History of Kent
Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation.
Prehistoric Kent
Recent excavations and
The Swanscombe skull, uncovered at Barnfield Pit, a quarry in Swanscombe, is the oldest human 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, but Chris Stringer suggests that they come from a female, some of whose characteristics suggest she is from a population ancestral to Neanderthals.[3] It dates to the Hoxnian Interglacial, a warming period 400,000 years ago.[4]
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 Stroud.[5] 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 the
Iron Age Kent
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 the proto-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, either Celtic or Latin. 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 his Commentarii 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 the River Medway was inhabited by Belgic peoples who were part of an economic and cultural region embracing south east England and the lands across the English Channel.
The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by other Celtic
Roman Kent
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 a bridgehead and commemorated their success by building a triumphal arch whose cross shaped foundations still survive at the site which is now looked after by English Heritage.
Early Medieval Kent
Following the withdrawal of the Romans, a large-scale immigration of Germanic peoples occurred in Kent.
A
Medieval Kent
Following the invasion of Britain by
During the medieval period, Kent produced several rebellions including the
As well as numerous
Kent also played a significant role in the English Civil War around 1648.[17]
Early Modern Kent
The
By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the continental powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built along the coast following a raid by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667.[19]
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 the
As an indication of the area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was the 1 inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Work on the map started in 1795.[22]
In the early 19th century
On Saturday night, 28 August 1830, a widespread uprising by rural workers began in East Kent, with the destruction of
Recent discoveries
In May 2019,
Kent and London
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 the County of London was created by the Local Government Act 1888. The new county incorporated part of north west Kent including Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich and Lewisham. Penge was gained from Surrey by the London Government Act 1899.
The London Government Act 1963 created an enlarged Greater London in 1965 which took in more of northwest Kent. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the previous structure of local government in 1974 and created a new non-metropolitan county of Kent, divided into districts. It also abolished Canterbury as a county borough which became a district under the new county council. The places that had been removed in 1888 were amalgamated to form the London Borough of Lewisham and the Royal 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.
Modern Kent
Much of the
Much of the north-west of the county is part of the
In 1998,
The two cities in Kent were Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Rochester, the seat of the Bishop of Rochester. However, since 1998 when local government was reorganised, Rochester lost its official city status, thought at the time to be through an administrative oversight.[28] In 2018, it was reported that the loss of city status was not accidental.[29]
Men of Kent and Kentish Men
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-Saxon Kingdom of Kent. Those from the East are known as Men of Kent (or Maids of Kent) and those from the West as Kentish Men (or Kentish Maids).[30]
Iron Age and Roman Period
Julius Caesar called Kent, Cantium, and the pre-Roman local tribe the Cantiaci subsequently become a civitas (unit of local administration) of Roman Britain, based at Durovernum Cantiacorum (modern Canterbury). The Germanic settlers adopted the Romano-British name of Cantium and this lends weight to the idea that civitas passed from British to Germanic (Jutish) hands with its structure essentially intact.[31] The civitas territory may only have consisted of East Kent so the origins of the sub-divisions of Kent may thus go back to the Iron Age.
Anglo-Saxon Period
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 like Mercia and Northumbria, to be served by just one diocese, but Kent was unique in having two, Rochester in the west, and Canterbury 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 the
These political divisions may reflect the varying ethnic make-up of the leadership of Kent at that time, the difference being 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 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.[33]
F. F. Smith's 1929 work A 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 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.[31]
According to the BBC website, legend holds that a few hundred years later, it is said the Men of Kent resisted William the Conqueror more stoutly than the Kentish Men, who surrendered.[34]
Boundaries and usage
Kent is traditionally divided into East Kent and West Kent by the
The historic area of West Kent included a number of places now in Greater London; specifically the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham. This included locations such as Sidcup, Orpington, and Greenwich.
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 ancient
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 work A 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, the
Nickname
Most English counties have nicknames for people from that county, such as a
References
- ^ a b The 600000-year old Lower Paleolithic Site at the West Gravel Pit, Fordwich, Kent published by the Kent Archaeology Society, Winter 2022
- S2CID 249891478.
- ^ Prehistoric Britain 2nd Edition by Timothy Danville 2010
- ^ Palmer, Lyn. "Kent's Greatest Archaeological Discoveries". Exploring Kent's Past. Kent County Council. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ "'Giant' 300,000-year-old handaxes unearthed in Kent". The Guardian. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ Stuart Brookes and Susan Harrington, The Kingdom and People of Kent, AD 400-600 (2010), p. 24
- ^ Stuart Brookes and Susan Harrington, The Kingdom and People of Kent, AD 400-600 (2010), p. 35
- ^ Hindley, Geoffrey. A Brief History of The Anglo-Saxons. 2007.
- ^ J. E. A. Jolliffe, "The Hidation of Kent", in English Historical Review, Vol. 44, No. 176 (October 1929), pp. 612-618 [1]
- ^ 1611 map of the Lathes of Kent accessed 6 March 2008
- ^ Jessup, Frank W. History of Kent. 1958
- ^ David Bates (1975). The Character and Career of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (1049/50-1097). Speculum.
- ^ W Levison (October 1912). A Report on the Penenden Trial. The English Historical Review.
- ^ Jessup, Frank W. (1966). Kent History Illustrated. Kent County Council.
- ^ "Pilgrimage to Canterbury". Spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ^ a b Barnard, Derek. Merrily to Frendsbury – A History of the Parish of Frindsbury. City of Rochester Society. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ^ "1648: Kent & Essex". British-Civil-Wars.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
- ^ a b c The Historic Dockyard Chatham – where legends were created. Jarrold Publishing. 2005.
- ^ "The Dutch in the Medway". DeRuyter.org. Archived from the original on 17 May 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ^ "Service Career". The Official HMS Victory Website. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
- ^ "Charles Dickens". InfoBritain. Archived from the original on 17 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ISBN 1-870598-24-5.
- ^ "South-East England". Smuggler's Britain. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ^ ISBN 0-0068-6163-6.
- ^ "Large Roman building uncovered at Abbey Farm in Faversham". The Archaeology News Network. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
- ^ "WW2 People's War". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
- ^ "Medway". Communities and Local Government. Archived from the original on 27 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
- ^ "Error costs Rochester city status". BBC News. 16 May 2002. Retrieved 20 April 2007..
- ^ Hunter, Chris (17 October 2018). "Labour gave up Rochester's city status deliberately, claim Tories". KentOnline.
- ^ Rayner, Stephen (October 2004). "Men of Kent: Sorry ... but we're joining a new tribe". Medway News.
- ^ a b c Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, Barbara Yorke
- ISBN 978-2-503-50166-6.
- ^ Knapton, Sarah (18 March 2015). "Britons still live in Anglo-Saxon tribal kingdoms, Oxford University finds". The Telegraph.
- ^ "Man of Kent or Kentish Man?". Where I Live. BBC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009.
- ^ Lewis, Topographical Dictionary of England, Vol. II, 1831
- ^ Lewis Topographical Dictionary of England, Vol. II, 1831
- ^ Layamon (1205). Brut.
Further reading
- (includes Kent)
- Kent. Journey-Book of England. London: Charles Knight & Co. 1842.
External links
- Edward Hasted's 'History and Topographical Survey of Kent': full-text version of some of the volumes of the standard parish history of the county (second edition).
- Anglo-Saxon Kent Electronic Database (ASKED)