Editing Kent (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Kent}}

The area was first occupied by [[Archaic humans|early humans]], intermittently due to periods of extreme cold, during the [[Palaeolithic]] (Old Stone Age), as attested by an early Neanderthal skull found in the quarries at [[Swanscombe]]. The [[Medway megaliths]] were built during the [[Neolithic]] era. There is a rich sequence of [[Bronze Age]], Celtic [[Iron Age]], and Britto-[[Roman Empire|Roman]] era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the [[Ringlemere gold cup]] and the Roman villas of the [[River Darent|Darent valley]].<ref name="prehistoric">{{cite book |last=Ashbee |first=Paul |title=Kent in prehistoric times |publisher=Tempus |year=2005 |isbn=9780752431369 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Julius Caesar]] described the area as {{lang|la|Cantium}}, or the home of the [[Cantiaci]], in 51&nbsp;BC.<ref name="name">{{cite book |last=Glover |first=Judith |title=Place names of Kent |publisher=B. T. Batsford |year=1976 |isbn=9780713430691 |language=en}}</ref> The extreme west of the modern county was by the time of [[Roman Britain]] occupied by a Celtic Iron Age tribe known as the [[Regni]]. Caesar wrote that the people of Kent were "by far the most civilised inhabitants of Britain".<ref name=":0" />
[[File:FlagOfKent.svg|thumb|The [[Flag of Kent|flag]] of the historic county of Kent]]
Following the withdrawal of the Romans, large numbers of Germanic speakers from mainland Europe settled in Kent, bringing their language, which came to be [[Old English]]. While they expelled the native Romano-British population, some likely remained in the area, eventually assimilating with the newcomers.<ref>Susan Harrington and Stuart Brookes, ''The Kingdom of Kent and Its People, AD 400–1066'', pp. 24, 35.</ref> Of the invading tribes, the [[Jutes]] were the most prominent, and the area became [[Kingdom of Kent|a Jutish kingdom]]<ref name="kingdom">{{cite book |last=Witney| first=K. P. |title=The Kingdom of Kent |year=1982}}</ref> recorded as ''Cantia'' in about 730 and ''Cent'' in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were referred to as the ''Cantwara'', or Kentish people. The city of Canterbury was the largest in Kent.<ref name="history">{{cite web |title=Victoria County History of Kent |publisher=KentArchaeology.org.uk |url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/03/03/01C/064.htm |date=May 2006 |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216115929/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/03/03/01C/064.htm |archive-date=16 February 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 597, [[Pope Gregory I]] appointed the religious missionary (who became [[Augustine of Canterbury|Saint Augustine of Canterbury]] after his death) as the first [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the [[Paganism|pagan]] King [[Æthelberht of Kent]] to Christianity. The [[Diocese of Canterbury]] became England's first [[Episcopal See]] with first cathedral and has since remained England's centre of Christianity.<ref name="Archbishop">{{cite web|title=Archbishop of Canterbury |publisher=Spartacus.SchoolNet.co.uk |url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORarchcanterbury.htm |access-date=19 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618095157/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/NORarchcanterbury.htm |archive-date=18 June 2007 }}</ref> The second designated English cathedral was for West Kent at [[Rochester Cathedral]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Stenton |first=Frank M |title=Anglo-Saxon England |volume=II |year=1971 |series=The Oxford History of England |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-821716-9}}</ref>

Kent was traditionally [[List of hundreds of England|partitioned]] into East and West Kent, and into [[Lathe (county subdivision)|lathes]] and [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]]. The traditional border of East and West Kent was the county's main river, the [[River Medway|Medway]]. Men and women from east of the Medway are Men (or Maids) of Kent, those from the west are Kentishmen or Kentish Maids.<ref name=":0" /> The divide has been explained by some as originating in the Anglo-Saxon migrations, with Jutes mainly settling east of the Medway and Saxons settling west of it.<ref name="k228500">{{cite news |last=Griffiths |first=Rhys |title=Are you a Kentish Man or a Man of Kent and which side of the Medway is the best place to be? |date=11 June 2020 |work=Kent Online |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/are-you-a-man-of-kent-or-kentish-man-228500/ |access-date=27 July 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727071139/https://www.kentonline.co.uk/maidstone/news/are-you-a-man-of-kent-or-kentish-man-228500/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Graham |first=James |date=11 April 2023 |title=The River Medway: The river of Kent or Kentish river? |url=https://britishheritage.com/travel/river-medway |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727054923/https://britishheritage.com/travel/river-medway |archive-date=27 July 2020 |access-date=27 July 2020 |publisher=British Heritage}}</ref>

In the 11th century, the people of Kent (or ''Chenth'', per the [[Domesday Book]]) adopted the motto ''[[Invicta (motto)|Invicta]]'', meaning "undefeated" or "unconquered". The adoption of this motto followed the invasion of Britain by [[William of Normandy]], as he was unable to subdue the county and they negotiated favourable terms. The continued resistance of the Kentish people 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]].<ref name="odo">{{cite book |author=Bates |first=David |title=The Character and Career of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (1049/50-1097) |publisher=Speculum |year=1975 |author-link=David Bates (historian)}}</ref>

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]],<ref name="revolt">{{cite web |title=Peasants' Revolt |publisher=Britannia.com |url=http://www.britannia.com/history/articles/peasantsrevolt.html |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404234315/http://www.britannia.com/history/articles/peasantsrevolt.html |archive-date=4 April 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[Jack Cade]]'s Kent rebellion of 1450, and [[Thomas Wyatt the younger|Wyatt's]] Rebellion of 1554 against Queen [[Mary I of England|Mary I]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Wyatt's Rebellion |url=http://www.britpolitics.co.uk/queen-mary-i-england-tudor-religion-rebellion |website=Brit Politics |publisher=Britology Ltd |access-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304133827/http://www.britpolitics.co.uk/queen-mary-i-england-tudor-religion-rebellion |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:HistorieKent1576.jpg|thumb|left|Title page of [[William Lambarde]]'s ''Perambulation of Kent'' (completed in 1570 and published in 1576), a historical description of Kent and the first published [[English county histories|county history]]]]

The [[Royal Navy]] first used the [[River Medway]] in 1547.<!-- *otheus*: nonsensical>> when a storehouse was rented on 'Jyllingham Water'. --> By the reign of [[Elizabeth I]] (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]]. By 1618, storehouses, a [[ropewalk]], a [[drydock]], and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham.<ref name=THDC>{{cite book |title=The Historic Dockyard Chatham&nbsp;– where legends were created |publisher=Jarrold Publishing |year=2005}}</ref>

[[File:Cantium southsexia surria meddlesexia Atlas.jpg|thumb|250px|Hand-drawn map of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Middlesex from 1575]]

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.<ref name="ruyter">{{cite web|title=The Dutch in the Medway |publisher=DeRuyter.org |url=http://www.deruyter.org/CHATHAM_Dutch_in_the_Medway.html |access-date=20 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517100655/http://www.deruyter.org/CHATHAM_Dutch_in_the_Medway.html |archive-date=17 May 2007}}</ref>

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. <!-- *otheus* I can't see relevance of this sentence:--><!-- In peacetime the work force at [[Chatham Dockyard]] was reduced to a quarter of its size during wartime.<ref name=THDC/> --> 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.<ref name="ccs">{{cite book |last= Oliver|first=Richard| title = Ordnance Survey maps: a concise guide for historians 2nd Ed | publisher=Ordnance Survey | year = 1995 |isbn=978-1-870598-24-8}}</ref> <!-- *otheus* confusing and out-of-place; this is a history of Kent, not of the Dockyard --><!-- Chatham Dockyard built over 400 naval ships, including [[HMS Victory]] in the age of [[ship-of-the-line]], ironclads such as [[HMS Africa]], and 57 submarines. During World War II, Chatham refitted 1360 warships such as [[HMS Ajax]].<ref name=THDC/> --> Many of the [[Georgian architecture|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.<ref name="Aldington">{{cite web |title=South-East England |publisher=Smuggler's Britain |url=http://www.smuggling.co.uk/gazetteer_se_14.html |access-date=20 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516195130/http://www.smuggling.co.uk/gazetteer_se_14.html |archive-date=16 May 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1889, the [[County of London]] was created and took over responsibility for local administration of parts of north-west Kent. These included the towns of [[Greenwich]], [[Woolwich]], [[Plumstead]], [[Deptford]], [[Lee, London|Lee]], [[Eltham, London|Eltham]], [[Charlton, London|Charlton]], and [[Kidbrooke]]. In 1900, however, Kent absorbed the district of [[Penge Urban District|Penge]]. Some of Kent is contiguous with the [[Greater London]] sprawl, notably parts of [[Dartford (borough)|Dartford]].

Originally, the border between Kent and Sussex (later [[East Sussex]]) ran through the towns of [[Royal Tunbridge Wells|Tunbridge Wells]] and [[Lamberhurst]]. In 1894, by the [[Local Government Act 1894|Local Government Act]], the parts of these towns that lay in East Sussex were absorbed by Kent.

During the Second World War, much of the [[Battle of Britain]] was fought in the skies over Kent.

Between June 1944 and March 1945, more than 10,000 [[V1 flying bomb]]s, or "Doodlebugs", were fired towards London from bases in [[Pas-de-Calais|Northern France]]. Although many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns and [[barrage balloon]]s, both London and Kent were hit by around 2,500 of these bombs.<!-- What areas? --><!-- These areas became known as ''Doodlebug Alley''. --><!--<ref name="doodle">{{cite web |title=WW2 People's War |publisher=BBC |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/00/a7642000.shtml |date=9 December 2005 |access-date=19 April 2007}}</ref>-->

After the war, Kent's borders changed several more times. In 1965, the London boroughs of [[London Borough of Bromley|Bromley]] and [[London Borough of Bexley|Bexley]] were created from nine towns formerly in Kent.<ref name="KHI">{{cite book |last=Jessup |first=Frank W. |title =Kent History Illustrated |publisher=Kent County Council| year=1966}}</ref><ref name="unitary">{{cite web |title=Medway |publisher=Communities and Local Government |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1170128 |access-date=20 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070427044224/http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1170128 |archive-date=27 April 2007}}</ref> In 1998, Rochester, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham and [[Rainham, Kent|Rainham]] left the administrative county of Kent to form the [[Unitary Authority]] of [[Medway]]. Plans for another unitary authority in [[North West Kent|north-west Kent]] were dropped, but in 2016 consultations began between five Kent local authorities (Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, and Ashford) with a view to forming a new unified authority for East Kent, although remaining within the auspices of Kent County Council. This idea was eventually dropped.
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Kent is traditionally divided into [[West Kent]] and [[East Kent]] by the River Medway. Residents east of the Medway are called "Men of Kent" and "Maids of Kent", while those to the west are called "Kentish Men" and "Kentish Maids".<ref name="man">{{cite news | first=Stephen |last=Rayner |title=Men of Kent: Sorry ... but we're joining a new tribe |work=Medway News |date=October 2004}}</ref>
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For almost nine centuries, a small part of present-day East London (the [[North Woolwich]], [[London E16]] area), formed part of Kent.