Margate is a seaside town in southeastern England’s Kent County. The town lies on the North Sea about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of Canterbury. Margate is in the local government district of Thanet, which has a population of 140,587. Margate became a popular resort in the late 1700’s.
Margate has several notable buildings, including the parish church of St. John, built in the late 1000’s. Margate’s Theatre Royal is among England’s oldest playhouses (built in 1787), while the Tom Thumb Theatre is one of England’s smallest. The Royal Sea Bathing Hospital, opened in 1796, once treated illnesses with seawater baths. A number of Margate’s citizens died in German air raids during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945). They are commemorated—along with many sailors, soldiers, and airmen—on the Margate War Memorial.
Beneath Margate is the mysterious Shell Grotto, an underground complex with more than 4 million seashells decorating the walls and ceilings. Discovered in 1835, the grotto’s origin has never been determined. The Turner Contemporary Gallery, an art museum named for the British painter J. M. W. Turner, opened in Margate in 2011. See also Kent; Turner, J. M. W.
