The Ville of Ramsgate, as it is denominated in judicial proceedings, "though in the Parish of St. Lawrence, yet maintains its own poor separately, notwithstanding which, it is assessed to the Church in common with the rest of it; but the inhabitants have the privilege of chusing one Churchwarden from among themselves, and raising only a proportion of the Church cess. It is an ancient member of the town and port of Sandwich, and within the jurisdiction of the Justices of that place. The Mayor of Sandwich appoints a Deputy or Constable here, and the inhabitants are allotted by the Commissioners of that Corporation, what proportion they shall pay towards the land-tax raised by that Port."* A small annual sum is also paid out of the duties collected at Ramsgate Harbour, towards the support of Sandwich Haven.

The great influx of visitors to this town of late years, has occasioned the erection of several new rows of large and respectable houses, besides various detached buildings. A spacious Chapel of Ease has also been erected, under an Act passed in 1785; and was first opened in 1791: here are also two Meeting-Houses; one for Presbyterians, the other for Anabaptists. Other improvements have also been made within the last twenty or thirty years: the streets have been paved, watched, and lighted; and a Market has been established, which is well supplied with meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables.

The accommodations for the summer residents of Ramsgate, are similar to those at Margate; though, perhaps, not quite so numerous, and somewhat less splendid. The Assembly-Room and Tavern is a large building, near the Harbour, elegantly fitted up, and containing convenient Tea and Card-Rooms, a Billiard-Room, and a Coffee-Room, Here are several good Iuns also, with Bathing-Rooms, Libraries, Boarding-Houses, &c. The BathingPlace is a fine sandy shore beneath the Cliffs to the south of the Pier; the machines are of the same kind as those at Margate. The Ramsgate Hoys, or Packets, are principally employed in the conveyance of luggage, goods, &c. as the frequent difficulty of weathering

Hasted's Kent, Vol. X. p. 386. Svo. Edit.

weathering the North Foreland generally induces those who prefer a sea-trip, to sail in the Margate Packets.

The population of this town has more than doubled within the last thirty-five years; and is continually receiving increase from the numbers who are induced, by different motives, to settle here. In the year 1773, the number of houses was below 500; in the year 1801, they were returned at 726; and since that period, they have been proportionably augmented. The amount of the population, in 1801, was returned at 3110; of which the number of males was 1411. Since the completion of the Harbour, the shipping trade has been much improved; and two or three vessels now belong to this Port, which are constantly employed in the importation of coals from Newcastle and Sunderland. Boat-building, and the repairs of shipping after heavy gales of wind, are also carried on here, and occasionally to considerable extent.

ELLINGTON, a small estate, about half a mile westward from Ramsgate, was anciently the seat of a family of the same name, who, towards the end of the reign of Edward the Fourth, were succeeded by the Thatchers, another ancient Kentish family, from whom, in the time of Elizabeth, it passed to the Spracklyns. Adam Sprackling, Esq. who resided here in the reign of Charles the First, and had married Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert Leukner, of Acrise-Place, was, in April, 1653, executed for the murder of his wife, against whom he appears to have conceived a rooted antipathy, through conceiving her to be in league with his creditors, after the derangement of his affairs by riotous living, had compelled him to lock himself up in his own house, to avoid being arrested. Occasionally, however, he seems to have been afflicted by outrageous fits of passion, mingled with insanity, and in one of these he committed the horrid deed for which he suffered; though, from the many appearances of design which accompanied the sanguine act, the jury were induced to declare him guilty of premeditated murder. The unfortunate victim to his rage was highly esteemed for her piety and virtue. Her death was particularly dreadful: he first struck her on the face with his dagger; and then, on her attempting to open the door to leave the room, Rrr2 struck

struck her wrist so forcibly with an iron cleaver, or chopping-knife, ⚫ that the bone was cut asunder, and her hand hung down only by the sinews and skin.' With the same weapon he afterwards made a blow at her forehead; and she fell to the ground, bleeding; but, recovering herself, she arose upon her knees, and while praying to God to pardon her murderer, had her head cleft in two, so that she immediately fell down stark dead. committed in December, 1752; at which time Sprackling had been married nineteen years.

This murder was

ST. LAWRENCE, a large village, so called from the dedication of its Church, was anciently a Chapelry to Minster, but was made parochial in the year 1275. It stands on the brow of the hill immediately above Ramsgate, the houses forming a long and winding street on the high road to that town. The Church is a large edifice, consisting of a nave, aisles, and three chancels, with a square tower rising from four massive columns between the nave and principal chancel. The tower, and part of the body, are of Norman architecture: the outside of the former is ornamented with ranges of small semicircular arches, springing from plain octagonal pillars: the capitals of the piers which support it, display some curious sculpture. Among the numerous sepulchral memorials in this fabric, are several in memory of the Spracklings, of Ellington. The inscriptions for the Manstons, of Manston Court, in this Parish, given by Weever, who supposes the Church to have been founded by that family,+ are now destroyed, or obliterated. At a short distance eastward from this structure, are some remains of a Chantry Chapel, that was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, but has been long converted into a small dwelling. In this Parish was born RICHARD JOY, who, in the reign of William the Third, was so celebrated for his extraordinary strength, as to obtain the name of the English Sampson, or the Strong Man of Kent. In 1699 his picture was engraved, and round it several representations of his performances: as pulling against an extraordinary strong horse; jumping; breaking a rope that would sustain 35 hundred weight; lifting

Lewis's Thanet, p. 183-6. + Fun. Mon. p. 267, Edit. 1631.