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Kent was settled well before most other parts of England
and has the oldest recorded place name in the British Isles. The
County's history is closely bound up in its proximity to mainland
Europe. Archeological remains from prehistoric times show clear
links between Kent and Northern Europe, as well as a land
link.
Ancient Britain
When Julius Caesar briefly invaded Kent in 55 and 54 BC he found
it the most civilised part of Britain, colonised by the Belgae from
Northern France. When the Romans again invaded in 43AD, this time
to settle permanently, they colonised Kent along the Portus Lamanus
from Richborough, rapidly establishing important centres throughout
the County, and the remains of one at Lullingstone include an early
Christian chapel.
Under Saxon Rule
The Roman legions abandoned Britain in the early fifth century
to defend their empire nearer home. According to the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, Vortigern, the British ruler in Kent invited the
mercenaries Hengist and Horsa to defend his principality from
outside attack. They are said to have landed at Ebbsfleet near
Ramsgate in 448 or 449 AD. By the end of the fifth century theSaxon
kingdom of Kent had been firmly established. Under its king,
Ethelbert, (560-616), Kent became one of the most advanced Saxon
kingdoms in England
It was to Kent that Pope Gregory sent his missionaries under
Augustine to begin their preaching of the gospel of Christianity to
the English people. Augustine and his 40 companions landed at
Ebbsfleet in 597. They were well received and instead of moving on
to London as they had planned, they established their first
cathedral at Canterbury. Seven years later another was built at
Rochester. Augustine was the first archbishop, and since then the
Archbishop of Canterbury has been the senior bishop of all
England.
A County of Castles
After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the new
king,William I made his half brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, Earl of
Kent. But Odo proved corrupt and the Normans and the men of Kent
turned against him. After the release of Odo from prison in 1087
the Kentish levies helped the Normans to defeat him at the battle
of Rochester. They were the seed of the first English army.
Within a century the capital of the English kings had moved from
Winchester to London, and Kent's proximity to the new capital,
together with its prime trading position, increased its political
importance. Castles were built to defend the County.The most
important were at Dover, Rochester and Canterbury. Henry VIII later
built the castles in the Downs at Sandgate, Walmer and Deal to
protect the Kent coast. But the closeness of London also made Kent
a hot bed of political radicalism. The County played an important
part in the peasants' revolt of 1381, and in various subsequent
rebellions right up to the English Civil Wars of the1640s when
there was fighting in the streets of Maidstone, and the 'Glorious
Revolution' of 1688/9 when James II fled into exile from
Faversham.
Many people left Kent in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
to begin new lives in America; and were joined by hundreds of Kent
poor who emigrated to the United States of America in the
nineteenth century.
Divided Kent
Unlike many parts of England, Kent had no single, powerfull and
owning family. Before the reformation much of the land was owned by
the two cathedrals and nearly 80 other monasteries and religious
houses established in Kent. Cities and towns also held land.
Non-ecclesiastical holdings were made smaller by the Kentish custom
of gavel kind, or partible inheritance, whereby estates did not
evolve to the eldest surviving son but were divided equally between
all the male children after their father's death.
However, by the sixteenth century a number of significant landed
families began to emerge such as the Knatchbulls of
Mersham-le-Hatch, the Sackvilles of Knole and the Sidneys of
Penshurst. With them came enclosure, most of which was completed in
Kent by the end of the seventeenth century.
As with families, so with towns. Kent had no single natural
urban centre but several towns of medium size. As local
administration developed Kent was divided into two units, East (Men
of Kent), administered from Canterbury, and West (Kentish Men),
from Maidstone. In 1814 these two separate administrations were
merged and Maidstone became the county town.
Kent at War
Kent's position as the nearest point of England to the continent
of Europe has always made it vulnerable to invasion. The Hythe
military canal was built for use to deter Napoleon in 1792 and
garrisons were increased in many Kent towns. Bicycle units were set
up in the 1st and 2nd World Wars to carry messages from special
Control centres built underground. Many soldiers returning from
Dunkerque landed on the Kent coast. The so-called Baedecker
reprisal raids and other German bombing raids changed Canterbury
and Dover forever; and Kent was the chief victim of the V1 and V2
rocket attacks launched from Germany and Calais in1943 and 1944
against Biggin Hill airport and parts of London.
Looking Forward
The building works and extensive road system connected with the
Channel Tunnel has changed the face of East Kent. We share many
links with our neighbours across the Channel and the tunnel has
brought us closer and has begun to affect the lives of the people
of Kent as never before. Kent is the main Gateway between the UK
and mainland Europe, with the International Station, Ashford is
close in time to Lille as to London. The opening of the Channel
Tunnel has had the greatest impact on the County's communication
links and economic structure since the first trading forays of the
Belgae from Northern France around 400BC.
Seafaring and Industry
Ease of access by water to London developed Chatham and
Sheerness as dockyard towns, and Margate and Ramsgate as seaside
resorts. All the towns along the eastern coast were significant
either as commercial ports or in the defence of the realm.
Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Sandwich were four of the original
five 'Cinque Ports'. Inland on the borders with Sussex important
cloth and iron industries developed from the fifteenth century.
Many paper mills were setup in the seventeenth century where
sufficient water was available. Tunbridge Wells became a
fashionable spa town in the1670s. Elsewhere in the County the
dominant occupation was horticulture and the growing of hops for
brewing. The hop, iron and cloth industries have provided the Kent
landscape with two of its most prominent landmarks, the oast houses
used for drying hops and the wealden hall houses of the Kent iron
masters andcloth manufacturers.
Recent Developments
From the 1750s those parts of Kent nearest to London began to
develop as suburbs of the capital. The County boundary was adjusted
in 1889 when the present boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham became
part of London. To these were added, in 1965, the present boroughs
of Bromley and Bexley.Further parts of Kent lying between the A21
and the M25 became,in 1974, London Boroughs but remain part of
historic Kent.
Much of West Kent is now London commuter territory and townslike
Maidstone, Sevenoaks and Tonbridge have expanded rapidly in size
and population.
With its close proximity to mainland Europe and the construction
of the Channel Tunnel and the International RailLink, it is not
surprising that Kent has a positive and progressive approach to its
European activities.
In April 1998, local government re-organisation led to the
establishment of a new unitary authority -Medway Council,covering
the area previously covered by the district councils of Gillingham
and Rochester upon Medway. The new County is however still the
biggest shire County in the UK.
Area: Kent 352,296ha Medway 19,203
Population: Kent 1,318,000 Medway 239,442
Our Coat of Arms
Kent County Council's Coat of Arms contains many symbols of Kent's
history - its seafaring importance, its industry and is religious
significance. Below is a description of the Coat of Arms and an
explanation of its different elements. Kent CountyCouncil was
granted a coat of arms on 17 October 1933. It was re-confirmed on
the reorganisation of local government in1975.
The shield contains a white horse on a red field which is
reputed to be the symbol of the ancient Saxon kingdom of Kent.
The crest is a mural coronet with three masts and sails rising
above it. The coronet commemorates the fact that, for four hundred
years, Kent was an independent Saxon kingdom. Its mural form is
symbolic of the many fortified castles and towns in the county and
the masts and sails are emblems of its intimate links with the
Navy, the Mercantile Marine and Sea Fisheries.
The sea lions which support the shield are symbolic of the
support that Kentish seaman have given to the sea-power of England
through the centuries and the fact that the long coastline of Kent
is part of England's frontier with continental Europe.
From the collar of one sea lion is suspended a shield bearing
the Arms of the Cinque Ports, which had an obligation to provides
ubstantial support for the naval forces of England until modern
times. Four of the Cinque Ports are in Kent.
From the collar of the other sea lion is suspended a
shieldbearing the Arms of the Archbishopric of Canterbury, founded
by St Augustine who landed in Kent in AD 597. Canterbury is
theprimary See of the English Church.
The long serving Kent motto 'Invicta' means 'unconquered' o
r'untamed'. It is an allusion to the belief that Kent has kept its
boundaries intact since pre-Roman times and that its people had
"reserved to themselves and their posterity, their ancientCustoms
and Liberties" (Richard Kilburn 1659). The motto is on a ribbon the
colour of which is as near as possible to the time-honoured Kentish
Grey, a colour of significance in the days of the weaving industry
in Kent.
Heraldic Description
Arms: Gules a Horse forcene Argent.
Crest: Issuant from a Mural Crown proper three
masts rigged with courses set and topsails furled proper flying
from each masthead a pennon Argent charged with a Cross Gules.
Supporters: On either side a Sea Lion or gorged
with a Collar Gules pendent there from an escutcheon the Dexter of
the Arms of the See of Canterbury and the sinister of the arms of
the Cinque Ports.
Motto: Invicta
Using the Coat of Arms
The Coat of Arms belongs to, and identifies, Kent County
Council. The County Council does not allow the use of its Coat of
Arms for any commercial purpose whatsoever.
However, there is no restriction on the use of the Kent White
Horse on its own, provided it is a different style from the one in
the County Council's logo. The White Horse is the traditional
symbol of Kent and, and such, does not "belong" to anybody. Indeed,
it is already widely used by a large number of organisations within
the County to emphasise their Kent
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