The Churches of Whitstable and Seasalter.

The parish church, as now seen, dates from about the beginning of the fifteenth century, and the oldest me­morial in the church is a brass to the memory of Thomas Brede, dated 1440.

This church is a mile and a quarter out of the town, but curiously enough in the High Street stands the parish church of the adjoining parish of Seasalter.

In 1524, John Roper, of St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, bequeathed the sum of one hundred mares to be spent in making "a horseway for the fisher wives and others in the highways from Whytestaple to the entry of the street of St. Dunstan, the Westgate of Canterbury." If this horse-way were ever formed there seems to be no trace of it now.

Leland, Ireland, and Hasted.

Both Ireland and Hasted, in their histories of Kent, include references which throw considerable light on the connection of Whitstable, not only with the oyster fishery, but also with the outside world. Leland also in the quaint language of his day records that "Whitstable in the time of Henry VII. was a great fisher towne of one paroche, belonging to Playze College, in Essex, and standeth on the se-shore. Ther about they dragg for oysters." Ireland mentions the death of David de Strabolgie, Earl of Athol, who died here in 1327, being then owner of the "Manor of Northwood, alias Whitstable."

Kent and Essex Fisherman.

On the opposite side of the Thames estuary lies the coast of Essex. A certain amount of rivalry formerly existed between the fishermen of Kent and Essex, of which there is evidence in certain letters addressed, in 1598, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord High Treasurer of England, the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, the Lord Privy Seal, and the Lord High Admiral, to Peter Marwood and John Boys, requiring them to investigate a trespass committed by the Essex men upon the Whitstable fishery.

In this connection it may be interesting to note that in 1814 a trial took place in the Queen's Bench to decide if a Colchester fisherman was doing right or wrong in dredging up and taking brood from Chichester Harbour. The Court held that the taking could not he penal, when the object of such taking was not to destroy, but to pre­serve. With all respect to judicial authority, this decision appears to have been an odd one, unless, of course, they were natural uncultivated oysters, on which no one had spent any time or money.

The fact that the oyster is more prolific as a rule on the Essex coast, but improves rapidly on being transferred to fatten on the Whitstable beds, has led to much business intercourse between the fishermen of Kent and Essex. The flats of the Kentish coast being common ground, Colchester smacks are frequently seen dredging for brood there, delivering their catches at Whitstable, and retiring for rest and shelter to the Swale, where a fleet of Essex yawls at anchor is no uncommon sight. It is stated in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1860, Part II., pp. 237-245, that at the spot where the Swale is crossed by an iron bridge from the mainland to Sheppey, Augustine baptised 10,000 converts on Christmas Day, 597 A.D. Though this statement may be founded on fact, one would like a little more information on the point of numbers baptised, and whether they took the opportu­nity of indulging in a few oysters.

In spite of the frequent communication between Kent and Essex fishermen, the old rivalry still crops up occasionally. The crew of a Whitstable smack not long since observed an Essex boat dredging off the coast near Reculvers, and determined to play off a practical joke on their visitors. Knowing to a nicety the exact position of what is thought to be the wreck of a submerged Spanish galleon, they sailed over it, at the same time partially hauling up their dredges and lowering them again after passing over it. The Essex men, following on what they supposed must he a profitable course, unconscious of any danger, left their dredges down, and left they were permanently, being entangled hard and fast in the wreck. The only consolation to the Essex crew was to shout out a promise to keep a treat in store for the Whitstable smack if she ever paid a visit to the opposite shore.