Kent is atraditional county inSouth East England with long-established human occupation.
The discovery of stone tools at theLower Palaeolithic site ofChequer's Wood and Old Park, near Canterbury, provides the earliest evidence of human occupation in Kent, as early as 712,000–621,000 years ago.[1] The early human species who made these tools was likelyHomo antecessor orHomo heidelbergensis. This is the earliest securely dated site withAcheulean stone tools in northern Europe.[1] The Old Park site is also important for retaining evidence of very earlyNeanderthal populations visiting Britain during theAnglian Glaciation, the most severe glaciation of the last two million years. Although they likely visited during the brief, warmerinterstadial periods within this broaderice age period.[1]
The Swanscombe skull, uncovered at Barnfield Pit, a quarry in Swanscombe, is the oldesthuman skull found in Britain. It is difficult to say much about the three fragments of skull from one individual, as they are all from the rear of the skull, butChris Stringer suggests that they come from a female, some of whose characteristics suggest she is from a population ancestral to Neanderthals.[2] It dates to theHoxnian Interglacial, a warming period 400,000 years ago.[3]
In June 2023 researchers from UCL Archaeology Southeast over 800 stone tools, including two giant handles dating to over 300,000 years ago, were discovered on a hillside near Medway Valley in Frindsbury near Strood.[4] At the time the area was a wild landscape of forests and river valleys with animals including red deer, straight-tusked elephants, lions and horses.
During theNeolithic theMedway megaliths were built and there is a rich sequence ofBronze Age occupation indicated by finds and features such as theRinglemere gold cup.
The name Kent probably means 'rim' or 'border' (compare the dictionary words cant in English, Kant in German, etc.), regarding the eastern part of the modern county as a 'border land' or 'coastal district.'Historical linguists believe that theproto-Indo-European root *kanthos could not pass into a Germanic language with its initial K sound intact, so the word must have passed via an intermediate language, eitherCeltic orLatin.Julius Caesar described it as Cantium, although he did not record the inhabitants' name for themselves, in 51 BC. His writings suggest localised groups of people whose chieftains were flattered by his description of them as 'kings'. Writing of the Britons generally in hisCommentarii de Bello Gallico Caesar noted that: "...by far the most civilised are those who inhabit Cantium, the whole of which is a maritime region; and their manners differ little from those of the Gauls". Pottery studies indicate the county east of theRiver Medway was inhabited byBelgic peoples who were part of an economic and cultural region embracing south east England and the lands across theEnglish Channel.
The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by other CelticIron Age tribes; theRegni and possibly another ethnic group occupyingThe Weald known today as the Wealden People. During the late pre-Roman Iron Age the names of a few British kings are known, such asDumnovellaunus andAdminius. AnIron Age settlement seems to have formed the basis for the later town ofFolkestone, whilst a hillfort of that date seems to be the forerunner ofDover Castle.
Although now two miles from the sea amid the marshes of east Kent,Richborough Roman fort was arguably the Romans' main entry point when they invaded Britain in circa AD 43. They established abridgehead and commemorated their success by building a triumphal arch whose cross shaped foundations still survive at the site which is now looked after byEnglish Heritage.
Roman Britain was under attack bySaxon and other raiders in the 3rd century and it became necessary to fortify the once-prosperous commercial port ofRutupiae. Triple ditches and ramparts were dug (still visible round the site of the arch Richborough Roman fort although the defences were completely revamped after a decade or so andRichborough was provided with its circuit of towered stone walls and outer ditches, becoming one of the most important of the Saxon shore forts. It was one of the last to be regularly occupied and there is evidence of a large Roman population here in the early 5th century, some of them worshipping in the early Christian church discovered in a corner of the fort.
Following the withdrawal of the Romans, a large-scale immigration of Germanic peoples occurred in Kent.[5] These groups introduced theOld English language to Britain. It is likely that some of the native Romano-Britons remained in the area, however, as they were able to influence its name (recorded as Cantia or Cent) even after the settlement of the Germanic tribes.[6] East Kent became one of the kingdoms of theJutes during the 5th century (seeKingdom of Kent). The earlyMedieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara or Kentish people, whose capital (the only town called a metropolis byBede[7]) was atCanterbury.
Canterbury is the religious centre of theAnglican faith, and see of SaintAugustine of Canterbury. Augustine is traditionally credited with bringing Christianity toAnglo SaxonEngland, landing at Ebbsfleet, Pegwell Bay on theIsle of Thanet (northeast ofKent) in the spring of 597.
Alathe was an ancient administration division of Kent, and may well have originated during theJutish colonisation of the county. These ancient divisions still exist, but have no administrative significance today. There were sevenLathes in Kent at the time of theDomesday Book, which reveals that in 1086 Kent was divided into the seven lathes or "lest(um)":Aylesford,Milton,Sutton, Borough,Eastry,Lympne andWye. For administrative, judicial and taxation purposes these units remained important for another 600 years, although by 1295 the number of lathes had reduced to five: Borough andEastry were merged to form theLathe of St. Augustine, the lathe of Lympne was renamed the Lathe of Shepway, the lathes of Milton and Wye were merged to form theLathe of Scray.[8][9] Each of the lathes were divided into smaller areas calledhundreds, although the difference between the functions of lathes and hundreds remains unclear.[10]
Following the invasion of Britain byWilliam of Normandy the people of Kent adopted the mottoInvicta meaning "unconquered" and claimed that they had frightened theNormans away. This claim was given credence by the fact that the Normans had quickly marched to London without subduing the Kentish lords and peasantry, constantly harassed and ambushed by the Kentish populace at every turn. Kent did not submit to Norman rule until their rights and privileges had been acknowledged and unmolested. As a result, Kent became a semi-autonomousCounty Palatine under William's half-brotherOdo of Bayeux, with the special powers otherwise reserved for counties bordering Wales and Scotland.[11] A decade after theNorman Conquest,Penenden Heath near Maidstone was the scene ofa successful trial of Odo of Bayeux. The trial, ordered by William I at the behest ofLanfranc,Archbishop of Canterbury challenged the Earl's purported landholdings in the county, an event which represented an important attempt by Saxon landowners to reassert their pre-Norman rights and privileges.[12]
Gavelkind was an example ofcustomary law in England. After theNorman Conquest, gavelkind was superseded by thefeudal law ofprimogeniture in the rest of England, but in Kent gavelkind meant that on death, a man's property was equally divided amongst his surviving sons, which led to land being divided into ever smaller parcels. Therefore, thestrip system of farming in open fields was never established in Kent. This gives evidence to the Invicta legend and seems to support that, at least among smaller landowners and common folk,Normans, were forced to respect Kentish rights and law.Gavelkind was finally abolished by the Law of Property Act in 1925.[13]
Canterbury became a great pilgrimage site following the martyrdom ofThomas Becket (1119/20–1170),[14] who was eventually canonised in 1246.[15] Canterbury's religious role also gave rise toChaucer'sCanterbury Tales, a key development in the rise of the written English language and ostensibly set in the countryside of Kent. Rochester had its own martyr,William of Perth, and in 1256 Lawrence, Bishop of Rochester travelled toRome to obtain William's canonisation.[15]
During the medieval period, Kent produced several rebellions including thePeasants' Revolt led byWat Tyler and later,Jack Cade's rebellion of 1450.Thomas Wyatt led an army into London from Kent in 1553, againstMary I.
As well as numerousfortified manor houses, Kent has a number of traditional militarily significant castles, including those atAllington,Chilham,Dover,Hever,Leeds,Rochester andWalmer, built to protect the coast, theRiver Medway or routes intoLondon.
TheRoyal Navy first used theRiver Medway in 1547 when a storehouse was rented on 'Jyllingham Water'. By the reign ofElizabeth I (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established atChatham. By 1618, storehouses, aropewalk, adrydock and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham.[16]
By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the continental powers of theNetherlands andFrance led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built along the coast following araid by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of theMedway towns in 1667.[17] Kent also played a significant role in theEnglish Civil War around 1648.[18]
The 18th century was dominated with wars with France, and the Medway became the prime position to base a fleet that would act against the Dutch and French Coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to theAtlantic,Portsmouth andPlymouth assumed these roles and Chatham concentrated on shipbuilding and ship repair. Many of theGeorgian naval buildings are still extant. In peacetime the work force atChatham Dockyard was reduced to a quarter of its wartime roll.[16]
Chatham Dockyard built over 400 naval ships includingHMS Victory in the age ofships of the line, ironclads includingHMS Africa 1905, and 57 submarines, while also refitting ships. The keel for HMSVictory was laid at Chatham on 23 July 1759.[19] DuringWorld War II, Chatham refitted 1360 warships such asHMSAjax.[16]Charles Dickens' father worked in the dockyard, andChatham,Rochester and theCliffe marshes were to feature in many of his books.[20]
As an indication of the area's military importance, the firstOrdnance Survey map ever drawn was the 1 inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Work on the map started in 1795.[21]
In the early 19th centurysmugglers were very active on the Kent coastline, with gangs, such as theAldington Gang bringingspirits,tobacco andsalt to Kent, taking goods likewool across theEnglish Channel toFrance.[22]
On Saturday night, 28 August 1830, a widespread uprising by rural workers began in East Kent, with the destruction ofthreshing machines in theElham Valley area and by the third week of October, over one hundred machines had been destroyed.[23] The uprising, that eventually became known as theSwing Riots, spread across southern England and East Anglia.[23] The general unrest, particularly about the state of the workhouses, was instrumental in the introduction of thePoor Law Amendment Act 1834.[23]
In May 2019,Kent Archaeological Field School uncovered a 150 by 50 ft (46 by 15 m) Roman building at Abbey Farm. According to the Dr. Paul Wilkinson, the building contained broken stone walls covering huge amounts of box flue tiles, which were used to direct hot air up the indoor walls, glazedterracotta floors, an untouched underfloor withhypocaust heating and tons of ceramic roof tiles. Although the plaster painted from these walls were mostly white, plaster walls coloured with green, red and yellow panels were found in the hot sauna room on the north side of the building.[24]
As London developed over time, especially during the 19th century, it expanded into north-west Kent. Settlements in this area became urbanised and increasingly regarded as suburbs of London. This view became stronger as local government areas in the region were created that were more closely aligned with London than with Kent.
An administrative area known as theCounty of London was created by theLocal Government Act 1888. The new county incorporated part of north west Kent includingDeptford,Greenwich,Woolwich andLewisham.Penge was gained from Surrey by theLondon Government Act 1899.
TheLondon Government Act 1963 created an enlargedGreater London in 1965 which took in more of northwest Kent. TheLocal Government Act 1972 abolished the previous structure of local government in 1974 and created a newnon-metropolitan county of Kent, divided into districts. It also abolished Canterbury as acounty borough which became a district under the new county council. The places that had been removed in 1888 were amalgamated to form theLondon Borough of Lewisham and theRoyal Borough of Greenwich and two further boroughs were created. These were theLondon Borough of Bromley, an amalgamation ofBromley,Beckenham,Chislehurst,Orpington andPenge and theLondon Borough of Bexley comprisingBexley,Sidcup,Erith andCrayford.
Much of theBattle of Britain duringWorld War II was fought in the skies over the county, and between June 1944 and March 1945, over 10,000V1 flying bombs, orDoodlebugs, were fired on London from bases in Northern France. Many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns orbarrage balloons, but around 2500 fell on the capital - but almost the same number fell in Kent, and the area became known asDoodlebug Alley.[25] The town of Deal was also the target for a1989 attack by the IRA.
Much of the north-west of the county is part of theLondon commuter belt. TheThames Gateway regeneration area includes riverside areas of north Kent as far east asSittingbourne and largely to the north of the A2 road. Much of Kent, especially the Medway area, saw post-war migration from London. This was partly because of the heavy damage and destruction sustained by London inWorld War II.
In 1998,Rochester,Chatham,Gillingham andRainham left the administrative county of Kent to form theUnitary Authority ofMedway, but remain in the ceremonial county of Kent.[26]
The two cities in Kent wereCanterbury, the seat of theArchbishop of Canterbury, andRochester, the seat of theBishop of Rochester. However, since 1998 when local government was reorganised, Rochester lost its officialcity status, thought at the time to be through an administrative oversight.[27] In 2018, it was reported that the loss of city status was not accidental.[28]
Kent is traditionally divided into East Kent and West Kent and such a division can be traced back at least as far as the Anglo-SaxonKingdom of Kent. Those from the East are known asMen of Kent (orMaids of Kent) and those from the West asKentish Men (orKentish Maids).[29]
Julius Caesar called Kent, Cantium, and the pre-Roman local tribe theCantiaci subsequently become acivitas (unit of local administration) of Roman Britain, based atDurovernum Cantiacorum (modernCanterbury). The Germanic settlers adopted the Romano-British name of Cantium and this lends weight to the idea thatcivitas passed from British to Germanic (Jutish) hands with its structure essentially intact.[30] The civitas territorymay only have consisted of East Kent so the origins of the sub-divisions of Kent may thus go back to theIron Age.
The East and West Kentish identities date back at least as far as the Anglo-Saxon period. In the early days of the English church it was usual for kingdoms, even large ones likeMercia andNorthumbria, to be served by just one diocese, but Kent was unique in having two,Rochester in the west, andCanterbury in the east.
This seems to have reflected political divisions with eastern and western political units in place at that time. In the late 7th century, Kent is recorded as being under the control of co-Kings, one in the west (Swaefherd, of theEast Saxon royal house) and one in the east – both of these being under the overlordship ofAethelred of Mercia.[30]
These political divisions may reflect the varying ethnic make-up of the leadership of Kent at that time, the difference being between theJutes who settled in the east and south of the county shortly after the Roman armies' departure early in the 5th century and the Angles andSaxon who may have settled in the west of the county slightly later, or simply a divided, decentralized Jutish kingdom. Modern DNA testing suggests the people of Kent have a greater genetic affinity with each other than persons from other counties in England.[32]
F. F. Smith's 1929 workA History of Rochester quotes a 1735 glossary by theRev. Samuel Pegge on the subject:
A Man of Kent and a Kentish Man is an expression often used but the explanation has been given in various ways. Some say that a Man of Kent is a term of high honour while a Kentish Man denotes but an ordinary person. Others contend that men born in Kent east of the River Medway are Men of Kent while those born west of the river are Kentish Men.The division's origins are obscure but may derive from the ethnic differences between the Jutes who settled in the east and south of the county shortly after the Roman armies' departure early in the 5th century and the Angles and Saxon who settled in the west of the county slightly later. Although of similar descent from the Germanic area of Europe to the Angles and Saxons, the Kentish Jutes regarded themselves as a separate kingdom with their own laws and customs, calling themselves Kentings, believing that they were the real Men of Kent and retaining many of their customs until quite late into the Middle Ages. They were responsible for introducing the system of inheritance known as gavelkind, whereby all descendants of a deceased person shared the property and belongings equally. In Saxon law, the eldest child inherited.
The history of early Anglo-Saxon England is very uncertain and prone to re-interpretation according to the fashion of the time. A Jutish elite may have formed their kingdom in the east, expelling or absorbing rival tribes and Jutish kings settling the land with their own followers until the kingdom reached its traditional borders, as was customary across Britain during the initial Anglo-Saxon invasions and settlement. Whatever the case, Jutish cultural influence was evident across the whole county by the Norman period.[30]
According to the BBC website, legend holds that a few hundred years later, it is said the Men of Kent resistedWilliam the Conqueror more stoutly than the Kentish Men, who surrendered.[33]
Kent is traditionally divided into East Kent and West Kent by theRiver Medway. However, some towns, such as theMedway Towns –Rochester,Chatham andGillingham (althoughRainham was annexed from Swale, and is thus considered part of East Kent) andMaidstone – lie on the east / south bank of the river.[clarification needed]
The historic area of West Kent included a number of places now inGreater London; specifically the London Boroughs ofBexley,Bromley,Greenwich andLewisham. This included locations such asSidcup,Orpington, andGreenwich.
Further investigation also shows that the division is not, in fact, the river Medway, but lies further east in Gillingham, or, more precisely, at Rainham. Along the London road at Rainham is a small hamlet, now part of the town itself, known as Rainham Mark. Here once stood an ancientboundary stone, nearThe Hops and Vinepublic house – formerlyThe Belisha Beacon – and since replaced by a milestone that, traditionally, marks the division of Kent into its eastern and western zones.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.
According to one local historian, Freddie Cooper, a former mayor of Gillingham, this division remained in force until 1 April 1929 when Rainham was transferred, despite protest, from the administration of Milton Rural District Council to that of Gillingham.
F. F. Smith's 1929 workA History of Rochester quotes a 1735 glossary by the Rev.Samuel Pegge on the subject:
A Man of Kent and a Kentish Man is an expression often used but the explanation has been given in various ways. Some say that a Man of Kent is a term of high honour while a Kentish Man denotes but an ordinary person. Others contend that the men of west Kent are Men of Kent while those of East Kent are only Kentish Men.
One example of this traditional subdivision are Kent's two historic local regiments, theQueen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment and theBuffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), now both part of thePrincess of Wales' Royal Regiment. Another is its two historical parliamentary constituencies,West Kent andEast Kent. West Kent and East Kent each had their ownQuarter Sessions until 1814, when the separate administrations of East and West Kent were merged. The West Kent Quarter Sessions Division was based in Maidstone and consisted of theLathe of Aylesford, theLathe of Sutton-at-Hone, and the lower division of theLathe of Scray.[34] The East Kent Quarter Session, corresponding roughly to theDiocese of Canterbury, consisted of the threelathes: Lathe of St Augustine, Lathe of Shepway, and the upper division of the Lathe of Scray.[35] The distinction between these two-halves of the county is perpetuated in the present-day by theAssociation of the Men of Kent and Kentish Men, an organisation formed in 1913.
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as aTyke fromYorkshire and aYellowbelly fromLincolnshire; 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.[36]
