Leysdown-on-Sea

Leysdown-on-Sea is a coastal village on the east side of the Isle of Sheppey in the Borough of Swale in Kent, England. The civil parish is Leysdown and includes the settlements of Bay View, Shellness and Harty.HistoryIt is noted in the Domesday Book as being called Legesdun and the name is thought to be derived from the Saxon words "Leswe" (pasture) and "Dun" (hill).A very small hamlet up to late Victorian times, it was developed a little after the arrival of the Sheppey Light Railway in 1903, though grand plans for the establishment of a large resort with hotels never materialised. The railway was closed in the 1950s.On 2 May 1909, John Moore-Brabazon became the first resident British citizen to make a recognised powered heavier-than-air flight in the UK flying from The Aero Club's ground at Leysdown in his Voisin biplane Bird of Passage.GeographyLeysdown is located a mile to the SSE of Warden and three miles to the ESE of Eastchurch. To the SSE lies the hamlet of Shellness and to the southwest is an area of marshland known as the Leysdown marshes. The island is located partly in The Swale and partly in the North Sea with a shingle beach and mudflats extending out to sea. It is recommended in the 2009 Good Beach Guide.