey-class boat, Doris Mann of Ampthill, which had served since 1990, making it then the longest serving lifeboat in the fleet. The old lifeboat station, which was the subject of some support for its retention, was demolished immediately thereafter. A new longer launch slipway was built at the same time, with a new tractor and trailer obtained. This is necessary for the retrieval of the boat after a call-out and, if there is a call-out when the tide is out, a response can only be made by taking the boat across over a mile of sand for launch in Holkham bay. An Atlantic-class, rigid inflatable inshore boat is used for callouts along the coast; it has proved itself by responding to an increasing number of people cut off by the tide and carried out to sea while swimming or using paddleboards and inflatables.

The earlier lifeboat house, built in the 1860s and now used as the harbour office, is at the western end of the quay.

In 1880, during the Wells lifeboat disaster, eleven of the thirteen crew drowned, leaving ten widows and 27 children without fathers. A memorial to the crew stands adjacent to the old lifeboat house.

Education
Various charity schools in the town included that set up by Christopher Ringer in 1678 when he left £600 in his will for the education of thirty boys and thirty girls in the town. A number of academies were established in the nineteenth century; none of these survive. A National School was set up following the closure of the town workhouse. A British School was set up in 1938 which became a Board School in 1875. A secondary school was built in 1929 when the original school became the primary school. The primary school closed in 1964 when the Alderman Peel secondary modern school was built in a different part of town adjacent to the old Heacham railway line. The old school buildings were used for some years as a field studies centre but have now been converted to social housing units administered by Homes for Wells, a community led housing association. Wells schools are now part of the Wensum Trust which administers 24 schools in Norfolk.

Media
The town receives television signals from the Belmont TV transmitter which broadcast BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and ITV Yorkshire programmes and the local relay transmitter that broadcast BBC East and ITV Anglia which is transmitted from the Tacolneston TV transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Norfolk, Heart East, Amber Radio, Greatest Hits Radio East (formerly North Norfolk Radio), and Poppyland Community Radio, a community based station.

Local newspapers are Fakenham & Wells Times, North Norfolk News and Eastern Daily Press.

Beach
The Wells-next-the-Sea beach, being subject to the ever-changing tides of Holkham National Nature Reserve, makes use of an old war siren to warn patrons of incoming beach floodings. The siren sounds around 5–10 minutes before the tide is predicted to take over the beach to allow users to vacate the area safely.

Storms
Wells has been subjected to flooding going back to the thirteenth century. In the twentieth century, the notorious 1953 floods were followed by a surge almost as dangerous in 1978, for which the town was better prepared. On 5 December 2013, a storm surge occurred which caused severe damage to the properties on the Quay and to the east; it did not affect the west end of the town because of a tidal barrier built in 1982. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, visited the town on 9 December 2013 to inspect the damage caused by flooding.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Wells-next-the-Sea


text:
Whitstable

Whitstable is a town in the Canterbury district, on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, 5 mi north of Canterbury and 2 mi west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32,100.

The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Sea, was famous for its 'Native Oysters' which were collected from beds beyond the low water mark from Roman times until the mid-20th century. The annual Whitstable Oyster Festival takes place during the summer.

In 1830, one of the earliest passenger railway services was opened by the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company. In 1832 the company built a harbour and extended the line to handle coal and other bulk cargos for the City of Canterbury. The railway has closed but the harbour still plays an important role in the town's economy. The railway route, known as The Crab and Winkle Line, is now a cycle path which leads to the neighbouring city of Canterbury.

History
Archaeological finds indicate that the Whitstable area was inhabited during the Palaeolithic era, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Oysters were harvested in the area in Roman times. The remains of a Roman building have been found in the centre of the town. Charters indicate that there were Saxon settlements where salt production and coastal trade occurred. In the 19th century, extensive finds of Roman pottery were found in the sea around Whitstable during oyster dredging, and an offshore rock near the town has been associated with Caunos, an island mentioned by Ptolemy.

The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, under the name Witenestaple, meaning "the meeting place of the white post", a reference to a local landmark. At that time, Witenestaple was the administrative centre of the hundred of Witenestaple which stretched from the coast to the village of Blean, 3 km north of Canterbury. In addition to Witenestaple, the hundred contained three manors at Seasalter, Northwood and Swalecliffe. Whitstable hundred was located within the Lathe of St Augustine.

The Seasalter and Swalecliffe manors were owned by the church, and the manor at Northwood was run by a noble family on behalf of the king. Fisheries were located at the Seasalter manor, saltworks were at the Northwood manor, and pigs were farmed at the forest in Blean. By 1226, the name of the area had evolved into Whitstaple. Saltworks were opened at the Seasalter manor around the turn of the 14th century, and a sea wall was built there in 1325 to prevent coastal flooding. The history and development of the town has determined and been determined by the shape and location of the coast which has changed over recorded history due to natural events and human interventions.

By the late middle ages Whitstable had become a centre of Thames Esturary fishing, including for oysters, and was connected by road to Chestfield where archaeological finds evidence seafood consumption, as well as the Forest of Blean. By 1413, the three manors had combined to form the Whitstaple manor, and had been sold to a religious foundation in Essex. The manor was seized by King Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, and was given to the Minter family, originally from Ickham. Branches of the Minter family survive today in the same area). A royal patent was granted in 1574 to the manor owner for the fishing of its oyster beds, and in the same year, the lands at Tankerton were incorporated into the manor. A copperas works was established at Tankerton in 1588, which operated until about 1830. By 1610, the name Whitstaple had become Whitstable.

Around the mid-18th century, goods and passengers began to be transported by ship between London and Whitstable, and a toll road was built to the cathedral city of Canterbury. These improvements in transport led to the town's development as a seaside resort; the first advertisements for bathing machines at Whitstable appeared in 1768. In 1790 the manor was sold to private landowners, and three years later the rights to harvest the oyster beds were bought by the newly established Company of Free Fishers and Dredgers of Whitstable, the successor to the Whitstable Company of Dredgers. Between roughly 1775 and 1875 the well smacks or early longliners out of Barking and other local fishing ports would collect lugworms and whelks from Whitstable's bait-diggers and dredgers before beginning their tour for prime fish north to Iceland. Whelks suspended in net bags in the well could live for a while due to circulating water. In the 1880s, Whitstable was described as having "an unrivalled, and indeed unchallenged, position in the oyster world". On 3 May 1830, the world's first entirely steam-hauled passenger and freight railway service was opened by the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company. Designed by William James, the line ran six miles (10 km) from Westgate in Canterbury to Whitstable town centre. The railway line's initials—C&WR—and Whitstable's shellfish industry eventually led to its nickname, the Crab And Winkle Railway. The line carried coal arriving by sea in Whitstable to Canterbury, delivered by colliers sailing from the north east of England. At this time, the town also had a thriving shipbuilding industry. In the mid nineteenth century, hoys also sailed regularly from London to Whitstable.

Trains were driven by a locomotive for part of the journey, but on inclined planes were pulled on ropes by steam-driven stationary winding engines located at Tyler Hill and Clowes Wood. The locomotive used was the Invicta, an 0-4-0 inclined cylinder tender locomotive built by Robert Stephenson, the son of engineer George Stephenson. Whitstable harbour - also designed by Stephenson - was opened by the railway company in 1832, and the rail line was extended to enable goods, mainly coal, to be directly transferred from ships onto the trains. In 1834, the world's first season tickets were issued for the C&WR line. The harbour's size and positioning meant that it was the last place on England's east coast where barquentines, schooners and brigantines transporting coal could operate, with sailing colliers serving Whitstable Harbour until the 1920s.

The Invicta locomotive was retired in 1840 and replaced by horses until a third winding engine was built at South Street. The Invicta was kept for scrap, but in 1898 work began on its restoration, which continued intermittently until its completion in 1977 by the National Railway Museum in York. On 3 May 1980 the locomotive was returned to Canterbury to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the line. On Sunday 16 June 2019 Invicta was returned to the Whitstable Museum & Gallery.

Around the time of the construction of the Whitstable to Canterbury line, the local Gorrell stream was diverted into what was known as the Backwater reservoir, so as to prevent the railway needing to cross the estuary of the stream on damp and unstable land. The Gorrell Backwater was then filled through the stream itself as well as rain water drainage when the tide was in, and whilst out the water would be released into the newly built Whitstable Harbour. The reservoir unfortunately would contribute to the flooding of the town during years when the reservoir could not be drained, such as in 1897 and 1953 when weather conditions were exceptionally bad. This continued into the late 1960s, when fire engines were used to pump out large quantities of the water to prevent further flooding.

In the early 1970s, the present Gorrell Tank was built underground, with the Gorrell Car Park being in service above ground since.

In 1845, the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway Company was bought by the South Eastern Railway, who introduced steam locomotives capable of operating along the entire length of the railway. A direct rail route from Whitstable to London was established in 1860 when the London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened a station on what is now the Chatham Main Line. On 16 November 1869, 71 buildings in the town were destroyed by a fire which started at a shop near the harbour. In about 1854 the first branch of the Sea Cadet Corps, then known as the Naval Lads' Brigade, was established in the town by the Reverend Henry Barton.

A plant to manufacture tarmacadam was built beside Whitstable Harbour in 1936. The harbour gradually fell into decay after the Second World War, but in 1958 the Whitstable Urban District Council purchased and repaired the harbour with the intention of rejuvenating the town's economy.

The Crab and Winkle Line finally closed in 1953, but about a third of the line was reopened as a footpath and cycleway in 1999 under the stewardship of a local charity, the Crab and Winkle Line Trust. One of the main developments to the town in recent years was the Horsebridge project. Completed in 2005, it was designed to regenerate a dilapidated area of the town with the construction of new shops and houses, a town square, and a community centre with a performance space and art gallery.

Oysters
Whitstable became famous for its native oysters produced by the three companies in the area: The Faversham Oyster Fishery Company, the Seasalter and Ham Oyster Company and the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company. Oysters have been farmed in Whitstable for centuries, but it was not until 1793 that the industry became highly regulated with the Act of Incorporation of the 'Company of Free Fishers and Dredgers of Whitstable' (33 Geo. 3. c. 42) and are all unusual in that they own the freehold of the seabed. But Whitstable oysters go even further back, almost two thousand years, to when the Romans discovered them and, regarding them as a delicacy, shipped them back live to Rome. They are a registered Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) product. At these companies' peak in the 1850s, they were sending as many as 80 million oysters a year to Billingsgate fish market. By then the plentiful oyster had become the food of the poor. Unfortunately the native oyster population drastically declined in the first half of the 20th century and a combination of pollution, disease, overfishing and the introduction of diseases proved fatal to the industry by the middle of the 20th century. Pacific Oysters are now farmed on the foreshore at Whitstable, owned by the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company on a commercial scale producing up to 300 tons of sustainable shellfish per year. The farm was the subject of an investigation by the Marine Management Organisation in 2016 after allegations about the racks causing safety issues and blocking navigation for watercraft and swimmers. This ended in two independent navigational risk assessments commissioned by the MMO that concluded that the risk posed by the presence of the oyster farm remains ALARP or lower (broadly acceptable) and that the oyster farm’s activities met the requirements of the exemption relating to shellfish propagation and cultivation under the Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 2011 (SI 2011/409) as amended (Article 13).

Governance
Since 1918, Whitstable has been in the constituency of Canterbury. The Member of Parliament for the constituency is Rosie Duffield of the Labour Party, who was first elected in the 2017 general election after unseating long-serving Conservative MP Julian Brazier.

Whitstable, along with Herne Bay and Canterbury, is in the City of Canterbury local government district. The town comprises the five electoral wards of Tankerton, Seasalter, Chestfield and Swalecliffe, Gorrell and Harbour. These wards have 12 of the 50 seats on the Canterbury City Council. Following the 2009 local elections, ten of those seats were held by the Conservatives and two by the Labour Party. Whitstable has no parish or town council. In their lieu, the Official Planning Consultee was the Whitstable Society, membership of which is open to all, until Cllr. Ben Fitter-Harding removed it in 2020.

Geography
Whitstable is on the north-east Kent coast. The town lies to the east of the outlet of The Swale into the Greater Thames Estuary. The town is 3 km west of the seaside town of Herne Bay, 8 km north-east of the town of Faversham and 8 km north of the city of Canterbury; several small villages lie in between. The suburbs/villages of Tankerton, Swalecliffe and Chestfield are at the eastern end of the town, Seasalter at the west, and South Street at the south. Chestfield has its own parish council. An area of protected woodland and grassland called Duncan Down lies to the south-east.

The geology of the town consists mainly of London Clay (which covers most of North Kent). Much of the centre of the town is built on low-lying marshland. Sea walls are in place to prevent coastal flooding. The land in the east is higher, with slopes down to the coast at Tankerton. The whole of the north-east Kent coast has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

A very unusual (some say unique) shingle spit locally named "The Street" extends into the sea to the east of the harbour, formed by the local currents. A survey in 2019 discovered it is an especially heavy London clay, and is all that remains of the saltmarsh that once extended the length of the Swale. It is exposed at low tide, and visitors, ignoring the warning signs, are sometimes trapped by the advancing tide, needing to be rescued by the local RNLI lifeboat.

Climate
In East Kent, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum temperatures average around 22 °C (71.6 °F). The coolest time of the year is January and February, when minimum temperatures average around 2 °C (35.6 °F). East Kent's average maximum and minimum temperatures are around 1/2 °C higher than the national average. Whitstable is sometimes warmer than other parts of Kent due to it being backed by the North Downs to the south.

East Kent's average annual rainfall is about 613 mm (24.1 in); October to January being the wettest months. The national average annual rainfall is about 870 mm (34 in). A recent drought caused Mid Kent Water to impose a hosepipe ban between August 2005 and February 2007.

The nearest Met Office average data for each month as well as the current data reported on the BBC web site are from recording stations approximately 20 mi away to east and west and do not well represent Whitstable weather.

Demography
At the 2001 UK census, Whitstable area electoral wards had a population of 30,195 and a population density of 10.3 persons per hectare.

The ethnicity of the town was 98.2% white, 0.8% mixed race, 0.2% Chinese, 0.4% other Asian, 0.2% black and 0.2% other. The place of birth of residents was 95.5% United Kingdom, 0.6% Republic of Ireland, 1.2% other Western European countries, and 2.7% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 74.8% Christian, 0.3% Muslim, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.2% Jewish, 0.1% Hindu and 0.1% Sikh. 15.8% were recorded as having no religion, 0.4% had an alternative religion and 8.1% did not state their religion.

The age distribution was 5% aged 0–4 years, 14% aged 5–15 years, 4% aged 16–19 years, 28% aged 20–44 years, 26% aged 45–64 years and 23% aged 65 years and over. The town has a high percentage of residents over 65, compared with the national average of 16%. As a seaside town, Whitstable is a popular retirement destination.

Of the town's 13,155 households, 49.0% were married couples, 7.8% were cohabiting couples and 8.0% were lone parents. 30.7% of households were individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 26.4% of households included children aged under 16, or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education.

Economy
According to the 2001 UK census, the economic activity of residents in the town aged 16–74 was 35.6% in full-time employment, 13.4% in part-time employment, 10.4% self-employed, 2.5% unemployed, 2.4% students with jobs, 3.4% students without jobs, 18.8% retired, 6.7% looking after home or family, 4.5% permanently sick or disabled and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. The percentage of retired people was significantly higher than the national figure of 13.5%. The unemployment rate of 2.5% was lower than the national rate of 3.3%. 12% of the town's residents aged 16–74 had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide.

The main activities at the harbour are fishing, fish processing, cargo handling and boat storage. The harbour area is the site for other industries such as tarmac manufacturing and a maintenance port for an offshore windfarm. Business parks located on the outskirts of the town provide premises for large retailers, offices and light industries.

The town's distinctive character and ambience has led to a strong tourist industry, which is promoted each year by the Oyster Festival. In early 2007, Canterbury City Council were planning to boost tourism by building retail developments in addition to the existing shopping centre.

The 2001 UK census reported the industry of employment of residents of Whitstable as 18% retail, 13% health and social work, 12% manufacturing, 11% education, 10% real estate, 9% construction, 7% transport and communications, 5% public administration, 5% hotels and restaurants, 4% finance, 1% agriculture and 5% other community, social or personal services. Compared to national figures, the town had a relatively high number of workers in the construction, education, and health/social care industries and a relatively low number in manufacturing, finance, and real estate. Many residents commute to work outside the town; at the 2001 census, there were 13,260 employed residents, but only 9,725 jobs within the town.

The high level of employees in teaching is possibly due to the town's proximity to Canterbury, which has three higher education establishments. The elderly population of the town has led to many health and social care jobs at local care homes and at the Whitstable and Tankerton Hospital. At the 2001 census, 1.3% of the town's population resided in a medical or care establishment, compared to the national average of only 0.8%.

Transport

Whitstable railway station is on the Chatham Main Line, which runs between Ramsgate in East Kent and London Victoria. Other stations on this line include Broadstairs, Margate Herne Bay, Faversham, Gillingham, Rochester and Bromley South. Whitstable is around 1 hour and 30 minutes from London Victoria, ten minutes more than in 2009 due to the introduction of HS1 services further up the line. On weekdays, during the morning and evening peaks, there is a direct service to London's Cannon Street station, provided primarily for business commuting; these trains run to Cannon Street in the morning and back in the evening. All services are operated by Southeastern.

A National Express coach service runs between London Victoria and Ramsgate.

There is a Stagecoach bus service, branded as the Triangle, running about every fifteen minutes to neighbouring Herne Bay and Canterbury, where many Whitstable residents go to work and shop. Route 5 runs from the town to Canterbury.

The A299 road, known as the Thanet Way, runs between Ramsgate and Faversham via Herne Bay and Whitstable; it merges with the M2 motorway at Faversham.

Education
Whitstable's secondary school is The Whitstable School, formerly The Community College Whitstable. It is a secondary modern school which changed its name from Sir William Nottidge School in 1998. In 2009, 25% of its pupils gained at least five GCSEs at grades A*–C – this increased to 37% in 2011. The School was rated 'Requires Improvement' by Ofsted in March 2015.

Many pupils living in Whitstable commute to schools in other nearby towns, especially to the grammar schools in Faversham and Canterbury.

The town's public primary schools are Whitstable Junior School, Whitstable and Seasalter Church of England Junior School, Westmeads Infant School, Swalecliffe Community Primary School, St Mary's Catholic Primary School, St Alphege C of E Primary School, Joy Lane Primary School. The voluntary controlled church schools are owned by the church, but like the other schools, are administered by Kent County Council.

Whitstable Adult Education Centre runs adult learning courses.

Events and venues
The longest established event is the Regatta, dating from a sailing contest between 26 boats from Whitstable and Faversham which was split into three classes (divisions) in 1792. A reporter at the scene wrote: "Much nautical skill was displayed in the maneuvering of the various squadrons. Every hoy, smack, wherry etc. in the vicinity of Whitstable was crowded with company and formed quite a fair upon the ocean." In addition, at least two of the spectating boats had bands aboard and tents were erected along the shore which was lined with spectators.

The Regatta continued to become the biggest event on the North Kent Coast in the 19th century. It has moved from the original Whitstable to Tankerton for more land based events with fairground and fireworks on the elevated Slopes. For many years run by the council, the Whitstable and Herne Bay Lions Club have taken it on in the last 31 years. Future events will be more sea borne with yachting and rowing, and plans for swimming and even the traditional greasy pole.

May Day is celebrated with the annual Jack-in-the-Green parade, with traditional English dancing throughout the town, a fair at Whitstable Castle and a maypole dance by local schoolchildren overlooking the sea. It has been run by Whitstable and Herne Bay Lions Club for 34 years.

The importance of oysters to the tradition of Whitstable is celebrated with the Oyster Festival in July each year. The nine-day festival starts with an opening parade on the nearest Saturday to St James' Day. The parade starts with the official "Landing of the Catch", followed by the procession of the oysters in a horse-drawn dray through the town, stopping to deliver the catch to local restaurants, cafes and public houses. The rest of the festival consists of entertainment for both adults and children, with local art on display around the town, and many establishments offering local fish dishes.

The Whitstable Museum and Gallery displays artefacts and portraits relating to the town's seafaring traditions, with special features on oysters, diving and shipping. In 2001, the Museum was awarded the international Nautiek Award for services to diving history.

The Playhouse Theatre Whitstable is owned and administered by theatrical group, The Lindley Players Ltd. The theatre is regularly hired out to other local groups such as The Canterbury Players, Herne Bay Operatic Society, Theatrecraft & The Deborah Capon College. More recently Nick Wilty has adopted the venue to host the OyOyster Comedy nights, attracting stars including Harry Hill, Jo Brand and Paul Merton.

The Horsebridge Arts and Community Centre opened in March 2004 as part of the Horsebridge redevelopment. Built with an "upturned boat" design, and three floors totalling 900 m2, the centre contains an art gallery, a performance space, art workshops, a learning area, and conference rooms. The building in 2004 won the Kent Design Award in the Town and Village Renaissance category.

There are monthly beach cleans carried out alone the Whitstable sea front. They are organised by the Canterbury Council Foreshore service in conjunction with the Marine Conservation Society. The location of the beach clean alternates each month between the beach by the Neptune pub and the Seasalter end. Times and dates can be obtained for the Fore shore services or the MCS South East Groups website, calendar page.

Attractions and landmarks

The town has shingle/sandy beaches flanking the harbour, where sunbathing, swimming and water sports are popular. The beaches east and west are unique amongst seaside towns in the south-east of England for having no promenade; making them generally peaceful. An exception is Long Beach to the immediate east of the harbour where there is a base for jet skis. A notable feature of Whitstable is The Street, a natural strip of shingle on clay bank which runs out to sea at right angles to the coast, for a distance of about 1/2 mi. It is the last remnant of the Swale river valley to the north of the town lost to sea erosion over millennia. Located to the east of the harbour, The Street is revealed only at low tide, when it is possible to walk out along it as well as swim either side in safe, sandy bottomed shallows. A view of The Street can be seen on the hilltop lawns of Tankerton Slopes. The Slopes are home to the largest population in England of the rare Hog's Fennel.

Whitstable Castle is situated on the border of Whitstable and the suburb of Tankerton. It was originally built as an octagonal tower in 1789 by Charles Pearson, the owner of a copperas company in the town and a future investor in the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. However, Pearson later added to the building, developing it into a manor house. In 1836 the house, then known as Tankerton Tower, was bought by London businessman and Whig MP Wynn Ellis, who by 1842 had added a west wing, a bell tower and a lodge. The building had become known as Tankerton Castle by 1897, although it is now commonly referred to as Whitstable Castle. Now managed by the Whitstable Castle Trust, the castle grounds are a centre for community activity.

Off the coast of Whitstable is Kentish Flats offshore windfarm, consisting of 30 wind turbines, each 140 m high, providing enough electricity to power 70,000 households. The now-redundant Shivering Sands and Red Sands offshore World War II sea forts are visible from the town's coast. Sailing trips are available from the harbour to the windfarm, the sea forts and a seal watching spot in the Thames Estuary.

Island Wall, the closest street to the seafront, has numerous buildings dating from the mid-19th century including the Neptune and Wall Tavern pubs, and the Dollar Row cottages, which were built from the proceeds of a salvage operation on a ship carrying silver dollars. The street is home to the Favourite, one of the few remaining Whitstable oyster yawls. Built in 1890, it is now managed by the Favourite Trust, a charitable trust who undertake fund raising to maintain the historical vessel. A traditional windmill on Borstal Hill, built in 1815, is used as a motel.

The town is criss-crossed by numerous small alleys, once used by fishermen to reach the beach. Many of these are now registered as public rights of way and are still in frequent use. Squeeze Gut Alley whose name suggests (erroneously) that most people have to walk sideways due to its narrowness, is one of the more notable.

The town claims to have the largest village green in England at Duncan Down (52 acre).

Sport
The town is a popular destination for watersport enthusiasts. Established in 1904, the Whitstable Yacht Club is one of the oldest yacht clubs in England and takes part in local and national competitions throughout the year. Each year, the town hosts the International Waterski Championships.

In May 2007, Whitstable Town Football Club, based at the Belmont ground, won promotion from the Kent League to the Isthmian League Division One South. Whitstable Rugby Football Club 1st XV also won promotion in 2007, to the London League. The club has a 2nd XV team which play in the East Kent League 2.

Whitstable has a council-owned swimming pool and sports centre with facilities for badminton, 5-a-side football, volleyball, cricket and tennis. A 10-pin bowling centre is located next door to the swimming pool. There is also an outdoor basketball court at the Rec near the swimming pool.

Windsurfing is common off the West Quay, usually at low tide in southwesterly winds. Kite surfing has become popular in recent years usually taking place east of the Harbour, due to its flat water conditions and exposure to the open sea.

Local media
The four local newspapers are the KM Group owned Whitstable Gazette and KM Extra, YourCanterbury part of KOS Ltd. and the Northcliffe Media-owned Whitstable Times.

During the 1960s, several pirate radio stations broadcast from the nearby Shivering Sands and Red Sands offshore sea forts. These included Radio Invicta, KING Radio, Radio Sutch (launched by Screaming Lord Sutch), Radio City, and Radio 390.

Local television news programmes are BBC South East Today and ITV News Meridian.

BBC local radio station is BBC Radio Kent on 96.7 FM.

Whitstable has a local radio station in KMFM Canterbury which also serves Canterbury and Herne Bay. It was previously known as CTFM, until it was taken over by the KM Group in September 2007. County-wide station Heart Kent (formerly Invicta FM) was based on the John Wilson business park in the town. In 2019, Heart Kent was rebranded under the Heart South banner.

Whitstable also has a community radio station which broadcasts online and is known as Whitstable Bay Radio (WBR)

Popular culture
The playwright and novelist W. Somerset Maugham was sent to live with his uncle in Whitstable, at age 10, after the death of his parents. His novels Of Human Bondage (1915) and Cakes and Ale (1930) are set in the fictional town of Blackstable. It is obvious that he based this town on Whitstable, as the names and description of places around Blackstable, including The Duke of Cumberland Inn and Joy Lane, are identical to places around Whitstable.

Whitstable is the hometown of the narrator, Nancy Astley, in Sarah Waters' 1998 novel Tipping the Velvet. Whitstable also featured in the 2002 BBC drama adaptation. The Old Neptune Pub on the seafront was used as a filming location for the 2006 movie Venus, for which the actor Peter O'Toole earned an Academy Award nomination.

Whitstable features prominently in the 2021 AcornTV series Whitstable Pearl, starring Kerry Godliman, in which a restaurateur fancies herself a private detective in the seaside town.

Notable people

 * Donald Hewlett, actor lived in town
 * Siobhan Hewlett, actor, writer,producer,director
 * Hervey Alan, operatic bass
 * Peter Cushing, actor, lived in the town
 * Alan Davies, comedian
 * Brian Haw, protester
 * Val Hennessy, journalist
 * Harry Hill, comedian, has his primary residence in the town
 * Matthew Holness, comedian and actor (Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Man to Man with Dean Learner)
 * Hugh Hopper (1945-2009), fusion jazz/rock bassist
 * Paul Jewell, Liverpool born Premier League English football manager
 * W. Somerset Maugham lived in Whitstable in his early years
 * Fiona Reid, English-born Canadian actress
 * Peter Shearing, former professional footballer
 * Dawn Steele, Scottish actress
 * Violet Wood (1899–2012), formerly the oldest documented living person in the United Kingdom, lived in the town.

Twin towns
Whitstable is twinned with the following towns:

 * 🇫🇷 Dainville, France
 * 🇩🇪 Borken, Germany
 * 🇨🇿 Říčany, Czech Republic
 * 🇩🇰 Albertslund, Denmark
 * 🇸🇪 Mölndal, Sweden

Whitstable has friendship links with:
 * 🇩🇪 Grabow, Germany
 * 🇬🇱 Sisimiut, Greenland
 * 🇵🇱 Bolków, Poland
 * 🇺🇦 Lviv, Ukraine
 * East Renfrewshire, Scotland

In popular culture
Author Russell Hoban repurposes Whitstable as "Widders Bel" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel Riddley Walker.

title: Whitstable


text:
Winchcombe

Winchcombe is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Tewkesbury in the county of Gloucestershire, England, it is 6 mi north-east of Cheltenham. The population was recorded as 4,538 in the 2011 census and estimated at 5,347 in 2019. The town is located in the Cotswolds and has many features and buildings dating back to medieval times. In 2021 it was the primary strike site of the eponymous Winchcombe meteorite.

History
The Belas Knap Neolithic long barrow on Cleeve Hill above Winchcombe, dates from about 3000 BCE. In Anglo-Saxon times, Winchcombe was a major community in Mercia, favoured by King Coenwulf of Mercia, the others being Lichfield and Tamworth. In the 11th century, the town was briefly the county town of Winchcombeshire. The Anglo-Saxon St Kenelm, said to be a son of Coenwulf, is believed to be buried here.

During the Anarchy of the 12th century, a motte-and-bailey castle was built in the early 1140s for Empress Matilda, by Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, but its exact site is unknown.

In the Restoration period, Winchcombe was noted for cattle rustling and other lawlessness, attributed in part to poverty. Local people seeking a living took to growing tobacco as a cash crop, although the practice had been outlawed since the Commonwealth period. Soldiers were sent in at least once to destroy the illegal crop.

Fragments of the Winchcombe Meteorite originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, fell on a house driveway on 28 February 2021. The meteorite is a rare carbonaceous chondrite, offering pristine material from the beginnings of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. This was preserved by its prompt collection by a local resident about 12 hours after falling to Earth. Another fragment was found by researchers on a local farm. Some of the meteorite fragments were put on display at the town museum.

Attractions
Winchcombe started life as a Roman hamlet, rising to prominence as an Anglo-Saxon walled town containing Winchcombe Abbey, where a Mercian king and his saintly son were buried. Although the town wall has long vanished, Winchcombe retains much of its medieval layout, with a mixture of timber-framed and Cotswold limestone buildings along its High Street, some dating back to the 15th century.

Winchcombe's position on the Cotswold Way keeps it popular with walkers and history fans. Frequent visits are made to the heritage GWR steam railway that links it with Broadway and Cheltenham Racecourse, and with Sudeley Castle, the burial place of Queen Catherine Parr, which lies on the outskirts.

Notable buildings
Winchcombe and vicinity contain Sudeley Castle and the remains of Hailes Abbey, once a main place of pilgrimage, due to a phial said by the monks possessing it to contain the Blood of Christ. Nothing remains of Winchcombe Abbey. St Peter's Church in the centre of the town is noted for its grotesques.

Several buildings around Sudeley Hill are Grade II listed.

Walks
Winchcombe is crossed by seven long-distance footpaths: The Cotswold Way, the Gloucestershire Way, the Wychavon Way, St Kenelm's Trail, St Kenelm's Way, the Warden's Way and the Windrush Way. Winchcombe became a member of the Walkers are Welcome network of towns in July 2009 and now holds a walking festival every May.

Public transport
The town has bus services to Cheltenham, Broadway and Willersey.

Winchcombe had a railway opened in 1906 by the Great Western Railway from Stratford-upon-Avon to Cheltenham as part of a main line from Birmingham to the South West and South Wales. Winchcombe railway station and most others on the section closed in March 1960. Through passenger trains continued until March 1968 and goods until 1976, when a derailment caused damage and it was decided to close the section. By the early 1980s it had been dismantled. The length between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse via Winchcombe has been reconstructed as the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. It was extended to Broadway in spring 2018. The new station building that opened at Winchcombe on its original site was brought from the former Monmouth Troy railway station. Nearby is the 693 yd Greet Tunnel, the second longest on a British preserved line.

Governance
An electoral ward in the same name stretches from Alderton in the north to Hawling in the south. Its total population at the 2011 census was 6,295. Winchcombe Town Hall is now host to Winchcombe Folk and Police Museum.

Schools
Winchcombe has a secondary school – Winchcombe School in Greet Road, east of the town centre. Winchcombe Abbey Church of England Primary School lies near the town centre in Back Lane, next to Winchcombe Library and Cowl Lane.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Television signals are received from the Sutton Coldfield and local relay TV transmitters.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Gloucestershire on 104.7 FM, Heart West on 102.4 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South West on 107.5 FM, and Radio Winchcombe, a community based radio station which broadcast to the town on 107.1 FM.

The town is served by the local newspaper: Gloucestershire Echo.

Community
The community station Radio Winchcombe began broadcasting in April 2005 for 20 days a year. Full-time broadcasting was approved in December 2011 and began on 18 May 2012.

Winchcombe has a Michelin selected restaurant at 5 North Street. From 2004 to 2017, it held a one star rating. There are several other frequented eating places.

Winchcombe Town F.C. plays in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League.

Notable people
In birth order:
 * King Coenwulf of Mercia, reigned 796–821, buried in Winchcombe Abbey
 * Saint Kenelm (c. 786–811), a martyred boy-king of Mercia, was interred at Winchcombe, which became a major centre for his medieval cult.
 * Robert Tideman of Winchcombe (died 1341) was consecrated Bishop of Llandaff in 1393 and translated to the see of Worcester in 1395.
 * Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley (c. 1394–1473), Lord High Treasurer of England and builder of Sudeley Castle and St. Peter's Church in Winchcombe.
 * Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Chandos (c. 1548–1594), an English courtier in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, was born and was buried at Sudeley Castle in Winchcombe.
 * Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos (c. 1580–1621), remembered as "King of the Cotswolds" for his wealth
 * Clement Barksdale (1609–1687), born in Winchcombe, became a religious author, polymath and Anglican priest.
 * Christopher Merret (1614/1615–1695), born in Winchcombe, a naturalist, produced the first lists of British birds and butterflies.
 * Richard Eedes (died 1686), a Presbyterian minister and religious author with royalist sympathies, died at Winchcombe.
 * Emma Dent (1823–1900), antiquarian, collector and author of The Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley, restored Sudeley Castle with her husband and built or improved many houses in the town, including the Dent Almshouses.
 * George Backhouse Witts (1846–1912), a civil engineer and archaeologist who specialized in the barrows of Gloucestershire, was born in Winchcombe.
 * Edward Griffiths (1862–1893) played cricket for Gloucestershire in 1885–1889.
 * William Yiend (1865–1939), born in Winchcombe, was an international rugby union forward.
 * John Alfred Valentine Butler (1899–1977), born in Winchcombe, was a physical chemist who contributed to electrode kinetics through the Butler–Volmer equation.
 * Michael Cardew (1901–1983), master potter, moved to Winchcombe to revive a derelict pottery and 17th-century English slipware tradition.
 * John Kingsley Cook (1911–1994), a prominent wood engraver, was born in Winchcombe.
 * Ray Finch (1914–2012), master potter, bought Michael Cardew's pottery in 1939, and after the Second World War worked there for the rest of his life making stoneware.
 * Colin Pearson (1923–2007), master potter, worked at Winchcombe under Ray Finch until 1954.
 * Seth Cardew (1934–2016), a master potter born in Winchcombe, was the son of Michael Cardew and brother of the composer Cornelius Cardew.
 * Cornelius Cardew (1936–1981), composer, was born in Winchcombe, the son of Michael Cardew.

title: Winchcombe


text:
Winchelsea

Winchelsea is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately 2 mi south west of Rye and 7 mi north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earlier town of the same name, known as Old Winchelsea, that was lost to coastal erosion in the late medieval period. Winchelsea is part of the civil parish of Icklesham.

The mayor of Winchelsea is chosen each year from amongst the members of the corporation, who are known as freemen, rather than being elected by public vote. New freemen are themselves chosen by existing members of the corporation. Thus, in its current form, the corporation is effectively a relic of Winchelsea's days as a 'rotten borough' (when Winchelsea elected two MPs but the number of voters was restricted to about a dozen, sometimes fewer). The corporation lost its remaining civil and judicial powers in 1886 but was preserved as a charity by an Act of Parliament to maintain the membership of the Cinque Port Confederation. The mayor and corporation in Winchelsea now have a largely ceremonial role, together with responsibility for the ongoing care and maintenance of the main listed ancient monuments in the town and the Winchelsea Court Hall Museum.

Toponym
The name Winchelsea may be derived from the colloquial word 'qwent' that refers to the marshland behind the town and the Saxon word 'chesil' meaning shingle beach or embankment.

Old Winchelsea
Old Winchelsea was on a massive shingle bank that protected the confluence of the estuaries of the Rivers Brede, Rother and Tillingham and provided a sheltered anchorage called the Camber. The old town was recorded as Winceleseia in 1130 and Old Wynchchelse in 1321. The Normans used to call the place Wincenesel.

After the Norman Conquest, Winchelsea was of great importance in cross-Channel trade (acting in particular as an entrepôt for London) and as a naval base. In the 13th century, it became famous in the wine trade from Gascony.

There may have been, in the 1260s, over 700 houses, two churches and over 50 inns and taverns thus implying a population of thousands of people at the time. Prior to 1280 incursions by the sea destroyed much of the town until a massive flood completely destroyed it in 1287.

Winchelsea
In the late 13th century, the old town's population moved to the town's present location. In 1281 Edward I granted a charter for a planned town, based on a grid layout, to be built on higher ground on the western edge of Romney Marsh and Camber Sands. The names of the town planners are recorded as Henry le Waleys and Thomas Alard. The new town inherited the title of "Antient Town" from Old Winchelsea and retained its affiliation to the Cinque Ports confederation together with Rye and the five head-ports.

The town had a tidal harbour on the River Brede. It flourished until the middle of the 14th century. It then suffered French and Spanish raids during the Hundred Years' War (including the Castilian attacks on Gravesend) until the 15th century and was hit by the Black Death. In 1350, the Battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer was fought nearby. In 1360 the town was sacked and burnt by a French expeditionary force, sent in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve their King John II of France captured at the Battle of Poitiers four years earlier. The town remained prosperous, although reduced in size until the 1520s. The silting of the harbour ultimately destroyed its prosperity. Camber Castle was built by Henry VIII in the early 16th century halfway between Winchelsea and Rye to guard the approach to the Camber. Much of the stone used in its construction may have been taken from the demolition of the Franciscan monastery of Greyfriars. Winchelsea was greatly involved in the wine trade with Guyenne and the extensive wine cellars under the town may still be visited on open days. In the 1500s, Winchelsea hosted a small community of Huguenots..

Winchelsea retains its medieval setting on a hill surrounded by largely empty marsh, the original layout of the planned town and the largest collection of medieval wine cellars in the country with the possible exception of Norwich and Southampton. It also retains three of the four town gates and several original buildings, including the parish church, which is dedicated to St Thomas the Martyr. Another church, St Leonard's, was later the site of a windmill, which was blown down in the Great Storm of 1987. Some of the original 13th/14th-century fortifications can still be seen at the Strand Gate and Pipewell or Ferry Gate. The scale of the original plan for New Winchelsea can be judged by the site of the "New Gate", over half a mile outside the current town.

Across the road from the churchyard stands the Court Hall, one of Winchelsea's oldest buildings, the lower floor once being the gaol. The first floor is now a museum, full of relics of the history of Winchelsea, the Corporation, and a model of the town. Nearby is the town well, dug in 1851 to save water being carried up the hill. It is thought to be 80 feet deep. At the foot of Strand Hill stands the town workhouse Strand House just behind the port area of Winchelsea which runs along the river bank on the far side of the main road. This area contains the remains of several old buildings, such as the Old Malt House and Appletree Wick while Strand House itself was built around 1425 according to dendrochronology. These buildings made up the workhouse of the parish of Winchelsea being known as "The Old Poor Houses". The area was a subject of archaeological investigation in 2013 which found the remains of the medieval wharf and a medieval boat next to the Bridge Inn.

Winchelsea stands on the main south coast road, the A259. The Royal Military Canal built in the early 19th century as a defence-line against the highly anticipated invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte passes the eastern side of the town and connects to the river Brede.

The town lends its name to the nearby seaside village of Winchelsea Beach.

Governance
In 2006 a group of local residents requested Rother District Council to review the parishing arrangements of Icklesham, with a view to creating a separate Winchelsea Parish. The Parish of Winchelsea Action Group submitted a petition in favour from 228 electors. Other survey and polling evidence suggest the residents of Winchelsea are in favour by a majority of up to 2–1, but that the remainder of Icklesham parish was against the idea by a wide margin. In the May 2007 parish council elections, the proposal for a separate parish council was the key issue. The three candidates supporting a separate parish for Winchelsea were elected by a clear majority in a record turnout of some 66% and the two opposing candidates (including a member of the Corporation and former councillor) were defeated.

Transport
Winchelsea railway station is located 0.75 mi to the north in the Brede valley, on the Marshlink line between Ashford International and Hastings.

The A259 road, a major road from Hastings to Folkestone, runs around the edge of the village. Stagecoach Group run a bus service from Hastings to Rye via Winchelsea.

Notable people

 * Vera Atkins (1908–2000), squadron leader of Special Operations Executive F Section, Col. Maurice Buckmaster's assistant at SOE, lived in Winchelsea after the Second World War.
 * Joseph Conrad (1857–1924), writer, lived for a time in a farmhouse called 'The Pent' as subtenant to Ford Madox Ford.
 * Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), writer, moved to Winchelsea in 1901.
 * Henry Irving (1838–1905), actor, lived with Ellen Terry in a summer house in Winchelsea from 1892.
 * John Harris (c. 1666–1719), author and editor, was rector of Winchelsea.
 * Rod Hull (1935–1999), puppeteer, lived and died in Winchelsea.
 * Spike Milligan (1918–2002), comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor, lived near Winchelsea, and is buried in the churchyard of St Thomas's, Winchelsea.
 * Blanche Patch (1879–1966), author and secretary to George Bernard Shaw for 30 years. One of eleven brothers and sisters, she was the daughter of the Rector of St Thomas's, Winchelsea.
 * Maud Peel (1844-1939) artist
 * Eric Slater (1896–1963), artist and printmaker, lived in Winchelsea.
 * Sir Melford Stevenson PC (1902–1987), barrister and High Court Judge, lived in Winchelsea 1953–1987. His ashes are buried in the churchyard.
 * Ellen Terry (1847–1928), actress, bought and lived in a summer house called Tower Cottage in Winchelsea, beginning in 1892.
 * W.M. Thackeray (1811-1863), novelist, lived in Winchelsea for a time, and set his unfinished novel Denis Duval there.

title: Winchelsea


text:
Manuel DeLanda

Manuel DeLanda (born 1952) is a Mexican-American writer, artist and philosopher who has lived in New York since 1975. He is a lecturer in architecture at the Princeton University School of Architecture and the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where he teaches courses on the philosophy of urban history and the dynamics of cities as historical actors with an emphasis on the importance of self-organization and material culture in the understanding of a city. DeLanda also teaches architectural theory as an adjunct professor of architecture and urban design at the Pratt Institute and serves as the Gilles Deleuze Chair and Professor of Philosophy at the European Graduate School. He holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts (1979) and a PhD in media and communication from the European Graduate School (2010).

DeLanda was previously a visiting professor at the University of Southern California School of Architecture, where he taught an intensive two-week course in the spring 2012 term on self-organization and urbanity; adjunct associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation from 1995 to 2006; and adjunct professor at Cooper Union's Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture.

Films
After moving to New York, DeLanda created several experimental films between 1975 and 1982, some as part of an undergraduate coursework at the School of Visual Arts. While at SVA, DeLanda studied under video artist Joan Braderman; they were subsequently married in 1980 and collaborated on several works (including Braderman's Joan Does Dynasty [1986], DeLanda's Raw Nerves [1980] and Ismism [1979]) before divorcing at an indeterminate point.

Influenced by the No Wave movement, DeLanda's Super 8 and 16mm films also served as methodical, theory-based approaches to the form. He pulled them from circulation after the original negatives were lost; in 2011, Anthology Film Archives restored and reissued them.

Cited by filmmaker Nick Zedd in his Cinema of Transgression Manifesto, DeLanda associated with many of the experimental filmmakers of this New York based-movement. In 2010, he appeared in Céline Danhier's retrospective documentary Blank City. Much of his oeuvre was inspired by his nascent interest in continental philosophy and critical theory; one of his best known films is Raw Nerves: A Lacanian Thriller (1980).

Having moved on to the nondeterministic synthesis of Baudrillardian and Deleuzian theory, command and control techniques, and materialistic concerns of complex systems and artificial life (including cellular automata) that would comprise "Policing the Spectrum" (1986) and War in the Age of Intelligent Machines (1992), DeLanda had largely eschewed by the mid-1980s his interests in "post-Freudian ideas of the unconscious... as well as any interest in film theory."

Philosophical work
DeLanda's notable works include War in the Age of Intelligent Machines (1991), A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History (1997), Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy (2002) and A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity (2006). He has published many articles and essays and lectured extensively in Europe and in the United States. His work focuses on the theories of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari on one hand, and modern science, self-organizing matter, artificial life and intelligence, economics, architecture, chaos theory, history of science, nonlinear dynamics, cellular automata on the other. His 2015 book Philosophical Chemistry: Genealogy of a Scientific Field furthers his intervention in the philosophy of science and science studies.

title: Manuel DeLanda


text:
Windermere, Cumbria (town)

Windermere is a town in the civil parish of Windermere and Bowness, in the Westmorland and Furness district in the ceremonial county of Cumbria, England; it is within the Lake District National Park. The town lies about half a mile (1 km) east of the lake, Windermere, from which it takes its name. In 2021 it had a population of 4,826.

While Windermere town does not itself touch the lake, it forms one urban area with the older town of Bowness-on-Windermere, which is directly on the lake shore. Windermere began to grow when the railway station and hotel of the same name opened in 1847. Tourism is popular in the town, owing to its proximity to the lake and local scenery. Boats from the piers in Bowness sail around the lake, many calling at Ambleside or at Lakeside where there is a restored railway.

History
Historically a part of the county of Westmorland, Windermere town was known as Birthwaite prior to the arrival of the Kendal and Windermere Railway, which stimulated its development. Windermere station offers train and bus connections to the surrounding area, Manchester Airport and the West Coast Main Line.

The geological formations around the area take their name from the town. They are called the Windermere Group of sedimentary rocks.

Etymology
The word "Windermere" is thought to translate as "Winand or Vinand's lake". The specific has usually been identified with an Old Swedish personal name Vinandr. The other possibility is for a Continental Germanic name Wīnand. The second element is Old English 'mere', meaning 'lake' or 'pool'. There is a reference to "Wynandermer" in 1396.

Governance
Windermere was from 1894 to 1974 governed by an urban district council which in 1905 absorbed the former Bowness-on-Windermere UDC although Bowness remained a separate civil parish until 1974. Windermere UDC had slight boundary changes in 1934 and was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 replacing it with South Lakeland District Council. On 29 July 2020 the merged parish was renamed from "Windermere" to "Windermere and Bowness". In 2023 South Lakeland was abolished and merged into Westmorland and Furness unitary authority area.

Transport

Windermere railway station was built in 1847 and was the reason the town was established. The station serves trains run by Northern to Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line; some services continue on to Manchester Airport.

Stagecoach Cumbria operates bus routes to Keswick, Kendal, Lancaster, Grasmere, Ambleside, Bowness-on-Windermere, Barrow-in-Furness, Penrith and Coniston.

The town is near the A591 road, a major road which runs through the Lake District from Kendal to Keswick.

Local media
Regional TV news is provided by BBC North West and ITV Border. Television signals are received from the local relay transmitter.

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Cumbria 104.2 FM, Heart North West on 102.3 FM, Smooth Lake District on 100.8 FM, and Lake District Radio that broadcast online from its studios in Kendal.

The town's local newspapers are The Westmorland Gazette and North West Evening Mail.

Education
There are three primary schools located in the town. Secondary education is provided by The Lakes School (state) and Windermere School (independent, ages 2–18), both of which are located on the outskirts.

Notable people

 * George Godfrey Cunningham (c. 1802–1860) – Scottish writer
 * Thomas Gardner (born 1996) – filmmaker.
 * The Rt. Hon. Dr David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere, lives in Windermere.

title: Windermere, Cumbria (town)


text:
Bowness

Bowness may refer to:

People

 * Alan Bowness (1928–2021), British art historian and former director of the Tate Gallery
 * Felix Bowness (1922–2009), English comedy actor
 * Moses Bowness (1833–1894), Victorian photographer
 * Peter Bowness, Baron Bowness (born 1943), British Conservative politician
 * Rick Bowness (born 1955), head coach for the Winnipeg Jets and former Canadian National Hockey League leftwinger
 * Tim Bowness (born 1963), English singer with No-Man and other projects
 * William Bowness (1809–1867), English artist and poet

Places

 * Bowness-on-Windermere, a town in the Lake District of Cumbria, England
 * Bowness-on-Solway, a village in Cumbria on the Anglo-Scottish border
 * Bo'ness, a town in Scotland
 * Bowness, Calgary, a former town in Canada, now a neighbourhood of Calgary

title: Bowness


text:
Wooler

Wooler is a town in Northumberland, England. It lies on the edge of the Northumberland National Park, near the Cheviot Hills. It is a popular base for walkers and is referred to as the "Gateway to the Cheviots". As well as many shops and pubs, the town has a youth hostel, many hotels, and campsites. It lies on the St. Cuthbert's Way long-distance footpath between Melrose Abbey and Lindisfarne.

The main A697 links the town with Morpeth and Coldstream on the Scottish Border. Wooler has two schools; Wooler First School (including Little Acorns Nursery) and Glendale Community Middle School. The schools and nursery share a single campus on Brewery Road (from September 2015) providing education for children in the Glendale area from 2 years old to 13 years old.

Close by to the west is Yeavering Bell, crowned by a large Iron Age fort, a stronghold of the Votadini. The remnants of many stone huts can be seen on its summit, which is surrounded by a collapsed stone wall.

History
Wooler was not recorded in the Domesday Book, because when the book was written in 1086, northern Northumbria was not under Norman control. However, by 1107, at the time of the creation of the 1st Baron of Wooler, the settlement was described as "situated in an ill-cultivated country under the influence of vast mountains, from whence it is subject to impetuous rains". Wooler subsequently enjoyed a period of prosperity and with its expansion it was granted a licence in 1199 to hold a market every Thursday. The St. Mary Magdalene Hospital was established around 1288.

Wooler is close to Humbleton Hill, the site of a severe Scottish defeat at the hands of Harry Hotspur in 1402. This battle is referred to at the beginning of William Shakespeare's play Henry IV, Part 1 – of which Hotspur is the dashing hero.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the patronage and tithe income from the parish church passed from the Bishop of Durham to the Earl of Tankerville.

Wooler also used to have a drill hall that was the local "picture house" which children were evacuated to in World War II. There also used to be a fountain situated at the top of Church Street in the town.

Alexander Dalziel of Wooler (1781–1832) was the father of the celebrated Dalziel Brothers. Seven of his eight children were artists, and became celebrated wood-engravers in London. Their sister Margaret was also a wood-engraver.

Between 1887 and 1965 the town was served by Wooler railway station on the Alnwick to Cornhill Branch.

Places of worship
Wooler has several places of worship including: At one time, there was also a Methodist congregation in Wooler. The old Methodist chapel on Cheviot Street is now the Glendale Hall.
 * St Mary's Parish Church (Church of England, 1765), Church Street, a Grade II listed building. (There has been a building on the site for over 700 years.)
 * Wooler United Reformed Church (1784), Cheviot Street, a Grade II listed building. (Before the union that formed the United Reformed Church in 1972, this was Wooler Presbyterian Church.)
 * St Ninian's Catholic Church (1856), Burnhouse Road, a Grade II listed building.
 * Wooler Evangelical Church (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches, 2003), Cheviot Street.

Meaning of place-name
Wooler may be from Old English wella "well, spring" and ofer (ridge, hill). A record of the name as Welnfver in 1186 seems to suggest this origin. The well or spring referred to is the River Till. The Wooler Water, part of which is also known as Happy Valley, is a tributary of the River Till and is formed by a confluence of the Harthope and Carey Burns which rise in the Cheviot Hills, to the south of Wooler.

Another possible origin is "Wulfa's hillside", from the Old English personal name Wulfa "wolf" and őra "hillside, slope", although this word in place-names usually means "river mouth, shore". A record of the name as Wulloir in 1232 may suggest this origin. It is not certain which is the actual origin.

Governance
An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches from the Scottish Border south-east to Ingram with a total population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,266.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees. Television signals are received from the Chatton TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated south west of the town. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Newcastle, Heart North East, Capital North East], Hits Radio North East, and Lionheart Radio, a community based station which broadcast form Alnwick. The town is served by the local newspaper, Northumberland Gazette.

Freedom of the Parish
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Parish of Wooler.

Individuals

 * Anthony Murray: 27 May 2021.

 * Rev Cuthbert Allen of Wooler 1730-1779   http://cullenproject.ac.uk/case/1/

title: Wooler