ID1000: Heritage Kent

KENT

We would like to say a big “thank you” to our heritage partners in Kent

Flying Start

Did you know that the British aircraft industry was born on the Isle of Sheppey? In fact, Sheppey will be celebrating the centenary of British aviation in 2009!

Air Commodore Bill Croydon, author of “Early Birds: A short history of how flight came to Sheppey”, told us the story of how it all began.

Kent Archives and Local History Service

Did you know that Sheerness began as a fort built in the sixteenth century to protect the River Medway from invasion? Then, after the Dutch attacked the English navy in the Medway in 1667, Samuel Pepys (who was Secretary to the Admiralty at the time) established a naval dockyard in Sheerness, where warships were built and repaired until 1960.

Rob Illingworth, Local Studies Development Librarian, told us the story of Sheerness.

Read highlights of Rob’s talk

Did you know that there are some amazing treasures held in the Kent Archives:

a charter signed by Wihtred, King of Kent, in the year 699, granting immunity from public taxation to the churches and monasteries in his kingdom
the only known example of Christopher Marlowe's signature, on the will of Katherine Benchkin of Canterbury, 1585
the signature of Oliver Cromwell on a 1652 certificate of discharge for a maimed soldier
a reprieve signed by Charles II in 1672, granted to two men who had been convicted of murder
the diary of Sir Joseph Banks, the scientist who travelled with Captain Cook on the Endeavour voyages in search of the southern continent
long and gossipy letters from Jane Austen to her niece Fanny Knight, the final one referring to Jane's declining health in the year of her death, 1817

Find out more about Kent Archives

or have a look at the online catalogue

Read the ID1000 article, “The Pilgrim’s Way”

Read the ID1000 article, “Sir Joseph Banks: Unknown Hero”

Sittingbourne Heritage Museum

Did you know that Sittingbourne High Street consisted largely of inns in medieval times? This was because Sittingbourne developed a lucrative trade catering for pilgrims on their way to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in the Cathedral. Henry V stopped off in Sittingbourne on his way home from the Battle of Agincourt, and Henry VIII visited too.

Peter Morgan, who runs the Heritage Museum, told us the story of Sittingbourne.

Find out more about the heritage of Sittingbourne

Historic Dockyard, Chatham

Did you know that at Chatham you can explore a Cold War submarine and find out what life is like in such cramped conditions? Find out how the emergency escape system works, take a look through the periscopes and see whether you think you could feed the crew of 90 from the vessel’s small galley! Or you can go back in time to the Age of Sail, and explore a beautiful Victorian naval sloop that was involved in dangerous anti-slavery operations.

We spent a day finding out stories from the days when Britannia ruled the waves!

See the ID1000 team at Chatham

Find out more about the Historic Dockyard

SeaSheppey

Did you know that Sheerness is the only English town invaded since 1066? The Dutch Invasion of 1667 is generally considered the largest Dutch naval victory in history and the worst English naval defeat. And did you know that sailors of the Royal Navy mutinied in 1797, at a time when Britain was at war with France?

Local community theatre group, Big Fish, told us stories about Sheppey’s maritime history. Read more about the Dutch Invasion and the Nore Mutiny. Find out more about Big Fish

Did you know that Britain’s only breeding colony of scorpions lives in the dockyard wall at Sheerness? They came across from Italy in the 1790s as stowaways in a cargo of marble!

Local historians, David Hughes and Daf Charman, told us stories about Sheppey’s heritage and folklore. To find out more, read “Strange Tales of Old Sheppey” by Sheila M. Judge.

Romany Roots

How much do you know about Gypsy heritage and culture? It has evolved and been sustained by life on the road, and its expression through folk arts such as dance, music, song and storytelling.

Gypsy journalist and broadcaster, Jake Bowers, told us stories – and did some myth-busting! – about the Traveller community.
Read more about Gypsy culture on the BBC Kent website
Find out about Jake’s show, “Rokker Radio”, on the BBC

Changing Places

Did you know that the next 30 years will see unprecedented levels of new house-building in Kent, with some 120,000 new homes already planned? The BBC is creating a unique collection of images of Kent as it changes and evolves, with listeners to BBC Radio Kent submitting “old and new” photos.

Rob Illingworth, of Kent Archives Service, led us on an expedition around Sittingbourne to create contemporary versions of archive images using digital cameras.
Find out more about the Changing Places “old and new” collection