Conyer

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Conyer
Footbridge within Swale Marina, Conyer - geograph.org.uk - 1088914.jpg
Swale Marina, Conyer
Kent UK location map.svg
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Conyer
Location within Kent
OS grid reference TQ961646
Civil parish
  • Teynham
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SITTINGBOURNE
Postcode district ME9
Dialling code 01795
Police Kent
Fire Kent
Ambulance South East Coast
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Kent
51°20′50″N0°48′56″E / 51.347328°N 0.815595°E / 51.347328; 0.815595 Coordinates: 51°20′50″N0°48′56″E / 51.347328°N 0.815595°E / 51.347328; 0.815595
Conyer village sign Conyer Village Sign - geograph.org.uk - 1088883.jpg
Conyer village sign

Conyer is a hamlet within Teynham civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. It is located around one mile north of the village of Teynham, and at the head of Conyer Creek, which flows into the Swale to the north. The Saxon Shore Way and National Cycle Route 1 pass through the hamlet.

Contents

Amenities in Conyer include a pub and a marina.

History

The hamlet was frequently mentioned in early records, being described as Roman in nature, and often mentioned in relation to smuggling. It is said that a quarter of all the vessels engaged in smuggling nationwide were based in Kent and Sussex, with Conyer playing its part as a smuggling community in the 18th and 19th century. [1]

Brick making

During the Industrial Revolution, barges were used to move many raw materials and finished goods, which were produced in Kent, into the River Thames and on to London and beyond. Paper mills and brickfield in the local area, were fed by the barges that brought in sand, mud and household waste such as cinders [ disambiguation needed ] for brick making, and took away the newly constructed bricks. The yellow stock bricks from Conyer were used to create the giant railway viaduct running from London Bridge to Greenwich. [2] Conyer was ideally suited for this purpose (due its closeness to the Thames, via The Swale) and then a successful barge-building industry developed. [1]

Conyer also provided much of the employment in the area after the 1920s with its brick works and cement factory. See Charles Richardson (cement merchant). In the mid-19th Century, Conyer had seven large-scale brickfields. This employed many hundreds of workers, who also then frequented the many new pubs in the area. Most of these have, since been closed and converted. Including the Brunswicks Arms in Conyer. [3]

A small railway was built from the main London - Sittingbourne line to Conyer, to transfer materials to the brickfields. [4] All traces of this line have been removed, after its use during World War II. [5] Some of the line is now a footpath from Barrow Green, Teynham to Conyer.

The brickworks closed in the 1980s, the site since, has been cleared. Part of the site has a planning application for development (for 24 dwellings) after a lengthy planning application process. The rest of the site will be left as a Nature Reserve. [6]

Barge building

In 1803, John Huggens built the earliest known barge was built in the area. [7] John Bird (who was born 1832) is reputed to be the first of the barge builders to settle in Conyer. Records exist for a sailing barge built there in 1866, the year he began his work at the yard. The last of the many sailing barges was built at the Conyer yard in 1914, but repair works continued well into the 1930s, with several barge yachts built in the 1920s. [1] Alfred Marconi (who took over John Bird's yard) built many different types of barge. Some continued to exist as house barges, well into the 1960s.

The marina near the local pub/restaurant is still popular.

Other notes

Conyer and the surrounding area (mostly farms) is popular with walkers, either following the Saxon Shore Way along the Swale, or with various footpath links to Sittingbourne and Faversham. [2]

Related Research Articles

Borough of Swale Non-metropolitan district in England

Swale is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England and is bounded by Medway to the west, Canterbury to the east, Ashford to the south and Maidstone to the south west. Its council is based in Sittingbourne. The district is named after the narrow channel called The Swale, that separates the mainland of Kent from the Isle of Sheppey, and which occupies the central part of the district.

Sittingbourne Human settlement in England

Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, 17 miles (27 km) from Canterbury and 45 miles (72 km) from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. The town became prominent after the death of Thomas Becket in 1170, since it provided a convenient resting point on the road from London to Canterbury and Dover.

Thames sailing barge Type of commercial sailing boat

A Thames sailing barge is a type of commercial sailing boat once common on the River Thames in London. The flat-bottomed barges with a shallow draught and leeboards, were perfectly adapted to the Thames Estuary, with its shallow waters and narrow tributary rivers. The larger barges were seaworthy vessels, and were the largest sailing vessel to be handled by just two men. The average size was about 120 tons and they carried 4,200 square feet (390 m2) of canvas sail in six working sails. The mainsail was loose-footed and set up with a sprit, and was brailed to the mast when not needed. It is sheeted to a horse, as is the foresail; they require no attention when tacking. The foresail is often held back by the mate to help the vessel come about more swiftly.

Teynham railway station Railway station in Kent, England

Teynham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the village of Teynham, Kent. It is 47 miles 74 chains (77.1 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Sittingbourne and Faversham.

Faversham and Mid Kent (UK Parliament constituency)

Faversham and Mid Kent is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2015, the seat has been represented by Helen Whately of the Conservative Party.

Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency)

Sittingbourne and Sheppey is a constituency represented in the House of Commons since 2010 by Gordon Henderson, a Conservative.

Hamstreet Human settlement in England

Hamstreet is a village in Kent, in South East England.

Saxon Shore Way Long-distance footpath in England

The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the route runs significantly inland from the modern coastline.

Lynsted Human settlement in England

Lynsted is a village in Lynsted with Kingsdown civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The village is situated south of the A2 road between Faversham and Sittingbourne and the nearest M2 junction is Faversham three miles east. Lynsted is in many respects an archetypal old English village with church, churchyard with an ancient yew, pub and a duck pond. The village is locally referred to as Lovely, Lovely Lynsted and various songs have been written about it.

Lower Halstow Human settlement in England

Lower Halstow is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is northwest of Sittingbourne on the banks of the Medway Estuary. It lies north of Newington on the A2 Roman road.

Teynham Human settlement in England

Teynham is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. The parish lies between the towns of Sittingbourne and Faversham, immediately north of the A2 road, and includes the hamlet of Conyer on an inlet of the Swale, the channel that separates mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. Other hamlets include Deerton Street, Frognal, and Teynham Street. Teynham also has a carnival court. There is selections every year when girls from 14-18 can audition to be Miss Teynham or a Teynham princess.

Newington, Swale Human settlement in England

Newington is a village and civil parish in the borough of Swale in Kent, England. The parish is located beside the A2 road between Rainham to the west and Sittingbourne to the east. The population of the parish in 2011 was 2,551.

Faversham (UK Parliament constituency)

Faversham was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Faversham in Kent which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Milton Regis Human settlement in England

Milton Regis is a village in the district of Swale in Kent, England. Former names include Milton-next-Sittingbourne, Milton Royal, Middleton, Midletun and Middletune. It has a population of about 5,000. Today it is a suburb of Sittingbourne, although this has not always been the case, with Milton Regis having an older and richer history. Until around 1800, Sittingbourne was a smaller hamlet and under the control of the Manor of Milton Regis.

South Swale

South Swale is a 410.5-hectare (1,014-acre) Local Nature Reserve north of Faversham in Kent. It is owned by Kent County Council and managed by Kent Wildlife Trust. It is part of The Swale Ramsar site, Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest

Murston Human settlement in England

Murston is a suburb of Sittingbourne in Kent, England. It is about 1 mile north-east of central Sittingbourne, on the east bank of the Milton Creek.

Kemsley is a suburb of Sittingbourne in Kent, England.

Charles Richardson was the founder of the family Brick and Cement Firm A & WT Richardson Ltd, which lasted over 100 years. On 18 October 1840 he married Selina Ellis at Lambeth. The couple had one daughter, Selina Richardson born March 1842 and four sons - Alexander R Richardson born 1847, Walter T Richardson born 1849, Frederick Charles Richardson born 1851 and George Canning Richardson born March 1855.

Milton Creek Country Park Park in Kent, England

Milton Creek Country Park is situated in 128 acres between Milton Regis and Kemsley, on the west bank of Milton Creek in Sittingbourne, Kent, England. This site was once called Church Marshes Country Park.

SB <i>Ironsides</i>

Ironsides is an iron-hulled Thames barge which was built in 1900 for APCM. She was registered in London. A 60 hp auxiliary engine was fitted in 1939.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History - The Ship Inn Conyer" . Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ↑ Mayes, Penny. "Geograph:: Conyer © Penny Mayes cc-by-sa/2.0". www.geograph.org.uk. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  4. ↑ "LHP Postcards". Archived from the original on 4 May 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  5. ↑ "Rambling in Kent by Twisden: Conyer Creek to Faversham along the sea wall". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Bloomfields Ltd Chartered Town Planners - News". Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Pursuant to the will of John Huggens born 1776". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
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