WEST HYTHE

 West Hythe is not a suburb of Hythe, but a separate hamlet some miles away.

A tiny hamlet lying on the banks of the Royal Military Canal, at the base of Lympne Hill, West Hythe once held far more importance than it does now. 

The ancient parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is disused and in ruins. Nonetheless, it is listed as a Grade II monument, and is a structure monitored by English Heritage. It was constructed in the twelfth century and heavily rebuilt in the fourteenth century. The British Listed Buildings website reports that the church was burnt down in 1620. There is some evidence that St Mary's may have been, in origin, a minster church.

At the lower end of the hamlet, lies Botolphs' Bridge pub, and its' namesake bridge over the New Cut part of the canal.

Botolph's connection with the community is unclear, and the name may be derived from the saint's patronage of farming. It is also possible that the saint visited the area during one of his known preaching trips from his native East Anglia to the South Saxon people. 

According to local legend, the name Botolph's Bridge is derived from the time of the Danish invasions of eastern England, or shortly thereafter, when Botolph's body was exhumed and carried to an unknown location by monks of Ikenhoe. The legend reports that the body was brought to West Hythe and there guided by a mysterious light from above to the only safe crossing of a deep drainage dyke, at the place now known as Botolph's Bridge. The legend is represented artistically on the pub sign of the Botolph's Bridge Inn.

Curiously, the bridge itself bears the motto of the Prince of Wales 'Ich Dien'