Coordinates: 51°11′57″N 0°04′09″E / 51.1993°N 0.0691°E / 51.1993; 0.0691

Edenbridge
The old town
Edenbridge  Edenbridge shown within Kent
Population	7,808 [1]
OS grid reference	TQ445465
- London	38 mi (61 km)
Civil parish	Edenbridge
District	Sevenoaks
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EDENBRIDGE
Postcode district	TN8
Dialling code	01732
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Tonbridge and Malling
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Edenbridge is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The town's name derives from Old English language "Eadhelmsbrigge" ("Eadhelm's Bridge" in Modern English). It is located on the Kent/Surrey border on the upper floodplain of the River Medway and gives its name to the latter's tributary, the River Eden. Edenbridge has a population of around 8,000.

History[link]

The old part of the town grew along a section of the otherwise disused Roman road, the London to Lewes Way at the point where it crossed the river. Iron slag from iron smelting in the surrounding area was used in building the road. In the Middle Ages, it became a centre of the Wealden iron industry. There are many mediaeval timber buildings in the town, one of which houses the Eden Valley Museum.

With the coming of the railways the town expanded and the community of Marlpit Hill, north of the original settlement, is now part of the town.

Mills[link]

Edenbridge has had four mills over the centuries, Haxted Mill and Honour's Mill on the River Eden, Christmas Mill on a tributary of the Eden, and a windmill to the south of the town. All four mill buildings survive, but now converted to other uses.

Railways[link]

There are two railway stations serving Edenbridge. The earliest, on the South Eastern Railway (SER) route from Redhill to Tonbridge, was opened on 26 May 1842. The station, simply named Edenbridge, is located in Marlpit Hill. To the west of that station the route crosses what was once the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway main line from London to Eastbourne, opened on 2 January 1888. The crossing of the two lines takes place at a mid-break in the Edenbridge Tunnel on the SER line. Here lies the second station, named Edenbridge Town. The line serving it is now truncated at Uckfield. There is no connection here between the two routes: Edenbridge is not a junction; one existed four miles (6 km) to the west of Edenbridge Town at Crowhurst, but that junction no longer exists.

The town[link]

Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

The 13th century church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul contains a set of windows in the east wall by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. Edenbridge is twinned with Mont-Saint-Aignan in France. The bypass that was built in the early 2000s to relieve traffic pressure on the old, narrow High Street is named Mont St Aignan Way. There are Lloyds, Barclays, Natwest and HSBC banks in the town. There is a post office, which is next to the church. Major retailers that are present in Edenbridge include Boots, Tesco, Co-op and Londis. Boots, Tesco and Co-op are located in the town centre. Londis Supermarket also referred to as the VG is located in Spitals Cross Estate.

The parish[link]

Within the parish boundary is the hamlet of Marsh Green.

People[link]

• Walter Galpin Alcock (1861–1947), organist and composer, was born in Edenbridge
• David Henry Bartleet (1929–2001), was vicar of Edenbridge
• Tony Burns (b 1944), football player and manager, was born in Edenbridge.
• Anthony Catt (b 1933) was born in Edenbridge.
• Henry Surtees (1991–2009), racing driver, lived in Edenbridge.^[2]
• William Taillour (1406–83), Lord Mayor of London in 1468 lived in Edenbridge

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Edenbridge, Kent

• Marlpit Hill community website

v t e Towns and villages in the Sevenoaks District, Kent, England Ash Badgers Mount Bough Beech Brasted Brasted Chart Chartwell Chevening Chiddingstone Chiddingstone Causeway Chiddingstone Hoath Chipstead Cowden Crockenhill Crockham Hill Dunton Green Edenbridge Eynsford Farningham Fawkham Fawkham Green Fordcombe Four Elms Godden Green Halstead Hartley Hever Hextable Hodsoll Street Horton Kirby Ide Hill Kemsing Knockholt Leigh Markbeech New Ash Green Otford Penshurst Ridley Riverhead Seal Seal Chart Sevenoaks Sevenoaks Weald Shoreham South Darenth Sundridge Swanley Swanley Village Toys Hill Underriver Well Hill Westerham West Kingsdown List of places in Kent

Kent
Invicta Flag of Kent Invicta
Motto of County Council: ''Invicta''
Geography
Status	Ceremonial and (smaller) non-metropolitan county
Region	South East England
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 10th 3,736 km2 (1,442 sq mi) Ranked 10th 3,544 km2 (1,368 sq mi)
Admin HQ	Maidstone
ISO 3166-2	GB-KEN
ONS code	29
NUTS 3	UKJ42
Demography
Population - Total (2010 est.) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 7th 1,684,200 451 /km2 (1,170 /sq mi) Ranked 1st 1,427,500
Ethnicity	96.9% White 1.9% Asian
Politics
"CANTIA" Kent County Council http://www.kent.gov.uk/ Medway Council http://www.medway.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative
Members of Parliament	Julian Brazier (C) Rehman Chishti (C) Greg Clark (C) Damian Collins (C) Tracey Crouch (C) Charlie Elphicke (C) Michael Fallon (C) Roger Gale (C) Helen Grant (C) Damian Green (C) Gordon Henderson (C) Adam Holloway (C) Gareth Johnson (C) Mark Reckless (C) Hugh Robertson (C) Laura Sandys (C) John Stanley (C)
Districts
Sevenoaks Dartford Gravesham Tonbridge and Malling Medway (Unitary) Maidstone Tunbridge Wells Swale Ashford Canterbury Shepway Thanet Dover

Kent /ˈkɛnt/ is a county in South East England, and one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. 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. Maidstone is its county town and historically Rochester and Canterbury have been accorded city status, though only the latter still holds it.

Kent's location between London and the continental Europe has led to its 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 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.^[1][2] 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.

History[link]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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,^[9] Jack Cade's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I.^[10]

Titlepage of William Lambard's Perambulation of Kent, being a history of the county of Kent since William the Conqueror.

The Royal Navy first used the River Medway in 1547. By the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established at Chatham. By 1618, storehouses, a ropewalk, a drydock, and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham.^[11]

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 the raid on the Medway, a successful attack by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667.^[12]

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 the Atlantic, this role was assumed by Portsmouth and Plymouth, with Chatham concentrating on shipbuilding and ship repair. As an indication of the area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was a one-inch map of Kent, published in 1801.^[13] Many of the Georgian naval buildings still stand.

In the early 19th century, smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline. Gangs such as The Aldington Gang brought spirits, tobacco and salt to the county, and transported goods such as wool across the sea to France.^[14]

In 1889, the County of London was created and the townships of Deptford, Greenwich, Woolwich, Lee, Eltham, Charlton, Kidbrooke and Lewisham were transferred out of Kent and in 1900 the area of Penge was gained. Some of Kent, notably Dartford, is contiguous with Greater London.

During World War II, much of the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over the county. Between June 1944 and March 1945, over 10,000 V1 flying bombs or "Doodlebugs", were fired toward London from bases in Northern France. Although many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, and barrage 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 of Bromley and Bexley were created from nine towns formerly in Kent.^[15][16] In 1998, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham left the administrative county of Kent to form the Unitary Authority of Medway. During this reorganisation, through an "apparent" administrative oversight, the city of Rochester lost its official city status.^[17]

Climate[link]

Kent is one of the warmest parts of Britain. On 10 August 2003, in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham the temperature reached 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), the hottest temperature ever recorded in the United Kingdom.^[18]

Here is a climate chart for Wye near Ashford.

Physical geography[link]

'The White Cliffs of Dover'

Kent is in the southeastern corner of England. It borders the River Thames and the North Sea to the north, and the Straits of Dover and the English Channel to the south. France is 34 kilometres (21 mi) across the Strait.^[19]

The major geographical features of the county are determined by a series of ridges and valleys running east-west across the county. These are the results of erosion of the Wealden dome, a dome across Kent and Sussex created by Alpine movements 10–20 million years ago. This dome consists of an upper layer of Chalk above successive layers of Upper 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.

Geological map of southeast England, showing a concentric circular pattern formed by the weathering of the Wealden dome.

Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Ashford, and Folkestone are built on greensand,^[20] while Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are built on sandstone.^[21] Dartford, Gravesend, the Medway towns, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Canterbury, Deal, and Dover are built on chalk.^[20][21] The easterly section of the Wealden dome has been eroded away by the sea, and cliffs such as the white cliffs of Dover are present where a chalk ridge known as the North Downs meets the coast. Spanning Dover and Westerham is the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.^[22]

The Wealden dome is a Mesozoic structure lying on a Palaeozoic foundation, which can often create the right conditions for coal formation. This is found in East Kent roughly between Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. The Coal Measures within the Westphalian Sandstone are deep about 250 m – 400 m (800 – 1300 ft) and subject to flooding. They occur in two major troughs, which extend under the English Channel where similar coalfields are located.^[23]

Seismic activity has occasionally been recorded in Kent, though the epicentres were offshore. In 1382 and 1580 there were two earthquakes exceeding 6.0 on the Richter Scale. In 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007 there were earthquakes of around 4.3. The 2007 earthquake caused physical damage in Folkestone.^[24]

Geological cross section of Kent, showing how it relates to major towns

The coastline of Kent is continuously changing, due to tectonic uplift and coastal erosion. Until about 960, the Isle of Thanet was an island, separated by the Wantsum channel, formed around a deposit of chalk; over time, the channels silted up with alluvium. Similarly Romney Marsh and Dungeness have been formed by accumulation of alluvium.^[21]

Kent's principal river, the River Medway, rises near East Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards to Maidstone. Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames as its final tributary near Sheerness. The Medway is some 112 kilometres (70 mi) long.^[25][26] The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge.^[25] The Medway has captured the head waters of other rivers such as the River Darent. Other rivers of Kent include the River Stour in the east.

Demographics[link]

As of the 2001 UK census,^[27] Kent, including Medway, had 1,579,206 residents and 646,308 households, of which 1,329,718 residents and 546,742 households were within the administrative boundaries. Of those households, 48.9% were married couples living together, 9.0% were co-habiting couples and 8.7% were lone parents; 28.0% of households consisted of individuals, 14.6% had someone of pensionable age living alone, and 30.4% included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. For every 100 females, there were 93.9 males.

The ethnicity of Kent was 96.5% White, 0.9% mixed race, 0.3% Chinese, 1.7% other Asian and 0.4% Black. The place of birth for residents was 94.2% United Kingdom, 0.7% Republic of Ireland, 0.5% Germany, 0.9% other Western Europe countries, 0.3% Eastern Europe, 0.8% Africa, 0.6% Far East, 0.9% South Asia, 0.2% Middle East, 0.4% North America, 0.1% South America and 0.3% Oceania. Religion was recorded as 74.6% Christian, 0.7% Sikh, 0.6% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.1% Jewish, while 15.2% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion, and 7.8% did not state their religion.

Government[link]

Kent County Council (KCC) and its 12 district councils administer most of the county (3352 km²), while the Medway Towns Council, a unitary authority and commonly called Medway Council, administers the more densely populated remainder (192 km²).^[28] Together they have around 300 town and parish councils. Kent County Council's headquarters are in Maidstone,^[29] while Medway's offices are at Gun Wharf, Chatham.

As of the 2009 county council elections, Kent County Council was controlled by the Conservatives, which won 74 of the Council's 84 seats, 7 were won by the Liberal Democrats, 2 by the Labour Party and 1 by the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents Association. As of the 2007 local elections, Medway Council was controlled by the Conservatives; 33 of the Council's 55 seats were held by the Conservatives, 13 by the Labour Party, 8 by the Liberal Democrats and 1 by an Independent.^[30] Currently, all of Kent's district councils are controlled by the Conservatives; the only British county that is in this position.

At the national level, Kent is represented in Parliament by 17 MPs, all of whom are Conservative. Kent is in the European Parliament constituency of South East England, which elects ten members of the European Parliament.^[31]

Economy[link]

Converted oast at Frittenden.

As of the 2001 UK census,^[27] 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.^[27]

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 and hop gardens. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish.

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 indicator gross value added (GVA) between 1995 and 2000 (figures are in millions of British Pounds Sterling).^[32]

North Kent is heavily industrialised with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton, brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on the Medway and Swale, engineering and aircraft design and construction at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford and papermaking at Swanley, and oil refining at Grain.^[15] A steel mini mill in Sheerness and a rolling mill in Queenborough.There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness, although the older one, built in 1965, was closed at the end of 2006.^[33]

Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during the 19th and 20th century. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway.^[34]

Kent's original paper mills stood on streams like the River Darent, tributaries of the River Medway, and on the River Stour. Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose. In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and at Kemsley on The Swale. In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its own windmill or watermill, with over 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. The Kent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries,^[35] including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986.^[36]

The west of the county (including Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells & Sevenoaks) is generally more affluent than the east, especially when compared to the coastal regions of Folkestone, Dover & Thanet. This is partly due to the former's proximity to London, making it prime "commuter belt" and the latter's geographic extremities. The eagerly awaited CTRL 2009 rail service, using the high speed Channel Tunnel line to bring coastal areas' travel times to London down to around an hour, is hoped to further regeneration.

Arts[link]

Kent has provided inspiration for several notable writers and artists. Canterbury's religious role gave rise to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a key development in the English language. The father of novelist Charles Dickens worked at the Chatham Dockyard; in many of his books, the celebrated novelist featured the scenery of Chatham, Rochester, and the Cliffe marshes.^[37] The landscape painter J. M. W. Turner spent part of his childhood in the town of Margate 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.^[38] During the late 1930s, Nobel Prize-awarded novelist William Golding worked as a teacher at Maidstone Grammar School, where he met his future wife Ann Brookfield.^[39]

The county's largest theatre is The Marlowe Theatre, situated in the centre of Canterbury. It re-opened, after being completely rebuilt, in October 2011.^[40]

Transport[link]

Roads[link]

The M2 and High Speed 1 crossing the Medway Valley, south of Rochester.

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 was Watling Street. These roads are now approximately the A2, B2068, A257, and the A28. The A2 runs through Dartford (A207), Gravesend, Rochester, Canterbury and Dover; the A20 through Eltham, Wrotham, Maidstone, Charing, Ashford. Hythe, Folkestone and Dover; the A21 around Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and on to Hastings in East Sussex.^[15] In the 1960s, two motorways were built; the M2 from Medway to Faversham, and the M20 from Swanley to Folkestone. Part of the M25 runs through Kent, from Westerham to the Kent and Essex tunnel at Dartford. The Dartford tunnel has been joined by the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, together providing four lanes in each direction. The M26 motorway, built in 1980, provides a short link between the M25 at Sevenoaks and the M20 near Wrotham. 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 within the extents of the ceremonial county.

Water[link]

The medieval Cinque Ports, except for 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 to Allington and navigable up to Tonbridge. Kent's two canals are the Royal 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.^[15] Container ports are located at Ramsgate and Thamesport.

Railways[link]

A Eurostar train at km 48 on HS1, the High Speed 1, near Strood

The earliest locomotive-driven passenger-carrying railway in Britain was the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway which opened in 1830.^[41] This and the London and Greenwich Railway later merged into South Eastern Railway (SER).^[42] By the 1850s, SER's networks had expanded to Ashford, Ramsgate, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, and the Medway towns. SER's major London termini were London Bridge, Charing Cross, and Cannon Street. Kent also had a second major railway, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Originally the East Kent Railway in 1858, it linked the northeast Kent coast with London terminals at Victoria and Blackfriars.

The two companies merged in 1899, forming the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR). In the aftermath of World War I, the government's Railways Act 1921 grouped railway companies together; the SECR joined neighbouring London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and London and South Western Railway (LSWR) to form the Southern Railway.^[42] Britain's railways were nationalised in 1948, forming British Rail. The railways were privatised in 1996 and most Kent passenger services were franchised to Connex South Eastern.^[43] Following financial difficulties, Connex lost the franchise and was replaced by South Eastern Trains and after Southeastern.^[44]

The Channel Tunnel was completed in 1994 and High Speed 1 in November 2007 with a London terminus at St Pancras. A new station, Ebbsfleet International, opened between Dartford and Gravesend, serving northern Kent.^[45] The high speed lines will be utilised to provide a faster train service to coastal towns like Ramsgate and Folkestone. This station is in addition to the existing station at Ashford International, which has suffered a massive cut in service as a result.

Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway

In addition to the "mainline" 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 the Kent and East Sussex Railway on the Weald around Tenterden. In addition there is the 15-inch (380 mm) gauge, tourist-oriented Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on the southeast Kent coast along the Dungeness peninsula. Finally, there is the 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m), industrial Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway.

Air[link]

A limited number of charter flights are provided by Kent's Kent International Airport at Manston, and London Ashford Airport at Lydd. However, most passengers across the South East use the larger Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports. In 2002, it was revealed that the government was considering building a new four-runway airport on the marshland near the village of Cliffe on the Hoo Peninsula.^[46] This plan was dropped in 2003 following protests by cultural and environmental groups.^[47]

Education[link]

The county has four universities; Canterbury Christ Church University with campuses throughout East Kent, University of Kent, with campuses in Canterbury and Medway, and University of Greenwich (a London University), with sites at Woolwich, Eltham, London and Medway. The University for the Creative Arts (UCA) also has three of its five campuses in the county.

Whereas much of Britain adopted a comprehensive education system in the 1970s, Kent County Council (KCC) and Medway Unitary Authority are among around fifteen^[48] local authorities still providing wholly selective education through the eleven-plus examination with students allocated a place at a secondary modern school or at a grammar school. Together, the two Kent authorities have 38 of the 164 grammar schools remaining in Britain.^[48][49]

KCC has the largest education department of any local authority in Britain,^[50] providing school places for over 289,000 pupils.

For the 2005–06 school year, KCC and Medway introduced a standardised school year, based on six terms, as recommended by the Local Government Association in its 2000 report, "The Rhythms of Schooling".^[52]

Kent County Council LEA maintains 96 secondary schools, of which 33 are selective schools and 63 are secondary modern schools.

National Challenge schools[link]

Kent has 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.^[53] Of the 63 secondary modern schools, 33 achieved below this requirement meaning that 52% of Kent secondary modern schools (34% out of all 96 maintained secondary schools) are failing.^[54]

Local media[link]

Television[link]

Much of Kent is served by the BBC's South East region, which is based in Tunbridge Wells and provides local news for the county and East Sussex. Its commercial rival is ITV Meridian Ltd, which has a newsroom at The Maidstone Studios despite the main studio being based in Hampshire. Main transmitters providing these services are located at West Hougham, near Dover and Bluebell Hill, located between Chatham and Maidstone. Those parts of Kent closer to London such as Gravesend, Dartford and parts of Sevenoaks lie within the ITV London and BBC London areas, taking their television signals from the Crystal Palace transmitter.

The county is also served by two internet-based TV channels, Kent TV (part-owned by Kent County Council) and YourKentTV which is owned by KOS Media.

Radio[link]

Kent has three county-wide stations – BBC Radio Kent, based in Tunbridge Wells; and the commercial stations Heart and Gold, both based in Whitstable and London.

Most of the county is covered by local radio network KMFM, owned by the KM Group. Since March 2012, programmes are the same across all seven stations in the network:

• KMFM Ashford
• KMFM Canterbury
• KMFM Maidstone
• KMFM Medway
• KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country
• KMFM Thanet
• KMFM West Kent

The county has five community radio stations.

• BRFM covers the Isle of Sheppey
• SFM covers Sittingbourne
• CSR 97.4FM covers Canterbury, as a joint production between the city's two universities
• Academy FM (Thanet) covers Thanet
• Academy FM (Folkestone) covers Folkestone

A licence has been granted for Radio Sunlight in Gillingham, but no broadcast dates have yet been set.

Dover Community Radio (DCR) offers a podcasting service for the people of Dover district on their website, hoping in the future to apply for a community radio licence to cover the town and its environs.

Newspapers[link]

The KM Group, KOS Media and Kent Regional News and Media all provide local newspapers for most of the large towns and cities. County-wide papers include the Kent Messenger, Kent on Saturday, Kent on Sunday, and the Kent and Sussex Courier.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

	Geography portal
	Europe portal
	United Kingdom portal
	England portal
	South East England portal
32x28px	Kent portal

• Outline of England
• Duke of Kent
• List of Lord Lieutenants
• List of High Sheriffs
• Custos Rotulorum of Kent - list of Keepers of the Rolls
• Kent (UK Parliament constituency) - Historical list of MPs for Kent constituency
• Kent Community Network
• List of people from Kent
• List of places in Kent
• List of tourist attractions in Kent
• List of civil parishes in Kent
• List of fire stations in Kent
• List of windmills in Kent
• Recreational walks in Kent
• Thames Gateway – includes details of regeneration projects in the northern areas of Kent
• Thanet
• Category:Towns in Kent
• Category:Villages in Kent
• River Thames

References[link]

External links[link]

• Media related to Kent at Wikimedia Commons
• Kent at the Open Directory Project
• Kent Parishes – Forum for History, Genealogy, Ancestry and local information
• Kent County Council – local government website
• Kent Wildlife Trust – Kent Wildlife Trust is the most active conservation trust in the county
• Kent Online – a Kent Messenger Group website
• Camelot Village – Kent heritage
• Kent Downs – Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty website
• CPRE Kent- Kent Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)
• historic-kent.co.uk – further information on villages throughout Kent.
• BBC – origins of Kent placenames
• Kent Coast in Pictures – photographs of the coastline of Kent.
• Kent County Cricket Club
• Official Kent Tourism Guide
• Official Heart of Kent Tourism Guide
• BBC feature on the Kent eleven-plus
• Kent-Weather – A county-wide weather forecasting website.

Neighbouring English counties and French department

	Greater London	Essex	Thames Estuary
	Surrey		North Sea
		Kent    East
	West Sussex	East Sussex	English Channel Pas de Calais, France

Coordinates: 51°11′N 0°44′E / 51.19°N 0.73°E / 51.19; 0.73

Gunpowder Plot

Guy Fawkes
George Cruikshank's illustration of Guy Fawkes, published in William Harrison Ainsworth's 1840 novel
Details
Parents	Edward Fawkes, Edith (née Blake or Jackson)
Born	(1570-04-13)13 April 1570 (presumed) York, England
Alias(es)	Guido Fawkes, John Johnson
Occupation	Soldier; Alférez
Plot
Role	Explosives
Enlisted	20 May 1604
Captured	5 November 1605
Conviction(s)	High treason
Penalty	Hanged, drawn and quartered
Died	31 January 1606(1606-01-31) (aged 35) Westminster, London, England
Cause	Hanged

Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Fawkes was born and educated in York. His father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic. Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England.

Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured, and eventually he broke. Immediately before his execution on 31 January, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed.

Fawkes became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in England since 5 November 1605. His effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly accompanied by a firework display.

Early life[link]

Childhood[link]

Fawkes was baptised at the church of St. Michael le Belfrey

Guy Fawkes was born in 1570 in Stonegate, York. He was the second of four children born to Edward Fawkes, a proctor and an advocate of the consistory court at York,^{[nb 1]} and his wife, Edith.^{[nb 2]} Guy's parents were regular communicants of the Church of England, as were his paternal grandparents; his grandmother, born Ellen Harrington, was the daughter of a prominent merchant, who served as Lord Mayor of York in 1536.^[4] However, Guy's mother's family were recusant Catholics, and his cousin, Richard Cowling, became a Jesuit priest.^[5] Guy was an uncommon name in England, but may have been popular in York on account of a local notable, Sir Guy Fairfax of Steeton.^[6]

The date of Fawkes' birth is unknown, but he was baptised in the church of St. Michael le Belfrey on 16 April. As the customary gap between birth and baptism was three days, he was probably born about 13 April.^[5] In 1568, Edith had given birth to a daughter named Anne, but the child died aged about seven weeks, in November that year. She bore two more children after Guy: Anne (b. 1572), and Elizabeth (b. 1575). Both were married, in 1599 and 1594 respectively.^[6][7]

In 1579, when Guy was eight years old, his father died. His mother remarried several years later, to the Catholic Dionis Baynbrigge (or Denis Bainbridge) of Scotton, Harrogate. Fawkes may have become a Catholic through the Baynbrigge family's recusant tendencies, and also the Catholic branches of the Pulleyn and Percy families of Scotton,^[8] but also from his time at St. Peter's School in York. A governor of the school had spent about 20 years in prison for recusancy, and its headmaster, John Pulleyn, came from a family of noted Yorkshire recusants, the Pulleyns of Blubberhouses. In her 1915 work The Pulleynes of Yorkshire, author Catharine Pullein suggested that Fawkes's Catholic education came from his Harrington relatives, who were known for harbouring priests, one of whom later accompanied Fawkes to Flanders in 1592–1593.^[9] Fawkes's fellow students included John Wright and his brother Christopher (both later involved with Fawkes in the Gunpowder plot) and Oswald Tesimond, Edward Oldcorne and Robert Middleton, who became priests (the latter executed in 1601).^[10]

After leaving school Fawkes entered the service of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu. The Viscount took a dislike to Fawkes and after a short time dismissed him; he was subsequently employed by Anthony-Maria Browne, 2nd Viscount Montagu, who succeeded his grandfather at the age of 18.^[11] At least one source claims that Fawkes married and had a son, but no known contemporary accounts confirm this.^{[12][nb 3]}

Military career[link]

In October 1591 Fawkes sold the estate in Clifton that he had inherited from his father.^{[nb 4]} He travelled to the continent to fight in the Eighty Years War for Catholic Spain against the new Dutch Republic and, from 1595 until the Peace of Vervins in 1598, France. Although England was not by then engaged in land operations against Spain, the two countries were still at war, and the Spanish Armada of 1588 was only five years in the past. He joined Sir William Stanley, an English Catholic and veteran commander in his mid-fifties who had raised an army in Ireland to fight in Leicester's expedition to the Netherlands. Stanley had been held in high regard by Elizabeth I, but following his surrender of Deventer to the Spanish in 1587 he, and most of his troops, had switched sides to serve Spain. Fawkes became an alférez or junior officer, fought well at the siege of Calais in 1596, and by 1603 had been recommended for a captaincy.^[3] That year, he travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England. He used the occasion to adopt the Italian version of his name, Guido, and in his memorandum described James I as "a heretic", who intended "to have all of the Papist sect driven out of England." He denounced Scotland, and the King's favourites among the Scottish nobles, writing "it will not be possible to reconcile these two nations, as they are, for very long".^[13] Although he was received politely, the court of Philip III was unwilling to offer him any support.^[14]

Gunpowder Plot[link]

A contemporary engraving of eight of the thirteen conspirators, by Crispijn van de Passe. Fawkes is third from the right.

In 1604 Fawkes became involved with a small group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate the Protestant King James and replace him with his daughter, third in the line of succession, Princess Elizabeth.^[15][16] Fawkes was described by the Jesuit priest and former school friend Oswald Tesimond as "pleasant of approach and cheerful of manner, opposed to quarrels and strife ... loyal to his friends". Tesimond also claimed Fawkes was "a man highly skilled in matters of war", and that it was this mixture of piety and professionalism which endeared him to his fellow conspirators.^[3] The author Antonia Fraser describes Fawkes as "a tall, powerfully built man, with thick reddish-brown hair, a flowing moustache in the tradition of the time, and a bushy reddish-brown beard", and that he was "a man of action ... capable of intelligent argument as well as physical endurance, somewhat to the surprise of his enemies."^[5]

The first meeting of the five central conspirators took place on Sunday 20 May 1604, at an inn called the Duck and Drake, in the fashionable Strand district of London.^{[nb 5]} Catesby had already proposed at an earlier meeting with Thomas Wintour and John Wright to kill the King and his government by blowing up "the Parliament House with gunpowder". Wintour, who at first objected to the plan, was convinced by Catesby to travel to the continent to seek help. Wintour met with the Constable of Castile, the exiled Welsh spy Hugh Owen,^[18] and Sir William Stanley, who said that Catesby would receive no support from Spain. Owen did, however, introduce Wintour to Fawkes, who had by then been away from England for many years, and thus was largely unknown in the country. Wintour and Fawkes were contemporaries; each was militant, and had first-hand experience of the unwillingness of the Spaniards to help. Wintour told Fawkes of their plan to "doe some whatt in Ingland if the pece with Spaine healped us nott",^[3] and thus in April 1604 the two men returned to England.^[17] Wintour's news did not surprise Catesby; despite positive noises from the Spanish authorities, he feared that "the deeds would nott answere".^{[nb 6]}

One of the conspirators, Thomas Percy was promoted in June 1604, gaining access to a house in London which belonged to John Whynniard, Keeper of the King's Wardrobe. Fawkes was installed as a caretaker and began using the pseudonym John Johnson, servant to Percy.^[20] The contemporaneous account of the prosecution (taken from Thomas Wintour's confession)^[21] claimed that the conspirators attempted to dig a tunnel from beneath Whynniard's house to Parliament, although this story may have been a government fabrication; no evidence for the existence of a tunnel was presented by the prosecution, and no trace of one has ever been found; Fawkes himself did not admit the existence of such a scheme until his fifth interrogation, but even then he could not locate the tunnel.^[22] If the story is true, however, by December 1604 the conspirators were busy tunnelling from their rented house to the House of Lords. They ceased their efforts when, during tunnelling, they heard a noise from above. Fawkes was sent out to investigate, and returned with the news that the tenant's widow was clearing out a nearby undercroft, directly beneath the House of Lords.^[3][23]

The plotters purchased the lease to the room, which also belonged to John Whynniard. Unused and filthy, it was considered an ideal hiding place for the gunpowder the plotters planned to store.^[24] According to Fawkes, 20 barrels of gunpowder were brought in at first, followed by 16 more on 20 July.^[25] On 28 July however, the ever-present threat of the plague delayed the opening of Parliament until Tuesday, 5 November.^[26]

Overseas[link]

In an attempt to gain foreign support, in May 1605 Fawkes travelled overseas and informed Hugh Owen of the plotters' plan.^[27] At some point during this trip his name made its way into the files of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, who employed a network of spies across Europe. One of these spies, Captain William Turner, may have been responsible. Although the information he provided to Salisbury usually amounted to no more than a vague pattern of invasion reports, and included nothing which regarded the Gunpowder Plot, on 21 April he told how Fawkes was to be brought by Tesimond to England. Fawkes was a well known Flemish mercenary, and would be introduced to "Mr Catesby" and "honourable friends of the nobility and others who would have arms and horses in readiness".^[28] Turner's report did not, however, mention Fawkes's pseudonym in England, John Johnson, and did not reach Cecil until late in November, well after the plot had been discovered.^[3][29]

It is uncertain when Fawkes returned to England, but he was back in London by late August 1605, when he and Wintour discovered that the gunpowder stored in the undercroft had decayed. More gunpowder was brought into the room, along with firewood to conceal it.^[30] Fawkes's final role in the plot was settled during a series of meetings in October. He was to light the fuse and then escape across the Thames. Simultaneously, a revolt in the Midlands would help to ensure the capture of Princess Elizabeth. Acts of regicide were frowned upon, and Fawkes would therefore head to the continent, where he would explain to the Catholic powers his holy duty to kill the King and his retinue.^[31]

Discovery[link]

Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot (c. 1823), Henry Perronet Briggs

A few of the conspirators were concerned about fellow Catholics who would be present at Parliament during the opening.^[32] On the evening of 26 October, Lord Monteagle received an anonymous letter warning him to stay away, and to "retyre youre self into yowre contee whence yow maye expect the event in safti for ... they shall receyve a terrible blowe this parleament".^[33] Despite quickly becoming aware of the letter – informed by one of Monteagle's servants – the conspirators resolved to continue with their plans, as it appeared that it "was clearly thought to be a hoax".^[34] Fawkes checked the undercroft on 30 October, and reported that nothing had been disturbed.^[35] Monteagle's suspicions had been aroused however, and the letter was shown to King James. The King ordered Sir Thomas Knyvet to conduct a search of the cellars underneath Parliament, which he did in the early hours of 5 November. Fawkes had taken up his station late on the previous night, armed with a slow match and a watch given to him by Percy "becaus he should knowe howe the time went away".^[3] He was found leaving the cellar, shortly after midnight, and arrested. Inside, the barrels of gunpowder were discovered hidden under piles of firewood and coal.^[36]

Torture[link]

Fawkes gave his name as John Johnson and was first interrogated by members of the King's Privy Chamber, where he remained defiant. When asked by one of the lords what he was doing in possession of so much gunpowder, Fawkes answered that his intention was "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains."^[37] He identified himself as a 36-year-old Catholic from Netherdale in Yorkshire, and gave his father's name as Thomas and his mother's as Edith Jackson. Wounds on his body noted by his questioners he explained as the effects of pleurisy. Fawkes admitted his intention to blow up the House of Lords, and expressed regret at his failure to do so. His steadfast manner earned him the admiration of King James, who described Fawkes as possessing "a Roman resolution".^[38]

James's admiration did not, however, prevent him from ordering on 6 November that "John Johnson" be tortured, to reveal the names of his co-conspirators.^[39] He directed that the torture be light at first, referring to the use of manacles, but more severe if necessary, authorising the use of the rack: "the gentler Tortures are to be first used unto him et sic per gradus ad ima tenditur [and so by degrees proceeding to the worst]".^[37][40] Fawkes was transferred to the Tower of London. The King composed a list of questions to be put to "Johnson", such as "as to what he is, For I can never yet hear of any man that knows him", "When and where he learned to speak French?", and "If he was a Papist, who brought him up in it?"^[41] The room in which Fawkes was interrogated subsequently became known as the Guy Fawkes Room.^[42]

Fawkes's signature of "Guido", made soon after his torture, is a barely evident scrawl compared to a later instance.

Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, supervised the torture and obtained Fawkes's confession.^[37] He searched his prisoner, and found a letter, addressed to Guy Fawkes. To Waad's surprise, "Johnson" remained silent, revealing nothing about the plot or its authors.^[43] On the night of 6 November he spoke with Waad, who reported to Salisbury "He [Johnson] told us that since he undertook this action he did every day pray to God he might perform that which might be for the advancement of the Catholic Faith and saving his own soul". According to Waad, Fawkes managed to rest through the night, despite his being warned that he would be interrogated until "I had gotton the inwards secret of his thoughts and all his complices".^[44] His composure was broken at some point during the following day.^[45]

The observer Sir Edward Hoby remarked "Since Johnson's being in the Tower, he beginneth to speak English". Fawkes revealed his true identity on 7 November, and told his interrogators that there were five people involved in the plot to kill the King. He began to reveal their names on 8 November, and told how they intended to place Princess Elizabeth on the throne. His third confession, on 9 November, implicated Francis Tresham. Following the Ridolfi plot of 1571 prisoners were made to dictate their confessions, before copying and signing them, if they still could.^[46] Although it is uncertain if he was subjected to the horrors of the rack, Fawkes's signature, little more than a scrawl, bears testament to the suffering he endured at the hands of his interrogators.^[47]

Trial and execution[link]

The trial of eight of the plotters began on Monday 27 January 1606. Fawkes shared the barge from the Tower to Westminster Hall with seven of his co-conspirators.^{[nb 7]} They were kept in the Star Chamber before being taken to Westminster Hall, where they were displayed on a purpose-built scaffold. The King and his close family, watching in secret, were among the spectators as the Lords Commissioners read out the list of charges. Fawkes was identified as Guido Fawkes, "otherwise called Guido Johnson". He pleaded not guilty, despite his apparent acceptance of guilt from the moment he was captured.^[49]

A 1606 etching by Claes (Nicolaes) Jansz Visscher, depicting Fawkes's execution

The outcome was never in doubt. The jury found all of the defendants guilty, and the Lord Chief Justice Sir John Popham proclaimed them guilty of high treason.^[50] The Attorney General Sir Edward Coke told the court that each of the condemned would be drawn backwards to his death, by a horse, his head near the ground. They were to be "put to death halfway between heaven and earth as unworthy of both". Their genitals would be cut off and burnt before their eyes, and their bowels and hearts removed. They would then be decapitated, and the dismembered parts of their bodies displayed so that they might become "prey for the fowls of the air".^[51] Fawkes's and Tresham's testimony regarding the Spanish treason was read aloud, as well as confessions related specifically to the Gunpowder Plot. The last piece of evidence offered was a conversation between Fawkes and Wintour, who had been kept in adjacent cells. The two men apparently thought they had been speaking in private, but their conversation was intercepted by a government spy. When the prisoners were allowed to speak, Fawkes explained his not guilty plea as ignorance of certain aspects of the indictment.^[52]

On 31 January 1606, Fawkes and three others — Thomas Wintour, Ambrose Rookwood, and Robert Keyes — were dragged (i.e. drawn) from the Tower on wattled hurdles to the Old Palace Yard at Westminster, opposite the building they had attempted to destroy.^[53] His fellow plotters were then hanged and quartered. Fawkes was the last to stand on the scaffold. He asked for forgiveness of the King and state, while keeping up his "crosses and idle ceremonies", and aided by the hangman began to climb the ladder to the noose. Although weakened by torture, Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows, breaking his neck in the fall and thus avoiding the agony of the latter part of his execution.^[37][54] His lifeless body was nevertheless quartered,^[55] and as was the custom,^[56] his body parts were then distributed to "the four corners of the kingdom", to be displayed as a warning to other would-be traitors.^[57]

Legacy[link]

Procession of a Guy (1864)

On 5 November 1605 Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King's escape from assassination by lighting bonfires, "always provided that 'this testemonye of joy be carefull done without any danger or disorder'".^[3] An Act of Parliament^{[nb 8]} designated each 5 November as a day of thanksgiving for "the joyful day of deliverance", and remained in force until 1859.^[58] Although he was only one of 13 conspirators, Fawkes is today the individual most associated with the failed Plot.^[59]

In Britain, 5 November has variously been called Guy Fawkes Night, Guy Fawkes Day, Plot Night^[60] and Bonfire Night; the latter can be traced directly back to the original celebration of 5 November 1605.^[61] Bonfires were accompanied by fireworks from the 1650s onwards, and it became the custom to burn an effigy (usually the Pope) after 1673, when the heir presumptive, James, Duke of York made his conversion to Catholicism public.^[3] Effigies of other notable figures who have become targets for the public's ire, such as Paul Kruger and Margaret Thatcher, have also found their way onto the bonfires,^[62] although most modern effigies are of Fawkes.^[58] The "guy" is normally created by children, from old clothes, newspapers, and a mask.^[58] During the 19th century, "guy" came to mean an oddly dressed person, but in American English it lost any pejorative connotation, and was used to refer to any male person.^[58][63]

William Harrison Ainsworth's 1841 historical romance Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason, portrays Fawkes in a generally sympathetic light,^[64] and transformed him in the public perception into an "acceptable fictional character". Fawkes subsequently appeared as "essentially an action hero" in children's books and penny dreadfuls such as The Boyhood Days of Guy Fawkes; or, The Conspirators of Old London, published in about 1905.^[65] Fawkes is sometimes referred to as "the only man ever to enter Parliament with honest intentions".^[66]

References[link]

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

Media related to Guy Fawkes at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Guy Fawkes at Wikiquote

• Guy Fawkes story from the BBC, including archive video clips