Shepway District
—  Non-metropolitan district  —
Shepway shown within Kent
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Non-metropolitan county	Kent
Status	Non-metropolitan district
Admin HQ	Folkestone
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Government
• Type	Non-metropolitan district council
• Body	Shepway District Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Conservative)
• MPs	Damian Collins
Area
• Total	137.7 sq mi (356.7 km2)
Area rank	118th (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
• Total	101,200
• Rank	222nd (of 326)
• Density	730/sq mi (280/km2)
• Ethnicity	97.3% White 1.5% S.Asian
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
ONS code	29UL
OS grid reference	TR2233835912
Website	www.shepway.gov.uk

Shepway is a local government district in Kent, England.^[1] It includes the towns of Folkestone and Hythe and the Romney Marsh. It is named after the Jutish lathe of Shepway; the Royal Court of Shepway, which met near Lympne at a place called Shepway Cross, was the principal court of the Cinque Ports Federation.^[2] Shepway District Council uses the Folkestone White Horse as a logo.

Governance[link]

The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the boroughs of Folkestone, Hythe, Lydd and New Romney, along with Elham and Romney Marsh Rural Districts. Its council offices are in Folkestone.

In 2011, Lydd Airport's owners – who are seeking to expand the airport – gave "gifts to councillors", which councillors did not declare.^[3]

The District Council consists of 46 councillors representing 22 wards.^[4] Those wards are:

• Dymchurch and St Mary's Bay
• Elham and Stelling Minnis
• Folkestone: nine wards (Cheriton; East; Foord; Harbour; Harvey (two wards, Central and West); Morehall; Park; and Sandgate)
• Hythe: three wards (Central, East and West)
• Lydd
• Lympne and Stanford
• New Romney: two wards (Town and Coast)
• North Downs: two wards (East and West)
• Romney Marsh
• Tolsford^[5]

Following the May 2011 elections, the composition of Shepway District Council is 44 Conservatives and two from the People First party.

The third tier of local government in Shepway consists of town councils in Folkestone, Hythe, New Romney and Lydd; and the following parish councils:^[6]

• Acrise (M)
• Brenzett
• Brookland
• Burmarsh
• Dymchurch
• Elham
• Elmsted
• Hawkinge
• Ivychurch
• Lyminge
• Lympne
• Monks Horton (M)
• Newchurch
• Newington
• Old Romney (M)
• Paddlesworth (M)
• Postling
• St Mary in the Marsh
• Saltwood
• Sandgate
• Sellindge
• Snargate (M)
• Stelling Minnis
• Stowting (M)
• Stanford
• Swingfield

(M) Parishes marked thus are served by a parish meeting, not a parish council

Geography[link]

Shepway occupies the most southerly part of Kent. It is bounded on the north by Ashford and Canterbury Districts; on the east by Dover District and on the south by the Strait of Dover. The Romney and Walland Marshes cover a good deal of its area to the west; where the North Downs begin to reach the sea there is much more in the way of settlement. The four towns in the District are all located along the coast.

Economy[link]

In economic terms, Shepway is the third most deprived area in Kent, after Thanet and Swale. Like them, it has a high rate of unemployment; poor educational attainment figures; and with the majority of businesses being small operations.^[7]

The major source of economy is, however, tourism. Events and venues are widely publicised.^[8][9]

Transport[link]

The M20 motorway crosses the District to end at Folkestone. Other main roads include the A259 south coast road and the A260 which takes traffic towards Canterbury. The South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 both cross the district: the western end of the Channel Tunnel is at Cheriton, west of Folkestone.

The Royal Military Canal crosses the northern edge of the Romney Marsh; and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway runs out to Dungeness from Hythe.

The North Downs Way, and the other Kent long-distance footpaths.

Several long distance footpaths cross the District, including the Saxon Shore Way and the North Downs Way; shorter walks include the ’’Elham Valley Walk’’ and the ’’Royal Military Canal Path’’.

Lydd Airport is also in this district.

Notable people from Shepway District[link]

References[link]

v t e Districts of South East England Berkshire Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale Chiltern Milton Keynes South Bucks Wycombe East Sussex Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden Hampshire Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Kent Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Shepway Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Oxfordshire Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire Surrey Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking West Sussex Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

v t e Towns and villages in the Shepway district of Kent, England Acrise · Arpinge · Beachborough · Bladbean · Bodsham · Breach · Brenzett · Brookland · Burmarsh · Cheriton · Danton Pinch · Densole · Dymchurch · Dungeness · Elham · Elmsted · Etchinghill · Folkestone · Frogholt · Greatstone-on-Sea · Hawkinge · Hythe · Ivychurch · Lade · Littlestone-on-Sea · Lydd · Lydd-on-Sea · Lyminge · Lympne · Monks Horton · Newchurch · Newingreen · Newington · New Romney · Old Romney · Paddlesworth · Pedlinge · Peene · Postling · Rhodes Minnis · Saltwood · Sandgate · Sandling · Sellindge · Selsted · Snargate · Stanford · Stelling Minnis · St Mary in the Marsh · St Mary's Bay · Westenhanger · West Hythe · Wingmore List of places in Kent

Coordinates: 51°4′43.86″N 1°10′28.61″E / 51.07885°N 1.1746139°E / 51.07885; 1.1746139