converted to residential use. The orphanage's school is now the village hall. During both World Wars the Manston area became important as an aircraft base, particularly in the Second World War as an airfield for emergency landings of damaged Allied bombers returning from the continent. Today the former RAF Manston is home to Kent International Airport. The RAF Manston Museum tells the story of the air station. Governance Manston Parish Council consists of seven members and holds its meetings in the RAF Museum Geography Manston Parish lies in the middle of the Isle of Thanet and includes the hamlets of Haine, Lydden, Woodchurch and Shottendane. A large part of it is agricultural land. The village St Catherine's Church was built in 1872 with monies raised by locals as a Chapel of ease for those of the St Lawrence Parish who were unable to attend the church in St Lawrence. The land was donated by the Vicar of St Lawrence, Rev. G. W. Sicklemore. There is a war memorial on the village green to those who served and died in the two world wars of the twentieth century. The village pub is The Jolly Farmer, located in what was in 1672 part of a pair of farm dwellings, and originally registered as a public house in November 1738 by Lazarus Haywood under the name "Jolly Farmers". It was leased to its first tenant Keeper, Samuel Packer (a boot and shoe maker from Ramsgate) in March 1739. During the Second World War the Jolly Farmer was a favourite of pilots stationed at RAF Manston. It was rumoured that many of the pilots signed their names on the ceiling of 'the snug', but this has been painted over and so the rumour is unverifiable. The licensee from 1957 to 1980 was the footballer Bert Turner. There is an active village hall with its own committee, used during elections as a polling station; and two caravan parks: Preston Parks (statics) and Manston Court. The erstwhile post office and village store is now closed: the post box bearing the mark of GR is all that remains. There is flourishing Garden Club. Transport Kent International Airport (formerly RAF Manston) is located near the village. Plans were announced in October 2013 for a new railway station to serve the village and airport. The airport closed on 15 May 2014. References External links Villages in Kent Civil parishes