Kent Past - Time-Line

55 & 54BC            Julius Caesar invades Britain
43AD                     Claudius Invades Britain
130                         Construction of Dover Lighthouses
250 – 270              Construction of forts around the coast
270 – 290              Construction of Canterbury town walls
410                         Withdrawal of Roman troops from Britain
449                         Vortigern, invites Hengist and Horsa to help protect Kent
488                         Oisc crowned first king of Kent
516                         Octa King of Kent
543                         Eormenric King of Kent
580                         Aethelberht crowned King of Kent
597                         Augustine arrives in Kent
598                         Bishopric established in Canterbury
602                         Canterbury Cathedral founded
604                         Diocese of Rochester created
                                Augustine died
597 – 616              Athelbert issues a series of written laws
616                         Eadbald king of Kent
600                         St Mary in Castro – possibly built within Dover Castle
619                         Mellitus Archbishop of Canterbury
640                         Eorcenberht King of Kent
664                         Ecgberht crowned king of Kent
673                         Hlothher bcomes king of Kent
685                         Hlothher issues written laws
685                         Eadric king of Kent issues written laws
686                         Mul rules Kent
690                         Wihtred claims Kents throne
695                         Whited issues a third series of laws
668                         Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury
760                         Death of Aethelberht, last of the Eskings
774                         Uprising in Kent against King Offa of Mercia at the battle of
                                Otford
797                         Danish and Viking invasions begin
805                         Kent again a province of Mercia
825                         Kent ruled by Egbert of Wessex
832                         Vikings raid the Isle of Sheppey
850                         Vikings winter in Thanet
851                         King Athelstan defeats the Vikings at Sandwich
854                         Vikings winter on the Isle of Sheppey
865                         Vikings control much of Eastern Kent
893                         Vikings build forts at Appledore and near Milton Regis
960                         Dunstan receives pallium from Pope John XII
991                         Regular Viking raids

1006                      Alphege Archbishop of Canterbury
1011                      Siege of Canterbury by the Vikings
1029                      St Dunstan canonised
1066                      William defeats Harold at Hastings William crowned King of
                               England
1066                      Dover castle built by William
1078                      St Alphege Canonised
1082                     Odo, Earl of Kent, arrested, tried, banished.
1086                     Domesday book compiled
1087                     Timber castle at Rochester replaced by stone walls
1088                     Siege of Rochester Castle by William Rufus against Odo
1093                     Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury

1127                      Rochester Castle keep built
1143                      Cistercian Abbey founded at Boxley
1147                      Benedictine Abbey founded at Faversham
1155 – 6                Two charters giving rights to the Cinque Ports
1162                      Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury
1170                      Thomas Becket murdered
1173                      Thomas Becket Cononised
1178                      Austen Canons established at Erith
1180                      Keep and curtain walls built at Dover Castle

1509                    Coronation of Henry VIII
1539 – 44            Construction of Henry VIII castles (Chatham)
1549                     Mast Pond Gillingham
1553                     Mary crowned
1554                     Wyatt rebellion
1548                     Maidstone granted a charter
1550                     All ships laid up at Gillingham
1558                     Elizabeth crowned
1559                     Upnor castle built
1560 – 80            Walloon refugees settle in Sandwich and Canterbury
1567                     Anchorage renamed Chatham
1570                     Chatham Dockyard at Sunne Hard
1588                     Preparation for a possible Spanish invasion. The Armada

1608                     Major rebuilding of Knole House
1635                     First demand for the ‘Ship Money’
1640 – 1642        Kent Petitions to Parliament
1642                     Start of the First Civil War
1643                     Royalist Rising in West Kent. Parliamentary
                              County Committee based at Knole House
1644                     County Committee based at Aylesford
1646                     County Committee based at Maidstone
1647                     Christmas cancelled. Riots in Canterbury
1648                     Royalist Rising in Kent. Battle of Maidstone
1649                     Execution of Charles I, January
1660                     The Restoration King Charles lands at Dover May 25th
1665                     First Royal Navy dockyard laid out at Sheerness
1667                     Dutch fleet in the Medway and Thames
1698                     Shepherd Neame Brewery opened

1803 – 15             Western heights constructed at Dover
1805 – 9               Construction of 74 Martello Towers around the South coast
1810                     Folkestone harbour constructed
1815                     The first steamboats run between London and Margate
1824                     Gravesend to Strood canal opened
1830                     The first Swing Riots
1830                     Canterbury Whitstable Railway line opened 3rd May
1832                     Great Reform Act
1834                     New Poor Law. Anti-Poor Law riots in Kent
1838                     Courtenay Rising
1824                     South Eastern Railway line built
1844                     Maidstone linked to the rail system
1847                     Faversham gunpowder mill explosion, 50 killed
1857                     Medieval stone bridge at Rochester replaced
                              Kent County Constabulary formed
1858 – 63             Establishment of the London, Chatham and Dover Rail Company
1859 – 1864        Drop Redoubt up-dated
1859                     Kent County Cricket Club formed
1865                     First railway specials bring hop pickers to Kent
1870                     Education Act allows school boards to be formed
1889                     Formation of Kent County Council
1896                     Maidstone Typhoid epidemic, 131 die

1912                    Betteshanger, Chislet, Snowdown and Tilmanstone collieries
                              opened
1913                     County Hall opened in Maidstone
1913                     Kent coalfield opened
1914                     Start of the First World War
                              HMS Bulwark explodes in the Medway, 800 killed
1916                     Faversham munitions factory explosion, 106 killed
1918                     End of the First World War
1922                     Chalk cross of remembrance carved into the Downs at Lenham
1939                     Start of the Second World War.
1940                     Evacuation of Dunkirk
                              Battle of Britain
1942                     Canterbury heavily bombed, Baedecker raids
1944                     First V-bombs land in Kent
                              V2 missiles land in Kent
1945                     End of the Second World War.
1953                     Coastal flooding around Kent
1958                     Dover Castle no longer garrisoned
1960                     Opening of the Kingsferry Bridge to Sheppey
                              Royal Dockyard at Sheerness closes
1963                     Current boundaries of Kent established
1964                     First nuclear power station opened at Dungeness
1972                     Local Government Act changes Kent boundaries
1981                     Royal Navy Dockyard at Chatham closes.
1989                     Last of the Kent collieries closes
1994                     Channel Tunnel opened