Eastchurch is a village on the Isle of Sheppey, a mile east of Minster, Kent. As the village website says "... it has a history steeped in stories of piracy and smugglers".

Eastchurch is styled the 'home of British aviation' - Eastchurch airfield witnessed the first controlled flight by a British pilot on British soil.

The Eastchurch airfield played a significant role in the history of British aviation from 1909 when Frank McClean acquired Stonepits Farm, on the marshes across from Leysdown, converting the land into an airfield for members of the Aero Club of Great Britain.

The Short brothers, Horace, Eustace and Oswald, built aircraft at Battersea to be tested at the site; later Moore-Brabazon, Professor Huntington, Charles S. Rolls and Cecil Grace all visited and used the flying club's services. Wilbur Wright and his brother Orville came to the Isle of Sheppey to visit the new flying grounds of the Aero Club. In 1909, Moore-Brabazon made the first live cargo flight by fixed-wing aircraft, by tying a waste-paper basket to a wing strut of his Shorts-built Wright aircraft. Then, using it as a "cargo hold", he airlifted one small pig.

The Eastchurch airfield was also the site, in July 1911, of the competition for the Gordon Bennett Cup for powered air racing, attended by flyers from all over the world, and won that year by the American pilot C. T. Weymann.

A stained glass window in the south side of All Saints' Church, Eastchurch (built in 1432), was dedicated to Rolls and Grace, who were killed in July and December 1910 respectively.

In July 2009, Eastchurch will celebrate 100 years of aviation history associated with the Island. SkySheppey will bring together a number of Associations and join with many visitors to recognise the importance of British aviation history that started at Eastchurch. Organisers, Eastchurch Parish Council, are planning the event for 25th and 26th July 2009.

It has a history in aviation, e.g. near where the prisons are located now was an airfield. This is where the Wright brothers first flew their planes in the United Kingdom. It is also home to many, many forms of aircraft and where they were originally developed in the early 1900s, notably Short Brothers. An aviation memorial is located in the centre of the village, opposite the village church. In July 1911 it was the site of the Gordon Bennett Trophy air race (see the notes in the Isle of Sheppey article). During the Battle of Britain, it was one of notable bases of the Polish Air Forces. This summer we have a exhibition dedicated to the history of Eastchurch aviation view poster