PETER (ST.), a parish, member of the
cinque-port liberty of DOVOR, though locally in the
hundred of Ringslow, or Isle of Thanet, lathe of STATHetrsTiNE,
county of KENT, 2 miles (N.) from Ramsgate,
containing, with the hamlets of Broadstairs, Kingsgate,
&c., 2101 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage,
in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury, rated in
the king's books at £ 9, and in the patronage of the
Archbishop of Canterbury. The church, though small,
is remarkable for its neatness. There is a place of
worship for Wesleyan Methodists. At Broadstairs, in
this parish, a chapel of ease was erected by subscription
in 1828. The village is much frequented by visitors
from Margate; and there are public gardens,
called Ranelagh Gardens, disposed with much taste, and
at a considerable expense, and placed under the superintendence
of the master of the ceremonies at Margate,
during the season, when it is not unusal for seven hundred
persons to assemble at one time, to partake of the
amusements of the place. Elizabeth Lovejoy, in 1694,
bequeathed her interest in certain tithes for the support
of a schoolmaster to teach twenty boys; the income is
£20 a year, and is applied as directed by the donor.