Hythe, Kent

The small seaside resort and town of Hythe, in the District of Shepway, (derived from ship-way) is one of the five original Cinque Ports on the south coast of Kent, in England. Although it is beside a broad bay on the English Channel, four miles to the west of Folkestone, silting of the coast has removed any sign of its port and harbour.

The Cinque port Court of Shepway.

A monumental cross now indicates the position of what was once from 1358 a meeting place of the confederation of the Cinque ports, located several miles to the west of Hythe, and known then as 'the Shepway crossroads.' Shepway cross erected in 1923, the monument to the Court of Shepway, known as the Shepway cross may be found beside the Hythe to Lympne road. (b2067) The lathe of Shepway was the Saxon name for most of modern Kent.

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