Kent Culture

Kent's Geology

An unimaginable time ago Kent lay buried under the sea. For millions of years generations of microscopic shellfish lived and died, leaving their hard outer cases to form a charnel-house of lime superimposed on the sea-bed layers of sand and clay.

The Arts

The term "the arts" includes, but is not limited to, music (instrumental and vocal), dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture and allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, graphic and craft arts, industrial design, costume and fashion design, motion pictures, television, radio, film, video, tape and sound recording, the arts related to the presentation, performance, execution, and exhibition of such major art forms, all those traditional arts practiced by the diverse peoples of this country. and the study and application of the arts to the human environment.

Linguistics

Kent is well known for its distinctive dialect, much of which has developed in its mining and rural communities. There are many variations on accent and dialect across the region.

Kent Place Names

If you have wandered through the Kent Downs whether on foot, by horse, bicycle or car will have, at one time or another, pondered over the meaning of place names of towns , villages or hamlets that we normally take for granted in our everyday lives. Places such as Pett Bottom, Bigbury and Bobbing conjure up all manner of intriguing images as to the activities of former inhabitants, while others such as Whatsole Street, Smersole or Hartlip appear completely baffling.

Kent Religion

Churches have for centuries been the centre of religious life, being not only a place for weekly worship but the space in which people are married, christened, baptised, and celebrated after passing.
Churches mark special religious occasions - Christmas, Easter, and Palm Sunday being a few of the important events - and provide comfort and shelter to those in need.

Geological History

From the exposed uplands rivers emerged; abetted by the weathering forces of frost and rain they began their long process of demolition.

The chalk, now reduced at its highest to under a thousand feet, remains today as two east-west ridges of beautiful hills: on the one hand the South Downs of neighbouring Sussex; on the other the North Downs, which run westward across Surrey into a corner of Hampshire, and eastward from Westerham through the full length of Kent until, laid bare as the white cliffs of Dover, they tower impressively above the seaborne traveller from France.hurst (a knoll, especially a wooded knoll), belong to a comparatively late phase, only a century or two before the Norman Conquest. The map, again, shows that nearly all these names are in the Weald, a district in which scarcely any early names exist. This was an area which the heavy clay soil made it difficult to work, and which carried a dense forest. It is not surprising that it was avoided by the early settlers and that it was only later, as the pressure of 4 growing population made it necessary to bring more land into cultivation, that the Weald began to be opened up and occupied from about the eighth century onwards.

Kentish Architecture

On these few sections we hope to inspire those interested in architecture and show a record of the location of Kentish building materials and their uses, a knowledge of the origin of materials combined with that of architecture, construction and ornament. When the composition and structure of stones are understood the causes of their decay and the impracticability of carving certain varieties will be appreciated; and in the same way a knowledge of the properties of clays and earths will be extremely useful in determining the durability and appearance of bricks and tiles made from these materials.

Buildings although erected in the fashion prevailing at the time, nevertheless embodied vernacular features peculiar to the district in which they were located. In the Middle Ages when considering a site due regard to an adequate supply of building material and easy transport facilities was imperative. When extensive works were contemplated requiring large quantities of stone not only for the actual construction but for subsequent enlargements, alterations, and repairs, stone quarries were often purchased or leased.