Kent

Probably the most significant geographical feature of Kent is the White cliffs of Dover. It is here that the North Downs reaches the sea. From there to Westerham is now the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Weald derives its ancient name from the Germanic word wald meaning simply woodland. Much of the area remains today densely wooded; where there are also heavy clays the tracks through are nearly impassable for much of the year.

Kent's principal river, the River Medway, rises near Edenbridge and flows some 25 miles (40km) eastwards to a point near Maidstone when it turns north. Here it breaks through the North Downs at Rochester before joining the River Thames as its final tributary near Sheerness. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge. There are other rivers in Kent.

Industries

Kent is sometimes known as the Garden of England because of its agricultural influence, extensive orchards and hop-gardens. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oast houses are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer London, market gardens also flourish.

In more recent times, three industries have been of some importance: paper-making, cement-making and coal-mining:

• Paper needs a supply of the right kind of water: in Kent the original mills stood on streams like the River Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on the Great Stour. Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames; and at Kemsley on The Swale.
• Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were being undertaken. The ready supply of chalk available, and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway.
• Coal was mined in East Kent: from about 1900 several pits were operating, and Snowdown Colliery was opened in 1908. The coalfield is now closed.

Political divisions

Canterbury is in East Kent.

Man of Kent or Kentish Man?

However, further investigation shows that the division is not the Medway, but further east in Gillingham. Edward Hasted, in his 1798 description of Rainham, writes: "The whole of this parish is in the division of East Kent which begins here, the adjoining parish of Gillingham, westward, being wholly in that of West Kent."

The division, according to one historian, Freddie Cooper, a former Mayor of Gillingham, remained until April 1, 1929 when Rainham was transferred, despite protest, from the administration of Milton Rural District Council to that of Gillingham.

Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a Tyke from Yorkshire and a Yellowbelly from Lincolnshire; the traditional nickname for people from Kent is 'Kentish Long-Tail', deriving from the long-held belief on the continental mainland of Medieval Europe that the English had tails.

In religious matters, Kent was divided between the two episcopal areas of Canterbury and Rochester.

A lathe was an ancient administration division of Kent, and may well have originated during a Jutish colonisation of the county. These ancient divisions still exist, but have no administrative significance. There are seven Lathes in Kent; Aylesford, Milton, Sutton, Borough, Eastry, Lympne and Wye. These units are recorded as intermediate between the county and hundred. The Domesday Book reveals that in 1086 Kent was divided into the seven lathes or "lest(um)" for administrative, judicial and taxation purposes and these units remained important for another 600 years. Each of the seven lathes were divided into smaller areas called hundreds, although the difference between the functions of lathes and hundreds remains unclear.

• Taken from Frank W Jessup's History of Kent 1958

A Manorial court was an early form of dispensing justice which came into being after the Domesday Book. Among other things it dealt with land tenure. After the 17th century most of the court's functions were taken over by a Justice of the Peace, who had first been appointed from the 14th century. From 1361 until 1971 the justices met four times a year in Quarter Sessions. In Kent there were separate courts of Quarter Sessions (at Maidstone and Canterbury) until 1814.

The Under the Poor Law every parish had had the responsibility of looking after its own poor, and seeing that they had the bare minimum of shelter, food, clothing and medical attention. In most parishes the burden of poor relief mounted rapidly in the early part of the 19th century. Huge population increase, and the lack of work on the land, made it imperative that the Poor Law was amended. It was, in 1834, when the institutions known as workhouses came into being. These were often run by a group of parishes — hence the title Union Workhouse. Boards of Guardians were set up to oversee them.

Boards of Health

Highway boards

Municipal boroughs

Kent County Council

Paul Carter became leader of Kent County Council in October, 2005, succeeding Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart.

Parish councils

• All the preceding notes in this section taken from Kent History Illustrated Frank W Jessup (Kent County Council 1966)

Changes in 1965 and 1974

Medway unitary authority

Economy

Note 1: includes hunting and forestry

Note 2: includes energy and construction

Note 3: includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Note 4: Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Kent and London

Further change came in 1965, when the County of London was abolished and Greater London took its place. The places that had been removed in 1888 were amalgamated to form the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Greenwich and two further boroughs were created. These were the London Borough of Bromley, an amalgamation of Bromley, Beckenham, Chislehurst, Orpington and Penge and the London Borough of Bexley comprising Bexley, Sidcup, Erith and Crayford.

Much of the north-west of the county is part of the London commuter belt. The Thames Gateway regeneration area includes riverside areas of north Kent as far east as Sittingbourne and largely to the north of the A2 road.

Ceremonial county

Cities, towns and villages

Places of interest

The county emblem of Kent

• Bayham Abbey Lamberhurst [2]
• Bedgebury Pinetum
• Bewl Water
• Bough Beech Reservoir, Ide Hill
• Bluewater Shopping Centre
• Canterbury Cathedral
• Chartwell, Winston Churchill's home [1]
• Chatham Dockyard It has been suggested Chatham originated the word chav.
• Chiddingstone Castle
• Cinque Ports
• Deal Castle [2]
• Dolphin Yard Sailing Barge Museum, Sittingbourne
• Dover Castle [2]
• Dungeness Power Station
• East Kent Railway, a heritage railway
• Emmett's Garden, Ide Hill [1]
• Faversham
• Hever Castle
• Hoo Peninsula
• Ightham Mote 14th century house [1]
• Isle of Grain
• Isle of Sheppey
• Isle of Thanet
• Kent & East Sussex Railway, a heritage railway
• Kent Battle of Britain Museum
• Kent International Airport (formerly known as London Manston Airport) with two aviation museums
• Knole, Sevenoaks [1]
• Leeds Castle
• North Downs Way, a long distance footpath
• Penshurst Place
• Reculver Roman Fort & Reculver Tower
• Richborough Castle & Roman Fort, near Sandwich [2]
• Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, a heritage railway
• Romney Marsh
• Royal Engineers Museum of Military Engineering, Gillingham
• St Augustine's Abbey,Canterbury [2]
• St. Lawrence Cricket Ground, Canterbury
• Scotney Castle [1]
• Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Sissinghurst [1]
• Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, a heritage railway
• Smallhythe Place, Tenterden [1]
• Stour Valley Walk
• Squerryes Court & Garden, Westerham
• Turner Gallery to open in Margate
• Upnor Castle [2]
• Walmer Castle & Gardens [2]
• The Wantsum Channel

• *[1] Properties under the care of the National Trust
• *[2] Properties under the care of English Heritage

See also

• Recreational walks in Kent
• Thames Gateway - includes details of regeneration projects in the northern areas of Kent

References