Community history

Kent has hundreds of historic areas and communities and we have strong links with many of these, helping them not only to look after their own collections but also to research their communities using our collections. We can give advice on all aspects of local history and also on the management and care of collections of historic material.

A History Network for Kent?

We recently hosted a meeting to explore the idea of a `history network’ for Kent linking all groups interested in looking after and promoting Kent’s history. The idea was raised during our consultation exercise `Understanding Our Past, Changing Our Future' (PDF, 1251k) and is highlighted in a new development plan (PDF, 358k) for the service.

A network could provide support for everyone in Kent looking after and promoting the county's rich heritage - with the new Kent History and Library Centre due to open in Maidstone in 2012 as a hub.

Please tell us your suggestions and ideas on how the network could operate and how it could help local people and groups interested in history.

Please send responses to archivesconsultation@kent.gov.uk or alternatively join the discussion in the Forums section on the Kent History Federation website.

The following are some of the groups we have links with:

• Horton Kirby Local History Society
• Ash Heritage Group 
• Kemsing Heritage Centre Association
• Loose Area History Society
• Marden Local History Society
• Leigh Historical Society
• Sittingbourne Historical Research Group
• Smarden heritage Centre

We have also done some exploratory work looking at the many different cultural communities represented in Kent both currently and back in time including the Greek Cypriot community, the Sikh community and the Muslim community. The results of some of our research can be seen on the Here's History website.

Illustration: Greek-Cypriot blessing of the sea ceremony, Margate, 1960s (Courtesy of the Kentish Times).

A volunteer at Canterbury Cathedral Library has been working through our collections looking for records of people from black, Asian and non-European backgrounds and has recently compiled a list of these records (PDF, 208k). This makes references to documents relating to people from different cultures who have lived in Kent during the past 400 years.

Check the site of the Community Archives and Heritage Group for information on community archives nationally and advice on setting one up.