The county has an area of 3,544 square kilometres (1,368 sq mi) and had population of 1,931,684 in 2024. The north-west of Kent is densely populated, withDartford andGravesend belonging to the Greater London conurbation andChatham,Gillingham andRochester forming a second conurbation around theRiver Medway; the town ofMaidstone is located to their south. The remainder of the county is more rural, and its principal settlements include the city ofCanterbury in the north-east, the seaside resort ofMargate on the north-east coast, and the ports ofDover andFolkestone on the east coast. For local government purposes Kent consists of anon-metropolitan county, with twelve districts, and theunitary authority area ofMedway. The county historically included south-east Greater London, and is one of thehome counties.
The north of Kent is a plain bordering theThames Estuary. South of this is theNorth Downs, a chalk downland ridge which crosses the county from north-west to south-east and which forms dramatic chalk cliffs, including theWhite Cliffs of Dover, where it meets the English Channel.[6] The south-west of the county contains part of theGreensand Ridge and theWeald, the area between the North andSouth Downs.[7][8][9] The south-east of the county contains the low-lyingRomney Marsh.[10] TheNorth Downs andHigh Weald have been designatednational landscapes. The geography of the county lends itself to the cultivation of fruit orchards, and it has been nicknamed "the Garden of England".[11] In north-west Kent, industries include aggregate building material extraction, printing, and scientific research.Coal mining has also played its part in the county's industrial heritage.
Kent's location between London and theStrait of Dover, the narrowest crossing point between England andmainland Europe, has led to the county being the point of entry for many prominent figures and groups in British history. It was one of the first British territories to be settled by Germanic tribes, most notably theJutes, following the withdrawal of the Romans.[12]In the 6th century,Saint Augustine landed in the county to begin theconversion of England toChristianity and became the firstarchbishop of Canterbury;Canterbury Cathedral is now aWorld Heritage Site. England relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of its history; theCinque Ports in the 10th[13]–14th centuries andChatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance.Dover Castle has been described as the "key of England" due to its strategic significance.[14]
Yet he [Pytheas] declares that the extent of the island is more than 20,000stadia and says that Kantion is several days' sail fromKeltike.[18]
As such, it has been claimed as the "oldest recorded name still in use in England".[19]
The meaning has been explained as 'coastal district', 'corner-land' or 'land on the edge' (Welsh:cant 'bordering of a circle, tyre, edge';Breton:cant 'circle';Dutch:kant 'side, edge'). In Latin sources the area is calledCantia orCantium, while the Anglo-Saxons referred to it asCent,Cent lond orCentrīċe.[20][21]
Julius Caesar described the area asCantium, or the home of theCantiaci, in 51 BC.[23] The extreme west of the modern county was by the time ofRoman Britain occupied by a Celtic Iron Age tribe known as theRegni. Caesar wrote that the people of Kent were "by far the most civilised inhabitants of Britain".[21]
Following the withdrawal of the Romans, large numbers of Germanic speakers from mainland Europe settled in Kent, bringing their language, which came to beOld English. While they expelled the native Romano-British population, some likely remained in the area, eventually assimilating with the newcomers.[24] Of the invading tribes, theJutes were the most prominent, and the area becamea Jutish kingdom[25] recorded asCantia in about 730 andCent in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were referred to as theCantwara, or Kentish people. The city of Canterbury was the largest in Kent.[26]
Kent was traditionallypartitioned into East and West Kent, and intolathes andhundreds. The traditional border of East and West Kent was the county's main river, theMedway. Men and women from east of the Medway are Men (or Maids) of Kent, those from the west are Kentishmen or Kentish Maids.[21] The divide has been explained by some as originating in the Anglo-Saxon migrations, with Jutes mainly settling east of the Medway and Saxons settling west of it.[29][30]
In the 11th century, the people of Kent (orChenth, per theDomesday Book) adopted the mottoInvicta, meaning "undefeated" or "unconquered". The adoption of this motto followed the invasion of Britain byWilliam of Normandy, as he was unable to subdue the county and they negotiated favourable terms. The continued resistance of the Kentish people against theNormans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomouscounty palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brotherOdo of Bayeux, the county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas borderingWales andScotland.[31]
During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including thePeasants' Revolt of 1381, led byWat Tyler,[32]Jack Cade's Kent rebellion of 1450, andWyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against QueenMary I.[33]
Title page ofWilliam Lambarde'sPerambulation of Kent (completed in 1570 and published in 1576), a historical description of Kent and the first publishedcounty history
TheRoyal Navy first used theRiver Medway in 1547. 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.[34]
Hand-drawn map of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Middlesex from 1575
By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along the coast following theraid on the Medway, a successful attack by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of theMedway towns in 1667.[35]
The 18th century was dominated by wars with France, during which the Medway became the primary base for a fleet that could act along the Dutch and French coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to theAtlantic, this role was assumed byPortsmouth andPlymouth, with Chatham concentrating on shipbuilding and ship repair. As an indication of the area's military importance, the firstOrdnance Survey map ever drawn was a one-inch map of Kent, published in 1801.[36] Many of theGeorgian naval buildings still stand.
In the early 19th century, smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline. Gangs such asThe Aldington Gang brought spirits, tobacco and salt to the county, and transported goods such as wool across the sea to France.[37]
Originally, the border between Kent and Sussex (laterEast Sussex) ran through the towns ofTunbridge Wells andLamberhurst. In 1894, by theLocal Government Act, the parts of these towns that lay in East Sussex were absorbed by Kent.
During the Second World War, much of theBattle of Britain was fought in the skies over Kent.
Between June 1944 and March 1945, more than 10,000V1 flying bombs, or "Doodlebugs", were fired towards London from bases inNorthern France. Although many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns andbarrage balloons, both London and Kent were hit by around 2,500 of these bombs.
After the war, Kent's borders changed several more times. In 1965, the London boroughs ofBromley andBexley were created from nine towns formerly in Kent.[38][39] In 1998, Rochester, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham andRainham left the administrative county of Kent to form theunitary authority ofMedway. Plans for another unitary authority innorth-west Kent were dropped, but in 2016 consultations began between five Kent local authorities (Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, and Ashford) with a view to forming a new unified authority for East Kent, although remaining within the auspices of Kent County Council. This idea was eventually dropped.
For almost nine centuries, a small part of present-day East London (theNorth Woolwich,London E16 area), formed part of Kent.
TheWhite Cliffs of DoverView of the White Cliffs of Dover from FranceA map of Romney Marsh "The history of imbanking and drayning" byWilliam Dugdale (1662)
The major geographical features of the county are based on a series of ridges and valleys running east–west across the county. These are the results oferosion of theWealden dome, a dome across Kent andSussex created byalpine movements 20–10 million years ago. This dome consists of an upper layer ofchalk above successive layers ofUpper Greensand,Gault Clay,Lower Greensand,Weald Clay, and Wealden sandstone. The ridges and valleys formed when the exposed clay eroded faster than the exposed chalk, greensand, or sandstone.
The Wealden dome is aMesozoic structure lying on aPalaeozoic foundation, which can often create the right conditions for coal formation. This is found in East Kent roughly between Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. TheCoal Measures within the Westphalian Sandstone are about 820–1,310 ft (250–400 m) deep, and are subject to flooding. They occur in two major troughs, which extend under the English Channel.[44]
Seismic activity has occasionally been recorded in Kent, though theepicentres were offshore. In 1382 and 1580 there were two earthquakes exceeding 6.0 on theRichter Scale. In 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007 there were earthquakes of around 4.3. The2007 earthquake caused physical damage in Folkestone.[45] A further quake on 22 May 2015 measured 4.2 on the Richter Scale.[46] It was centred in the Sandwich area of east Kent at about ten miles below the surface. There was little if any damage reported.
Geological cross-section of Kent, showing how it relates to major towns
Kent's principal river, theRiver Medway, rises nearEast Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards toMaidstone. Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames nearSheerness. The Medway is some 70 miles (112 km) long.[47][48] The river is tidal as far asAllington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream asTonbridge.[47] The Medway has captured the head waters of other rivers such as theRiver Darent. Otherrivers of Kent include theRiver Stour in the east.
A 2014 study found that Kent shares significant reserves of shale oil with other neighbouring counties, totalling 4.4 billionbarrels of oil, which then Business and Energy MinisterMichael Fallon said "will bring jobs and business opportunities" and significantly help with UK energy self-sufficiency.Fracking in the area is required to achieve these objectives; it has been opposed by environmental groups.[49]
Kent is one of the warmest parts of Britain. On 10 August 2003, in the hamlet ofBrogdale nearFaversham the temperature reached 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), at that time the highest temperature ever officially recorded in the United Kingdom. The record still stands as the hottest August day ever recorded.[50]
Of Kent's thirteen districts, two are under Conservative control (Sevenoaks, Dartford), four are under Labour control (Gravesham, Medway, Thanet, Dover), one is under Liberal Democrat control (Tunbridge Wells), and six are under no overall control and are administered by coalitions (Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone, Swale, Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone and Hythe). Notably, Thanet is the only council in the United Kingdom to have come underUK Independence Party (UKIP) control, which it did in2015.[54]
At the national level, Kent is represented in theHouse of Commons byeighteen Members of Parliament (MPs). The county has historically been dominated by the Conservative Party at general elections. Prior to 2024, the party had won a majority of Kentish seats in every election since the local government reforms of 1974, including during Labour'slandslide victories of1997 and2001. In both2010 and2015, the Conservatives won every seat in the county.[55] The2024 election saw a sharp decline in support for the Conservatives, and the county is currently represented by eleven Labour MPs, six Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat.
The five largest settlements in Kent/Medway unitary authority as of the 2021 UK census, as well as both settlements which have or had city status (Canterbury, Rochester). (Sources as accurate as possible to the locality's boundaries chosen, excluding surrounding towns or villages.) – red.[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66] Four suburban settlements (most historically villages)/new town type settlements, currently undergoing significant planned expansion. – green.[67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76]
At the2011 census,[77] Kent, including Medway, had 1,727,665 residents (18.0% of which in Medway); had 711,847 households (17.5% of which in Medway) and had 743,436 dwellings (14.8% of which in Medway). 51.1% of Kent's population excluding Medway was female — as to Medway, this proportion was 50.4%.
The tables below provide statistics for the administrative county of Kent, that is, excluding Medway.
At the2001 UK census[out of date],[77] employment statistics for the residents in Kent, including Medway, were as follows: 41.1% in full-time employment, 12.4% in part-time employment, 9.1% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 3.7% students without jobs, 12.3% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons. Of residents aged 16–74, 16% had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide.[77]
The average hours worked per week by residents of Kent were 43.1 for males and 30.9 for females. Their industry of employment was 17.3% retail, 12.4% manufacturing, 11.8% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 8.9% construction, 8.2% transport and communications, 7.9% education, 6.0% public administration and defence, 5.6% finance, 4.8% other community and personal service activities, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 1.6% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 0.1% private households. This is higher than the whole of England for construction and transport/communications and lower for manufacturing.
Kent is sometimes known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards andhop gardens. In particular the county produces tree-grown fruits,[78] strawberries and hazelnuts.[79] Distinctive hop-drying buildings calledoasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish. Kent is the main area forhazelnut production in the UK.
However, in recent years, there has been a significant drop in agriculture, and industry and services are increasing their utilisation of the area. This is illustrated by the following table of economic indicatorgross value added (GVA) between 1995 and 2003[out of date] (figures are in £ millions):[80]
Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during the 19th and 20th centuries. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits betweenStone andGravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings aroundBurham on the tidal Medway.[82] Chalk,gravel andclay were excavated onDartford Heath for centuries.
Kent's originalpaper mills stood on streams like theRiver Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on theRiver Stour. Two 18th century mills were on theRiver Len and atTovil on theRiver Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and atKemsley on The Swale. In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its ownwindmill orwatermill, withover 400 windmills known to have stood at some time. Twenty-eight survive within the county today, plus two replica mills and a further two in that part of Kent now absorbed into London. All the major rivers in the county were used to power watermills.
From about 1900, several coal pits operated in East Kent. TheKent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries,[83] including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986.[84]
The west of the county (including Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, and Sevenoaks) has less than 50% of the average claimant count for low incomes or worklessness as the coastal districts of Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, and Thanet (chiefly three resorts: Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Margate). West and Central Kent have long had manyCity of London commuters.
Kent's geographical location between the Straits of Dover and London has influenced its architecture, as has itsCretaceous geology and its good farming land and fine building clays. Kent's countryside pattern was determined by agavelkind inheritance system that generated a proliferation of small settlements. There was no open-field system, and the large tracts were owned by the two great abbeys,Christ Church, Canterbury andSt Augustine's Abbey, that did not pass into the hands of the king during theReformation.Canterbury Cathedral is the United Kingdom'smetropolitan cathedral; it was founded in AD 598 and displays architecture from all periods. There are nine Anglo-Saxon churches in Kent.Rochester Cathedral is England's second-oldest cathedral, the present building built in the Early English Style.[85]
Kent has bridge trusts to maintain its bridges. The great bridge (1387) atRochester was replaced. There are medieval structures atAylesford,Yalding andTeston.[87] With the motorways in the late twentieth century came theM2 motorway bridge spanning the Medway and the Dartford tunnel and theDartford Bridge spanning the Thames.
Kent has provided inspiration for several notable writers and artists. It has been suggested that Kent inspired many settings in Shakespeare's plays, and he described it in the line 'Sweet is the country, and is full of riches / The people liberal, active, valiant, worthy.'[88] Canterbury's religious role gave rise toChaucer'sCanterbury Tales, a key development in the English language. The father of novelistCharles Dickens worked at theChatham Dockyard; in many of his books, the celebrated novelist featured the scenery of Chatham, Rochester, and theCliffe marshes.[89] During the late 1930s, Nobel Prize-awarded novelistWilliam Golding worked as a teacher atMaidstone Grammar School, where he met his future wife Ann Brookfield.[90]William Caxton, who first introduced theprinting press to England, was born in Kent; the recent invention was key in helping manyKent dialect words and spellings to become standard inEnglish.Lord Northbourne hosted abiodynamic agriculture conference on his estate atBetteshanger in the summer of 1939, he coined the term 'organic farming' and published hismanifesto oforganic agriculture the following year spawning a global movement forsustainable agriculture and food.[91]
Many notable musicians have been associated with Kent.[92]Walter Galpin Alcock, composer and organist, who played the organ at the coronations of Edward VII, George V and George VI, was born atEdenbridge in 1861.Richard Rodney Bennett, composer and pianist, was born atBroadstairs in 1936.Alfred Deller, counter-tenor singer, was born at Margate in 1912.Orlando Gibbons, composer and organist, died in Canterbury on 5 June 1625 and is buried in the cathedral.George Frideric Handel took the waters at Royal Tunbridge Wells in 1734 and 1735.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, together with his father, mother and sister, stayed atBourne Park House near Canterbury, 25–30 July 1765. The nights of 24 and 30 July were spent in Canterbury, where they also went to the horse races.Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, then an 18-year-old sea cadet, was anchored at Gravesend from November 1862 to February 1863; while there, he completed the slow movement of his First Symphony.Malcolm Sargent, conductor, was born at Ashford in 1895.Thomas Tallis, composer and organist, was alay clerk ofCanterbury Cathedral around 1541–2.Peter Warlock, composer and writer on music, andErnest John Moeran, composer, resided atEynsford from 1925 to 1928;Arnold Bax,William Walton andConstant Lambert visited them here.Percy Whitlock, organist and composer, was born at Chatham in 1903.
A number of significant artists came from Kent, includingThomas Sidney Cooper, a painter of landscapes, often incorporating farm animals,[93]Richard Dadd, a maker of faery paintings, andMary Tourtel, the creator of the children's book character,Rupert Bear. The artistClive Head was also born in Kent. The landscape painterJ. M. W. Turner spent part of his childhood in the town ofMargate in East Kent, and regularly returned to visit it throughout his life. The East Kent coast inspired many of his works, including some of his most famous seascapes.[94] Kent has also been the home to artists includingFrank Auerbach,Tracey Emin andStass Paraskos.
Kent was also the location of the largest number of art schools in the country during the nineteenth century, estimated by the art historian David Haste, to approach two hundred. This is believed to be the result of Kent being a front line county during theNapoleonic Wars. At this time, before the invention of photography, draughtsmen were used to draw maps and topographical representations of the fields of battle, and after the wars ended many of these settled permanently in the county in which they had been based. Once the idea of art schools had been established, even in small towns in Kent, the tradition continued, although most of the schools were very small one-man operations, each teaching a small number of daughters of the upper classes how to draw and make watercolour paintings. Nonetheless, some of these small art schools developed into much larger organisations, including Canterbury College of Art, founded by Thomas Sidney Cooper in 1868, which is today theUniversity for the Creative Arts.[95]
With the Roman invasion, a road network was constructed to connect London to the Channel ports of Dover,Lympne and Richborough. The London–Dover road wasWatling Street. These roads are now approximately the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28. TheA2 runs through Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury, and Dover; the A20 throughEltham, Wrotham, Maidstone,Charing, Ashford.Hythe, Folkestone and Dover; theA21 around Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and on to Hastings in East Sussex.[38]
In the 1960s, two motorways were built; theM2 fromMedway to Faversham, and theM20 fromSwanley to Folkestone. Part of theM25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to theDartford Crossing. TheM26 motorway, built in 1980, provides a short link between the M25 atSevenoaks and the M20 nearWrotham. Kent currently has more motorways by distance than any other county in the UK, with sections of the M2, M20, M25 and M26 totalling 173 km (107 mi) within the extents of the ceremonial county.[97]
In the run-up toBritain leaving the European Union, Government ministerMichael Gove confirmed that the Government intended to impose ade facto border between Kent and the rest of England for freight lorries,[98] in order to deal with expected lorry queues of 7,000 or more[99] at Folkestone, Dover and other ports.Heavy goods vehicle operators need to apply for a 24-hour Kent Access Permit (KAP) to take a vehicle of 7.5 tonnes or more into Kent if their intention is to cross to the EU via Dover or theEurotunnel.[100]
The medievalCinque Ports, except for thePort of Dover, have all now silted up. The Medway Estuary has been an important port and naval base for 500 years. The River Medway is tidal up toAllington and navigable up to Tonbridge. Kent's two canals are theRoyal Military Canal between Hythe and Rye, which still exists, and the Thames and Medway Canal between Strood and Gravesend. Built-in 1824, it was purchased in 1846 by the railways, which partially backfilled it.[38] Container ports are atRamsgate andThamesport. Following the closures across the lower Medway, and the Swale to theIsle of Sheppey, during the 20th century, theWoolwich Ferry is the only domestic ferry that runs in the broadest definition of the county.
In addition to the "main line" railways, there are several light, heritage, and industrial railways in Kent. There are three heritage, standard gauge railways;Spa Valley Railway near Tunbridge Wells on the old Tunbridge Wells West branch,East Kent Railway on the old East Kent coalfield area and theKent & East Sussex Railway on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition, there is the 15-inch (380 mm) gauge,Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway on the southeast Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsula. Finally, there is the 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m), industrialSittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, previously the Bowaters Paper Railway.
In 2002, it was revealed that the government was considering building a new four-runway airport on the marshland near the village ofCliffe onHoo Peninsula.[106] This plan was dropped in 2003 following protests by cultural and environmental groups.[107] However further plans for aThames Estuary Airport on the Kent coast have subsequently emerged, including theThames Hub Airport, again sited on theIsle of Grain and designed byLord Foster,[108][109] and the London Britannia Airport plan, colloquially known as "Boris Island" due to its being championed by the formerMayor of LondonBoris Johnson, which would see a six runway airport built on an artificial island to be towards theShivering Sands area, north-east ofWhitstable.[109][110]Both of these options were dropped in 2014 in favour of expansion at either Gatwick or Heathrow Airport, the latter finally being the chosen option following Theresa May's installation as Prime Minister in summer 2016.
Together, the two Kent authorities have 38 of the 164 grammar schools remaining in Britain.[112][113]
Kent County Council has the largest education department of any local council in Britain,[114]providing school places for over 289,000 pupils.
In 2005–06, Kent County Council and Medway introduced a standardised school year, based on six terms, as recommended by theLocal Government Association in its 2000 report, "The Rhythms of Schooling".[115]
Kent County Council Local Education Authority maintains 96 secondary schools, of which 33 are selective schools and 63 aresecondary modern schools.
Music education is provided by Kent Music (formerly Kent Music School),[117] which has its origins in the 1940s. Kent Music provides services across the county including Kent County Youth Orchestra, Kent Youth Choirs, and an annual summer school atBenenden School.
In 2010, Kent had the highest number of National Challenge schools in England: schools which are branded 'failing' based on the British Government's floor targets that 30% of pupils achieve at least 5 GCSE grades A* to C.[118] Of the 63 secondary modern schools, 33 missed this target; thus 52% of Kent secondary modern schools (34% out of all 96 maintained secondary schools) are 'failing'.[119]
Kent is represented incricket byKent County Cricket Club. The club was a founder member of theCounty Championship in 1890 and has won the competition, the major domesticfirst-class cricket competition, seven times. The club is based at theSt Lawrence Ground in Canterbury and also plays matches at theNevill Ground in Royal Tunbridge Wells and theCounty Cricket Ground, Beckenham.[121] TheKent Women cricket team has won theWomen's County Championship seven times since it was established in 1997. Cricket has traditionally been a popular sport in the county and Kent is considered one of the locations in which the game first developed. Teams have represented the county since the early 18th century. TheKent Cricket League is the top level of club competition within Kent and features teams from throughout the county, including areas such asBeckenham andBexley which were formerly part of the county.
Canterbury Hockey Club andHolcombe Hockey Club have historically competed at the highest levels of English field hockey, with Holcombe'smen's andwomen's first teams currently playing in the England Hockey Premier Divisions. Sevenoaks Hockey Club's women's first XI competes in Division 1 South, the second tier of the national league structure.[122][123][124]
TheBrands Hatch circuit nearSwanley has played host to a number of national and international racing events and hosted 12 runnings of theBritish Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986.[130][131]
Kent is home to two national-league netball clubs, both based in northwest Kent: Telstars (Premier Division 2) and KCNC (Premier Division 3).[133][134]
The 2021–2022 season saw three Kentish clubs demoted from the third tier of their respective sports to the fourth tier, with rugby clubsTonbridge Juddians andBlackheath RFC being relegated in rugby andGillingham F.C. being relegated in football.[135][136][137]
Kent has two county-wide stations –BBC Radio Kent, based in Tunbridge Wells; and the commercial stationKMFM, owned by theKM Group. KMFM previously consisted of seven local stations which covered different areas of the county (and are still technically seven different licences) but have shared all programming since 2012[144]
The county’s first commercial station was originally known as Invicta (Invicta Sound/Invicta FM) and began broadcasting on 1 October 1984. After various buy-outs it was rebranded asHeart Kent in June 2009 as part of Global’s Heart network roll-out, and in 2019 the station was merged with neighbouring Heart licences to formHeart South; Heart Kent’s Whitstable studios closed in late May 2019 with regional production consolidated elsewhere (the merged regional service broadcasts fromFareham).[145][146][147][148][149]
There are several community radio stations in Kent including:
^Newman, John (1969). "The Buildings of Kent". In Pevsner (ed.).North East and East Kent. Buildings of England (3 ed.). Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. p. 35.ISBN978-0140710397.
^Newman, John (1969). "The Buildings of Kent". In Pevsner (ed.).North East and East Kent. Buildings of England (3 ed.). Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. pp. 36–123.ISBN978-0140710397.
^Newman, John (1969). "The Buildings of Kent". In Pevsner (ed.).North East and East Kent. Buildings of England (3 ed.). Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books. p. 58.ISBN978-0140710397.
^Mee, Arthur (1936).The King's England: Arthur Mee's Kent. The Caxton Publishing Company Ltd. p. 2.
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