Chilham in Kent

16 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  3 minutes

© flickr.com © Ray in Manila/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com © Ray in Manila/cc-by-2.0

Chilham is a mostly agricultural village and parish in the English county of Kent with a clustered settlement, Chilham village centre, in the northeast, and a smaller linear settlement, Shottenden. Well-preserved roads and mostly residential listed buildings in its centre have led to its use as a location in television and film.   read more…

Canterbury Cathedral in England

4 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  15 minutes

© Hans Musil/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Hans Musil/cc-by-sa-4.0

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury. Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the 12th century and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, with significant eastward extensions to accommodate the flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket, the archbishop who was murdered in the cathedral in 1170. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late 14th century when they were demolished to make way for the present structures. Before the English Reformation the cathedral was part of a Benedictine monastic community known as Christ Church, Canterbury, as well as being the seat of the archbishop.   read more…

Dover Castle

22 November 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  11 minutes

Dover Castle © Chensiyuan/cc-by-sa-4.0

Dover Castle © Chensiyuan/cc-by-sa-4.0

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the “Key to England” due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the largest castle in England, a title also claimed by Windsor Castle. This site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD 43. This is suggested on the basis of the unusual pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle. Excavations have provided evidence of Iron Age occupation within the locality of the castle, but it is not certain whether this is associated with the hillfort.   read more…

Hever Castle in Kent

31 October 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Nessy-Pic/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Nessy-Pic/cc-by-sa-4.0

Hever Castle is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, 30 miles (48 km) south-east of London. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally ‘Bullen’) family. Anne Boleyn, the second queen consort of King Henry VIII of England, spent her early youth there after her father, Thomas Boleyn, inherited it in 1505. The castle passed to him upon the death of his father, Sir William Boleyn. It later came into the possession of King Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The castle is now open to the public as a tourist attraction.   read more…

The Bluewater Shopping Centre

1 February 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month, Shopping Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Fay1982-cc-by-sa-4.0

© Fay1982-cc-by-sa-4.0

Bluewater Shopping Centre (commonly referred to as Bluewater) is an out of town shopping centre in Stone (postally Greenhithe), Kent, outside the M25 Orbital motorway, 17.8 miles (28.6 km) east south-east of London‘s centre. Opened on 16 March 1999 in a former chalk quarry after three years of building, the site including car parks occupies 240 acres (97 ha) and has a sales floor area of 154,000 m2 (1,600,000 ft2) over two levels, making it the fourth-largest shopping centre in the UK (after the MetroCentre, Trafford Centre and Westfield Stratford City). Elsewhere in Europe only Istanbul‘s Cevahir Mall and Vienna‘s Shopping City Süd are bigger. The floor plan is a triangular shape with 330 stores, including 3 anchors, 40 cafés and restaurants, and a 13-screen cinema. The centre employs 7,000 people and serves over 27 million visitors a year. A main rival is the Lakeside Shopping Centre and its two retail parks by road 8 miles (13 km) away in West Thurrock, Essex, just across the River Thames or 3.2 miles (5.1 km) point-to-point. It is owned by four major UK institutions, Prudential plc and PRUPIM (35%), Land Securities (30%), the Lend Lease Retail Partnership (25%) and Hermes (10%).   read more…

Holiday on the Thames

25 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

River Thames with Hampton Church Shakespeare's Temple and Garrick's Villa © Motmit

River Thames with Hampton Church Shakespeare’s Temple and Garrick’s Villa © Motmit

The River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Windsor, Kingston upon Thames and Richmond.   read more…

The seaside town of Deal in South England

29 March 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Seafront © Shantavira

Seafront © Shantavira

Deal is a town in Kent, England. It lies on the English Channel eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Closely associated with Deal are the villages of Kingsdown, Sholden and Walmer, the latter being where Julius Caesar first arrived in Britain.   read more…

The Eurotunnel

19 November 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Eurotunnel schema © Arz - Commander Keane

Eurotunnel schema © Arz – Commander Keane

The Channel Tunnel (French: Le tunnel sous la Manche; also referred to as the Chunnel) is a 50.5-kilometre (31.4 mi) rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent, in the United Kingdom, with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, near Calais in northern France, beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is 75 m (250 ft) deep. At 37.9 kilometres (23.5 mi), the tunnel has the longest undersea portion of any tunnel in the world, although the Seikan Tunnel in Japan is both longer overall at 53.85 kilometres (33.46 mi) and deeper at 240 metres (790 ft) below sea level. The speed limit in the tunnel is 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph).   read more…

The city of Rochester in Kent

10 December 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Rochester Castle on Medway river © Clem Rutter

Rochester Castle on Medway river © Clem Rutter

Rochester is a town and former city in Kent, England. It is located within the unitary authority area of Medway and is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (48 km) from London. The town is known for its cathedral and castle, and for an epic siege in 1215. Rochester, together with neighbouring Chatham, Gillingham, Strood and a number of outlying villages, makes up the Medway unitary authority area. The town is home to a number of important historic buildings, the most prominent of which are the Guildhall, the Corn Exchange, Restoration House, Eastgate House, Rochester Castle and Rochester Cathedral. Many of the buildings in the town centre date from the 18th century or as early as the 14th century.   read more…

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