Acol, Kent

Acol (formerly Acholt) is a hamlet and civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Birchington. It is one of the smallest communities in Kent, and over the years large parts of the parish have been transferred to other neighbouring communities.[2] Acol is situated just north of the Western end of the runway at Manston Airport.[3]

Acol
St Mildred's Church, Acol
Acol Location within Kent
Population	295 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid reference	TR308673
Civil parish	Acol
District	Thanet
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIRCHINGTON
Postcode district	CT7
Dialling code	01843
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	South Thanet

History

Acol was recorded in 1270 under the name Acholt meaning Oak Wood.[4]

The condition for labourers throughout Kent at the end of the Napoleonic War deteriorated to the point where unrest brought about the start of the Swing Riots in 1833–4. At the same time, many labourers left Kent, often with the grateful assistance of their parish councils who did not want to keep supporting them, to take up new lives in the colonies in North America and particularly Australia and New Zealand.

About 1880, Henry Perry Cotton, of Quex Park north of Acol, developed land in Kilburn, London, naming one street Acol Road;[5] there in the 1930s Acol Bridge Club members developed the Acol bidding system used by most British contract bridge players.[6]

St Mildred's Church

The Anglican parish church of St Mildred was designed by the architect C. N. Beazley, built in 1876 to serve as both a church and a school. The church, located on Plumstone Road towards the south of the hamlet, was built out of flint rubble in a Gothic Revival style. The construction utilises an inside stock brick walling faced externally with stone quoins, pilasters and buttresses, while the panels set between the stone work are filled using flint. The south side of the building is cut into the ground, providing extended interior space despite the exterior's diminutive size. The building's apse, which replaces the usual chancel arch found in similar churches of its size, contains stained glass windows which depict Christ's Crucifixion, Our Lady and St John the Evangelist, and were designed by Gibbs & Howard, who works out of Charlotte Street in Fitzroy Square, London.[7][8][9]

The Smugglers Leap

Close by Acol is the famous chalk pit where Exciseman Gill and Smuggler Bill met their deaths as told in the well-known poem, The Smuggler's Leap by Richard Harris Barham. Exciseman Gill sold his soul for a demon horse that had the ability to catch Smuggler Bill. In the swirling mist on that night in Thanet, just as Exciseman Gill caught up to the Smuggler, he drove his horse off the top of the chalk pit as did the Riding Officer. The bodies of the two men and only one horse were found later and are still said to haunt the area.[10]

References

1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
2. Notes on the history of the civil parish Archived 9 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Acol Kent - Kent Places of Interest". Kentpoi. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
4. Mills, AD (2011). A Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199609086. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
5. Baker, T F T; Bolton, Diane K; Croot, Patricia E C (1989). "Hampstead: Kilburn, Edgware Road, and Cricklewood.". In Elrington, C R (ed.). A History of the County of Middlesex. Victoria County History. 9: Hampstead, Paddington. London. pp. 47–51. Retrieved 15 January 2020 – via British History Online.; Conservation & Urban Design Team (February 2011). "South Hampstead Conservation Area (Formerly Known as Swiss Cottage Conservation Area) Character Appraisal and Management Strategy". London Borough of Camden. p. 12, sec.4.9. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
6. "Club History". Acol Bridge Club. Retrieved 15 January 2020.; Horton, Mark (2004). The Hands of Time: The Best 100 Bridge Deals Ever Played. Master Point Press. p. zzz. ISBN 978-1-894154-91-8.
7. John E. Vigar's Kent Churches: St Mildred, Acol
8. Newman 1969, p. 103. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFNewman1969 (help)
9. "History St Mildreds". All Saints Birchington with Acol and Minnis Bay. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
10. "The Ingoldsby Legends - THE SMUGGLER'S LEAP - A LEGEND OF THANET". The Ex-Classics. Retrieved 8 September 2017.

External links

• Acol Parish Council