Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/396

Rh KENT. 383 KENT. vie.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 180, in the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure with embattled tower containing five bells. The church has been lately restored. The doorway within the tower has capitals representing birds and human heads, and the capitals of the western pillars exhibit the fable of the wolf and the crane on one side, and that of the eagle and the hare on the other. The charities produce about 18 per annum, which goes to the support of poor widows and a school. There is a place of worship for the Weslcyans, also a day and Sunday schools. KENT, a maritime co. at the south-eastern extre- mity of England, bounded on the N. by the estuary of the Thames and the German Ocean, on the E. by the German Ocean and the Straits of Dover, on the S. by Sussex, from which it is partly separated by the rivers Ilother and Tees, and on the W. by Surrey. Its ex- treme length, from Deptford to the "North Foreland, is about 63 miles, and its extreme breadth, from the North Foreland to Dungeness Point, about 43 miles. It is 170 miles in circuit. Its area, including the city and county of Canterbury, is 1,039,419 statute acres. Its population in 1861 was 733,887 (369,129 males and 364,758 females), having increased since 1851, when it was 615,766, by 66,413, or at the rate of 19 per cent, during the decennial period. The number of inhabited houses in 1861 was 126,221, and of uninhabited, 5,247. Kent, from the numerous important events which have taken place within its limits, is one of the most interest- ing counties in England. It was on the Kentish coast that Julius Caesar landed on the occasions of his two invasions of England, and it was in a great measure owing to the determined resistance offered to him by the men of Kent that he was prevented from obtaining a permanent footing in the island. At this period the inhabitants of Kent, from their more frequent inter- course with the Continent consequent on their close proximity to Gaul, were in a more advanced state of civilisation than those of the more inland parts of the island. In the reign of Claudius, Kent was brought nnder the Roman sway, and in that of Constantino, was included in the division Britannia Prima. It was called by the Romans Cantiiim, and still retains many traces of their continued occupation, in the ancient roads, bridges, forts, camps, &c., scattered over all parts of the county. On the departure of the Romans from Britain, it would seem to have been the theatre of a protracted civil war, and in 450 to have been overrun by the Jutes and Saxons, who, according to tradition, had been invited over by Vortigem to repel the attacks of the Picts and Scots. Five years later these hardy Northmen, under the command of their leader Ilcngist, subjugated the whole of the cpunty, and laid the foundation of the Anglo-Saxon supremacy in England. Of the successors of Hengist, Ethelbert is the most worthy of notice. He invaded the territory of Ceawlin, king of Wessex, about the year 568, and suffered a severe defeat. In 589, he was elected Bretwalda, which dignity he enjoyed until his death in 616. During his reign Christianity was introduced among the Saxons in England by St. Augus- tine, and Ethelbert was one of his earliest converts. Augustine built a church (the precursor of the present cathedral) adjoining the royal palace, at Canterbury. This city then became and has since continued the ecclesiastical metropolis of England. Under the suc- cessors of Ethelbert, the crown of Kent lost the supre- macy which it had obtained during the reign of that king. In the reign of Lothar, Ethelred, king of ilercia, invaded the county and destroyed Rochester ; and, during the same reign, in 686 and 687, Kent was again invaded by Ceadwalla, king of Wessex. For about half a century previous to the consolidation of the various parts of England into one kingdom, by Egbert, Kent was under the supremacy of the kings of Mercia. Bal- drid, the last sole king of Kent, was driven from his throne by Egbert, king of Wessex, about the year 823. From this period Kent was for some time governed by dukes and earls, and afterwards by sheriffs. In 832 the Danes made their first attack upon the coast of this county. During the reign of Ethelwulf their attack became frequent : in one of these they were met and defeated at Sandwich by Athelstan, brother of Ethelwulf, and at that time governor of Kent. During the succes sive reigns of Ethelbert, Ethelred, and Alfred, th Danes still continued to infest this county. In the reign of Ethelred, surnamed the Unready, the Dane renewed their ravages with great fury, on most occasion; exacting large sums of money as the price of their retreat. In one of their attacks they obtained possessio by treachery of Canterbury, burned the city, and mui dered the archbishop. In the brief contest between Canute and Edmund Ironsides, a great battle was fought at Otford, in this county, which resulted in favour of Edmund. During the reign of Edward the Confessor Kent was included in the earldom of Godwin. Kent was called by the Saxons Cantwaraland. At tho battle of Hastings the men of Kent formed the van of tho Anglo-Saxon army, it being their privilege to occupy that post. After the battle AVilliam the Conqueror marched to Dover, took possession of the castle, and hanged the governor ; ho then proceeded by Walling Street to London, conciliating the men of Kent on his way by granting them a continuance of their ancient privileges. In the reign of William Rufus, Odo Bishop of Bayeux raised this county in favour of Robert Duko of Normandy. When John was threatened with an invasion by Philip II. of France, he resigned bis crown to Pandulph, tho pope's legate, at Dover. Louis, tho Dauphin of France, coming to the assistance of tho barons, landed in tho Isle of Thanet in 1216. He took Rochester, and reduced the greater part of the county to submission, but failed to obtain possession of Dover Castle, which was defended by Hubert de Burgh. In 1381 Wat Tyler's rebellion broke out in Kent. The insurgents attacked the Archbishop of Canterbury's house at Maidstone, and released John Baile, a follower of Wickliffe. In 1450 tho insurrection headed by Jack Cade, broke out in this county. In the wars of tho Roses, Kent was the scene of several contests. In 1554 Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion had its origin in Kent. In the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament, a battle was fought at Maidstone in 16 J8, in which tho latter was victorious. Kent has a great extent of coast. That portion of it on the northern side which bounds tho estuaries of the Thames and the Mcdway, and that part of the county which is included between those two rivers, consist of marshland. Eastward of the Medvay lies the Isle of Sheppey, separated from the mainland by tho Swale, an arm of the estuary of the Medway, and containing the royal dockyard of Sheerness, and tho decayed borough of Greenborough. The island is 10 miles in length, and 5 in breadth, and contains about 33 square miles. The coast on the northern side of the Isle of Sheppey is precipitous the cliffs, which decay very rapidly, rising to a height of from 60 to 80 foot. The southern part of the island is a low flat. Tho isles of Harty and Elmley form subordinate portions of the Isle of Sheppey, with the exception of Harty Isle, whii-h is included in the hundred of Faversham. The Isle of Sheppey constitutes a separate liberty. The coast between the Isle of Sheppey and the Isle of Thanet, with few interruptions, as at Herne Bay and Reculver, rises in clayey cliffs. The Isle of Thanet, containing the celebrated watering-places of Ramsgate, Margate, and Broadstairs, occupies the north-eastern corner of the county. E. of Margate is the North Foreland, where is a lighthouse. The coast of Thanet rises in chalk cliffs. From the Isle of Thanet to Walmer Castle the coast is low; at the latter point the cliffs recom- mence, continuing round the South Foreland to Folke- stone, whence the coast gradually declines until it forms the extensive tract known as the Romney Marsh. Off the coast, between Thanet and the South Foreland, a: the Goodwin Sands, between which and the mainland ii the well-known roadstead of the Downs. The Goodwin Sands, supposed to be the remains of an island called (, belonging to Earl Godwin, which was submerged