Birchington-on-Sea

Birchington-on-Sea
Minnis Bay
Birchington-on-Sea Location within Kent
Population	9,961 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	TR298694
Civil parish	Birchington
District	Thanet
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIRCHINGTON
Postcode district	CT7
Dialling code	01843
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	North Thanet
List of places UK England Kent 51°22′37″N 1°18′18″E / 51.377°N 1.3050°E / 51.377; 1.3050

Birchington-on-Sea is a village in the Thanet district in Kent, England, with a population of 9,961.

The village forms part of the civil parish of Birchington. It lies on the coast facing the North Sea, east of the Thames Estuary, between the seaside resorts of Herne Bay and Margate. As a seaside resort, the village is a tourist and retirement destination. The village's Minnis Bay is a family beach with attractions such as sailing, windsurfing, a paddling pool and coastal walking routes. Its three smaller beaches are surrounded by chalk cliffs, cliff stacks and caves.

The village was first recorded in 1240. Its parish church, All Saints', dates to the 13th century and its churchyard is the burial place of the 19th-century Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Quex Park, a local 19th century manor house, is home to the Powell-Cotton Museum and a twelve-bell tower built for change ringing.

The museum contains a large collection of stuffed exotic animals collected by Major Percy Powell-Cotton on his travels in Africa, and also houses artefacts unearthed in and around Birchington by his daughter, Antoinette Powell-Cotton, a keen archaeologist.