Kingsgate

Kingsgate takes its name from a gate erected to commemorate the landing of King Charles II and his brother the Duke of York on 13 June 1683.
An extract from from"Around the Kent Coast".

Kingsgate Castle was rebuilt in the mid 1800s by Lord Holland. It was a private house for a while, and then became a hotel run by the North Foreland Hotels Ltd. One well known resident of Kingsgate was the actor Jack Warner, who played the policeman Dixon of Dock Green on television for 21 years, He died in 1981.
An extract from from"Around the Kent Coast".

The impressive facade of the Hotel Metropole, with the Ship Hotel next door, faced the end of the Jetty to greet the thousands of holidaymakers who travelled down on the paddle steamers. In the foreground is a ‘guess your weight’ machine, where you only paid if the proprietor guessed your weight correctly. He could do this by cleverly adjusting the weights to his advantage. Six houses to the left was the lodging house of Mrs Sophia Booth, where J M W Turner stayed between 1827 and 1851. From here he painted watercolours of golden sunsets over the sea to the west and the misty dawns to the east. Between 1939 and 1945 the Hotel Metropole and surrounding properties were demolished as part of the town’s Fort Road Improvement Scheme. The area as it was before demolition can be seen in the aerial photograph on pages 8-9. Three acres of rundown cafes, souvenir shops and a wooden arcade were cleared, and a new dual-carriageway swept down the hill offering a clear panoramic view of the sands and bay.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".

The list of `Fashionables` taking rooms in the Cliftonville Hotel would be published weekly in the local newspaper, again emphasising the separation of the social classes.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".

Margate received its Charter of Incorporation in 1857. Communal action and a progressive Town Council aided development with the building of promenades, bandstands, concert halls and the provision of a good water supply and drainage. The resort spread eastwards into Cliftonville, and later westwards to take over Westgate and Birchington. The boarding houses of Margate became the private guest houses and hotels of Cliftonville; dinner was served in the evening and not midday, and amateur landladies with old-fashioned rules were replaced by professionally trained staff. Frith’s Margate has now almost disappeared. There has been a partial rejection of the traditional bucket and spade family fortnight by the sea. With competition from continental holidays in sunnier climates and the mobility brought by package tours and private car ownership, visitors are demanding a higher standard of amenity and more sophisticated entertainment. The town’s population is also increasing with a larger number of permanent residents enjoying their memories and pensions in their retirement years by the sea.
An extract from from"Margate Town and City Memories".