Isle of Thanet

The Isle of Thanet /ˈθænɪt/ lies at the most southern easterly point of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the 600-metre (2,000 ft) Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island.

Archaeological remains testify to the fact that ancient peoples lived here. Today, it is a tourist destination, but it also has a busy agricultural base.

Standard reference works for English place-names, such as Eilert Ekwall's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, state that the name "Thanet" is Celtic in origin, and may mean "bright island" or "fire island", perhaps from the presence of a beacon or lighthouse. The Historia Brittonum, written in Wales in the 9th century, states that "Tanet" was the name used for the island by the legendary Anglo-Saxons Hengist and Horsa, while its name in contemporary Welsh was "Ruoi(c)hin"; this name may be translated as "gift" (compare Modern Welsh rhwych). The 7th-century Archbishop Isidore of Seville recorded an apocryphal folk-etymology in which the island's name is fancifully connected with the Greek word for death (Thanatos/Θάνατος), stating that Thanet, "an island of the ocean separated from Britain by a narrow channel ... [was] called Tanatos from the death of serpents; for while it has none of its own, soil taken from it to any place whatsoever kills snakes there."

Archaeological evidence shows that the area now known as the Isle of Thanet was one of the major areas of Stone Age settlement. A large hoard of Bronze Age implements has been found at Minster-in-Thanet; and several Iron Age settlements have also come to light.

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