Kent Past

The History of Kent

Copyright Kent Past 2010

Time-Line

Before 999
1000 - 1099
1100 - 1199
1200 - 1299
1300 - 1399
1400 - 1499
1500 - 1599
1600 - 1699
1700 - 1799
1800 - 1899
1900 - 1999

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 Canonised
1178                  Austen Canons established at Erith
1180                  Keep and curtain walls built at Dover Castle

1204                  King John loses Normandy
1215                  Siege of Rochester Castle
1216 – 17          Siege of Dover Castle
1217                  Sea battle against the French off Sandwich
1220                  Maison Dieu, Dover, built for pilgrims
1240                  Carmelite House founded at Aylesford
1264                  Siege of Rochester castle
1272                  Carmelite Friary established in Sandwich
1290                  Edward I built a small castle at Sandwich

1324 - 6            Coastal flooding
1335                  Statute of Money – pilgrims can only enter England through Dover
1337                  Start of the Hundred Years War
1348 – 9            Black Death, possibly half the population of Kent dies
1351                  Statute of Labourers
1363 – 80          Re-building of the Canterbury town walls
1381                  Peasants Revolt
1392                  The first stone bridge at Rochester

1401                  The monopoly of Gravesend ferrymen confirmed
1448                  Canterbury granted a charter
1450                  Cade’s Rebellion starts in March July rebellion ends
1452                  John Wilkins Rebellion
1457                  Sandwich sacked by the French

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

1709                  First Turnpike Act for Kent
1730                  Mereworth Castle constructed
1758                  Chatham Lines defences built
1778 – 83          Amherst Fort built
1791                  Royal Sea bathing School opened
1796                  Early warning semaphore stations opened across Kent

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

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