Ramsgate is a resort town on the east coast of the Isle of Thanet in Kent, England. Ramsgate has excellent beaches and a thriving tourism industry. It is also a busy commercial port. Ramsgate is just 35 miles (56 kilometers) from Calais, France.
Roman soldiers established a fortress in the Ramsgate area around 40 B.C. Vikings and Anglo-Saxons later settled the area. In the 1480’s, Ramsgate became a member of the confederation of Cinque Ports. In the past, the Cinque Ports provided the monarch of England with free ships and crew. Construction of Ramsgate harbor began in the 1749. In 1821, British King George IV gave it the title of “Royal Harbor”—the only such harbor in the United Kingdom.
Tens of thousands of British soldiers passed through the port of Ramsgate on their way to the European battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815). During World War I (1914-1918), German airships called zeppelins bombed Ramsgate. A Royal Navy base and a nearby Royal Air Force airfield made the town a bombing target again during World War II (1939-1945). In May 1940, Ramsgate was one of the main ports involved in the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkerque, France.
For many years, Ramsgate and nearby Pegwell Bay ran passenger ferries and hovercraft (air cushion vehicles) to Belgium and France.
