St Nicholas-at-Wade is both a village and a civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent.
The name derives from its location on the western border of the Isle of Thanet which was originally separated from the Kent mainland. Before the channels of the River Wantsum and River Stour silted up, one would have been able to 'wade' at this point over a ford. In Roman times the channel was navigable and the site likely very busy with the Saxon Shore Forts of Regulbium (Reculver) and Rutupiae (Richborough) both close by. Remains of Roman shipbuilding yards are said to have been found between St Nicholas-at-Wade and nearby Sarre.
The 13th Century parish church of St Nicholas, after which the parish is named, was a chapel of ease for St Mary's church at Reculver. The first rector is recorded as Adam de Brancaster in 1294. Built in flint, the church houses some fine 16th century brasses, a carved oak pulpit dated 1615, and a coat of arms of King George III.
The neighbouring village of Sarre, appointed a 'limb' of the Cinque Port of Sandwich in the 14th century, is also part of the civil parish. Sarre is located at the point where the old 'Island Road' from Margate to Canterbury crossed the Wansum Channel, initially by a ferry and from the Middle Ages by a bridge. The route of this bridge is followed by a short section of the modern A28 and is still marked on some maps as 'Sarre Wall'.
The village has a pretty working windmill which still produces stone ground flour from local wheat crops.