It is the smallest community by population in Britain with a town council.[2] Its population increased by 30 between 2001 and 2011.[1]
History
Fordwich is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as a small village.[3] The town grew in the Middle Ages as a port for boats on their way upriver to Canterbury. All of the Caen stone used by the Normans to rebuild Canterbury Cathedral in the 12th and 13th centuries was landed at Fordwich. It later became a limb of the Cinque Ports. It lost its status as a town in 1880 when it no longer had a Mayor and Corporation. However, in a reorganisation in 1972, Fordwich was again made a town. Fordwich Town Hall was rebuilt in or shortly before 1544.[4]
The ancient Church of St Mary the Virgin, now redundant but open to the public, and in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, contains part of a carved sarcophagus reputed to have contained the remains of St Augustine of Canterbury.[5] The 16th-century building next the Town Hall, now known as Watergate House, was the family home of John and Gregory Blaxland, early 19th-century pioneers of Australia.[6]
Culture and community
There are two pubs in the town, the George & Dragon and Fordwich Arms. Fordwich gained angling and fishing repute from Izaak Walton for its "Fordidge trout", one of the largest types found.[7]
See also
Broughton in Furness with as few as 529 residents
Stockbridge in Hampshire, with a population of 592
Manningtree in Essex, another claimant for smallest town in England, with 700 people in 20 hectares
Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales, another claimant for smallest town in Britain, has a population of 850
Izaak Walton (1653). "Chapter 4 Observations of the nature and breeding of the Trout, and how to fish for him. And the Milk-maids Song.". The Compleat Angler. ISBN978-1500247553.
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