Kent
Aug 16, 2013 6:04:13 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2013 6:04:13 GMT -5
Good afternoon to you all! Kent is a county in South East England, and one of the home counties.
Wikipedia - Home counties
The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of Medway. Kent has a nominal border with France halfway through the Channel Tunnel, as well as a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The county also borders Greater London to the North West near the towns of Swanley and Dartford, Surrey near Westerham and East Sussex near Tunbridge Wells. Maidstone is its county town and historically Rochester and Canterbury have been accorded city status, though only the latter still holds it.
I should perhaps confess that I usually pass through Kent on my way from London to the Continent through the Channel Tunnel, but rarely stop in the county en route, so to speak. Nevertheless, Kent's location between London and continental Europe has led to it being in the front line of several conflicts, including the Battle of Britain during World War II. East Kent was known as Hell Fire Corner during the conflict. England has relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of the past 800 years; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance to the country's security. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone, and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.
Because of its abundance of orchards and hop gardens, Kent is traditionally known as "The Garden of England" – a name often applied when marketing the county or its produce, although other regions have tried to lay claim to the title. Major industries in the north-west of Kent have included cement, papermaking, and aircraft construction, but these are now in decline. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt. South and East Kent rely on tourism and agriculture. Coal mining has also played its part in Kent's industrial heritage.
Wikipedia - Kent
The area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era. There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley.
The British Museum - The Ringlemere gold cup
English Heritage - Lullingstone Roman Villa
The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning "rim" or "border". This describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC (BCE).
The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. It is possible that another ethnic group occupied what is now called The Weald and East Kent. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century AD (CE) and was known as Cantia from about 730 and as Cent in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital.
In 597, Pope Gregory I appointed Augustine as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. The Diocese of Canterbury became Britain's first Episcopal See and has since remained Britain's centre of Christianity.
In the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning "undefeated". This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy. The Kent people's continued resistance against the Normans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales and Scotland.
During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler, Jack Cade's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I.
In the twenty-first century, Jason announced his intention of settling in the county. Yet Bodiam Castle in neighbouring East Sussex is one of Britain's most romantic and picturesque castles, set in the heart of 1066 country. With spiral staircases, battlements and a portcullis, 14th-century Bodiam Castle is the real thing. Windows where arrows were once fired, a tower that was once a look-out and ruins that were once walked upon by knights; this is a place where you can relive your childhood memories and let your imagination run riot.
National Trust - Bodiam Castle
In the impressive gatehouse is the castle's original wooden portcullis, an extremely rare example of its kind. Enough of the interior ruins survive to give an impression of castle life. Gruesome and surprising tales can often be heard from the miller, baker and other colourful characters from the past. Writing in 'The Sunday Telegraph', Adam Lusher reports that Robin Hood is actually based on William of Kensham, a largely forgotten 13th century forest bandit, who went by the alias Willikin of the Weald, and lived in the woods near Bodiam Castle in East Sussex.
The Sunday Telegraph - Robin Hood 'from Kent' not Sherwood Forest, historian claims
Using medieval chronicles, Sean McGlynn has investigated the life and career of the renegade and, despite those differences, has unearthed remarkable parallels with the folk hero, including his tactics, his band of men, his forest hideout and his popular acclaim. Crucially, William was living at just the time when the Robin Hood legend is believed to have emerged. There have been other contenders put forward by historians as the inspiration for Robin Hood, but none have been universally accepted and the exact source of the legend has been fiercely contested.
Perhaps Jason is a latter-day Robin Hood for the terrible 'teens of the twenty-first century, according to Baron King of Lothbury, the sober decade, or possibly even a vile (variable inflation limited expansion) decade in this great age, or century, of austerity. A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition (Kent, 'King Lear', Act 2, Scene 2).
Wikipedia - Home counties
The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of Medway. Kent has a nominal border with France halfway through the Channel Tunnel, as well as a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The county also borders Greater London to the North West near the towns of Swanley and Dartford, Surrey near Westerham and East Sussex near Tunbridge Wells. Maidstone is its county town and historically Rochester and Canterbury have been accorded city status, though only the latter still holds it.
I should perhaps confess that I usually pass through Kent on my way from London to the Continent through the Channel Tunnel, but rarely stop in the county en route, so to speak. Nevertheless, Kent's location between London and continental Europe has led to it being in the front line of several conflicts, including the Battle of Britain during World War II. East Kent was known as Hell Fire Corner during the conflict. England has relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of the past 800 years; the Cinque Ports in the 12th–14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance to the country's security. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone, and the iconic White Cliffs of Dover.
Because of its abundance of orchards and hop gardens, Kent is traditionally known as "The Garden of England" – a name often applied when marketing the county or its produce, although other regions have tried to lay claim to the title. Major industries in the north-west of Kent have included cement, papermaking, and aircraft construction, but these are now in decline. Large parts of Kent are within the London commuter belt. South and East Kent rely on tourism and agriculture. Coal mining has also played its part in Kent's industrial heritage.
Wikipedia - Kent
The area has been occupied since the Palaeolithic era, as attested by finds from the quarries at Swanscombe. The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era. There is a rich sequence of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley.
The British Museum - The Ringlemere gold cup
English Heritage - Lullingstone Roman Villa
The modern name of Kent is derived from the Brythonic word Cantus meaning "rim" or "border". This describes the eastern part of the current county area as a border land or coastal district. Julius Caesar had described the area as Cantium, or home of the Cantiaci in 51 BC (BCE).
The extreme west of the modern county was occupied by Iron Age tribes, known as the Regnenses. It is possible that another ethnic group occupied what is now called The Weald and East Kent. East Kent became a kingdom of the Jutes during the 5th century AD (CE) and was known as Cantia from about 730 and as Cent in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were known as the Cantwara, or Kent people. These people regarded the city of Canterbury as their capital.
In 597, Pope Gregory I appointed Augustine as the first Archbishop of Canterbury. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. The Diocese of Canterbury became Britain's first Episcopal See and has since remained Britain's centre of Christianity.
In the 11th century, the people of Kent adopted the motto Invicta, meaning "undefeated". This naming followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy. The Kent people's continued resistance against the Normans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brother Odo of Bayeux, the county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales and Scotland.
During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler, Jack Cade's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I.
In the twenty-first century, Jason announced his intention of settling in the county. Yet Bodiam Castle in neighbouring East Sussex is one of Britain's most romantic and picturesque castles, set in the heart of 1066 country. With spiral staircases, battlements and a portcullis, 14th-century Bodiam Castle is the real thing. Windows where arrows were once fired, a tower that was once a look-out and ruins that were once walked upon by knights; this is a place where you can relive your childhood memories and let your imagination run riot.
National Trust - Bodiam Castle
In the impressive gatehouse is the castle's original wooden portcullis, an extremely rare example of its kind. Enough of the interior ruins survive to give an impression of castle life. Gruesome and surprising tales can often be heard from the miller, baker and other colourful characters from the past. Writing in 'The Sunday Telegraph', Adam Lusher reports that Robin Hood is actually based on William of Kensham, a largely forgotten 13th century forest bandit, who went by the alias Willikin of the Weald, and lived in the woods near Bodiam Castle in East Sussex.
The Sunday Telegraph - Robin Hood 'from Kent' not Sherwood Forest, historian claims
Using medieval chronicles, Sean McGlynn has investigated the life and career of the renegade and, despite those differences, has unearthed remarkable parallels with the folk hero, including his tactics, his band of men, his forest hideout and his popular acclaim. Crucially, William was living at just the time when the Robin Hood legend is believed to have emerged. There have been other contenders put forward by historians as the inspiration for Robin Hood, but none have been universally accepted and the exact source of the legend has been fiercely contested.
Perhaps Jason is a latter-day Robin Hood for the terrible 'teens of the twenty-first century, according to Baron King of Lothbury, the sober decade, or possibly even a vile (variable inflation limited expansion) decade in this great age, or century, of austerity. A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition (Kent, 'King Lear', Act 2, Scene 2).