Snargate
Snargate got its name from the sluice gates (the snare) used to control the water level on the Rhee at Snargate. Part of the gates and the monitoring can be still be seen between the church of St Dunstan and The Red Lion public house.
St Dunstan Church in Snargate was built c1200 and was one of the many of the mediaeval churches on the Marsh that were involved with smuggling, their isolation making them good places for the smugglers to hide their contraband goods before their distribution.
The Red Lion, which originates from the early 16th century and has been run by the current family since 1911 and, except for the odd lick of paint, has not been redecorated since 1890. This is a tiny pub with an antique marble bar top and bare wooden floor.
St Dunstan Church
The Reverend Richard Harris Barham, famous for his Ingoldsby Legends, was Rector at St Dunstan in the early 1820s.
In the 1880/90s, Snargate was also home to artist Harold Gilman, sometimes called the English Van Gogh, where his father was Rector.
