Kent  Travelshop  Flights Guesthouses Hotels  Contact us  Home  Welcome to Kent, Southeast England Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. It has land borders with East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London, and a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames estuary. Kent also has a nominal border with France halfway along the Channel Tunnel. Kent has always been the gateway to England, as the English Channel is at its narrowest between Dover and Calais. In Roman times the invasion army of Claudius landed at Richborough in 44AD, and Roman remains are plentiful. The main road, Watling Street, ran in a straight line towards London and this route was preserved in the present day A2. Today, the present port of Dover is amongst the busiest in Britain, whilst it was natural that the Channel Tunnel should be constructed where the Britain and France came closest together. Following the Roman withdrawal in 408, the Saxon chiefs Hengist and Horsa landed at Pegwell Bay in 453AD. This was the foundation of the Saxon kingdom of Kent, with its capital at Canterbury, and it was also a natural point for St Augustine to land in 598 on his mission to Christianise the English. Thus, the county is full of history. Its name came from the Kingdom of Kent. The county town is Maidstone. The two cities in Kent are Canterbury, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Rochester, the seat of the Bishop of Rochester. Kent enjoys warm dry summers, but winters can be cold and heavy snowfalls are not uncommon. The county is called "The Garden of England", and in many ways it remains a picturesque rural county. However, its closeness to London means that there a strong demand for housing and the London conurbation has spread outwards, checked only be green belt planning policies. But before the spread of London, farming was the predominant activity, important crops including hops, a flower used in making beer, and fruit, especially apples. The picturesque Oast houses, distinguished by their conical roofs, were constructed for drying the hops, but most have now been converted into houses. Over the centuries many industries have been of importance and some still are, such as woollen textiles cloth-making, iron-making; paper; brick-making cement and engineering: all have been part of the industrial scene. Fishing and tourism also occupy many people, especially the coastal resorts. The latter developed from the end of the eighteenth century, beginning with the Thanet towns of Margate and Ramsgate, and later, Broadstairs. Folkestone, whilst primarily a port, also developed as a resort, as did Deal. Other towns of interest include Hythe, Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Robertsbridge and Faversham, an important port and brewing centre. There are many places of attraction to visitors: Leeds Castle, Sissinghurst, Penshurst, Hever, and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Canal Canterbury from West Gate Canterbury Canterbury is a cathedral city in east Kent in South East England and is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The name Canterbury derives from the Old English Cantwarebyrig, meaning "fortress of the men of Kent". The bury element is a form of borough, which has cognates in words and place names in virtually every Indo-European and Semitic language, as well as others. The city is on the River Great Stour, flowing from Ashford to the English Channel at Sandwich, but is currently navigable only on the tidal section from Sandwich to Fordwich, north east of Canterbury. Canterbury today is a major city for tourism with Canterbury Cathedral alone attracting 1.2 million visitors in 2001. It still contains many ancient buildings and modern building development within the medieval town centre is strictly regulated. During 2004-5 the Whitefriars area of the city underwent major redevelopment and the associated archeological research was called the "Big Dig". Canterbury now has a much larger shopping attraction due to the Whitefriars development, many of the shops have undergone major redevelopment, as has the city's bus station. Bus Links The hourly National Express coach service to and from Victoria Coach Station, which leaves from the main bus station is typically scheduled to take 2 hours. Railway Canterbury has two railway stations, Canterbury West and Canterbury East. The services from these are operated by Southeastern. Canterbury West is served primarily from London Charing Cross with limited services from Victoria as well as by trains to Ramsgate and Margate. Services from London Victoria stop at Canterbury East (journey time around 88 minutes) and continue to Dover. Canterbury East is the more central of the two stations, although it came later, being opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 9 July 1860. Road Links Canterbury is now by-passed by the A2 London to Dover Road. It is about 45 miles from the M25 London orbital motorway, and 61 miles from central London. The other main road through Canterbury is the A28 from Ashford to Ramsgate and Margate. Canterbury is legendary for traffic congestion throughout the day, and the City Council has invested heavily in Park-and-Ride systems around the City's outskirts. Education The city has many students as it is home to several Higher Education institutions and other colleges. The University of Kent at Canterbury stands on a hill about two miles outside the city centre. Chaucer College is an independent graduate college for Japanese students within the campus of the University. Near the University of Kent is the Franciscan International Study Centre, a place of study for the worldwide Franciscan Order. Canterbury Christ Church University is located in the city as is one of the campuses of the University College for the Creative Arts. There is also the Further Education institution, Canterbury College. Independent secondary schools include St Edmund's School, Kent College, and what may be the world's oldest extant school The King's School. Dover Beach Dover Dover is a major channel port in the English county of Kent and famous for its white chalk cliffs. The cliffs gave Britain its nickname of Albion, meaning "white". The town's name derives from the Brythonic Dubrās ("the waters"). Its closeness to continental Europe, only 34 km (21 miles) from the French port of Calais, makes Dover one of the United Kingdom's busiest cross channel ports, with 18 million passengers passing through each year. Regular ferry services operate from Dover to Calais and Dunkerque. A catamaran service to Boulogne recommenced in May 2004. Folkestone Harbour The Southcliff Hotel 22-26 The Leas, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 2DY AA ** 2 Star Graded Situated in the historical harbour and resort of Folkestone, The Southcliff Hotel is perfectly situated on the Leas, the panoramic promenade. Click here for Prices Folkestone Folkestone is a coastal resort town in the Shepway district of Kent, England, located at the eastern end of the M20 which provides fast access to Ashford, Maidstone, London and the M25. The A20 is motorway-standard to Dover. Folkestone also marks the eastern end of the A259 South Coast Trunk Road with access to Hastings, Eastbourne and beyond. To the north, roads connect Folkestone to Canterbury and the nearby villages of Elham and Lyminge. The town is served by two railway stations, Folkestone West and Folkestone Central, as described in the "Folkestone Railways" section. Although the tourist industry was still maintained, the closure of the ferry services between here and Boulogne seemed to spell the town’s demise. In 2004 talks have begun with Boulogne, Folkestone's twin town, which also had similar problems, and rebuilding of the town's infrastructure has begun. New Developments There has been significant physical redevelopment of the local town centre in a bid to make it more acceptable to tourists, the local community and the UK's newspapers alike. The likelihood that domestic services will be able to use the High Speed Rail Link, placing Folkestone less than one hour from London by High Speed Train is expected to contribute to a revival of Folkestone's fortunes. Folkestone Creative Quarter The Creative Foundation is a new charitable organisation which is acquiring a large number of run-down properties in the Creative Quarter of Folkestone (the oldest part of town, including the Old High Street and The Bayle), renovating them and letting them at long-term affordable rents as work-spaces for artists and creative businesses(some with living accommodation). Over 100 creative individuals are already in residence and more are taking up space as the renovation work is completed. The Strange Cargo Arts Company is central to the creative quarter, and Georges House Gallery holds frequent exhibitions by local artists. The vision is to attract people to live, work and visit, creating a vibrant and exciting environment buzzing with life and ideas, bustling with studios, shops, galleries, street art, festivals, cafes and restaurants providing a long term sustainable future for Folkestone as a centre for creativity.