Chapter IV: Part 4

_Geology._--The northern part of the county lies on the southern rim
of the London basin; here the beds are dipping northwards. The
southern part of the county is occupied by a portion of the Wealden
anticline. The London Clay occupies the tongue of land between the
estuaries of the Thames and Medway, as well as Sheppey and a district
about 8 m. wide stretching southwards from Whitstable to Canterbury,
and extending eastwards to the Isle of Thanet. It reappears at Pegwell
Bay, and in the neighbourhood of London it rises above the plastic
clay into the elevation of Shooter's Hill, with a height of about 450
ft. and a number of smaller eminences. The thickness of the formation
near London is about 400 ft., and at Sheppey it reaches 480 ft. At
Sheppey it is rich in various kinds of fossil fish and shells. The
plastic clay, which rests chiefly on chalk, occupies the remainder of
the estuary of the Thames, but at several places it is broken through
by outcrops of chalk, which in some instances run northwards to the
banks of the river. The Lower Tertiaries are represented by three
different formations known as the Thanet beds, the Woolwich and
Reading beds, and the Oldhaven and Blackheath beds. The Thanet beds
resting on chalk form a narrow outcrop rising into cliffs at Pegwell
Bay and Reculver, and consist (1) of a constant base bed of clayey
greenish sand, seldom more than 5 ft. in thickness; (2) of a thin and
local bed composed of alternations of brown clay and loam; (3) of a
bed of fine light buff sand, which in west Kent attains a thickness of
more than 60 ft.; (4) of bluish grey sandy marl containing fossils,
and almost entirely confined to east Kent, the thickness of the
formation being more than 60 ft.; and (5) of fine light grey sand of
an equal thickness, also fossiliferous. The middle series of the Lower
Tertiaries, known as the Woolwich and Reading beds, rests either on
the Thanet beds or on chalk, and consists chiefly of irregular
alternations of clay and sand of very various colours, the former
often containing estuarine and oyster shells and the latter flint
pebbles. The thickness of the formation varies from 15 to 80 ft., but
most commonly it is from 25 to 40 ft. The highest and most local
series of the Lower Tertiaries is the Oldhaven and Blackheath beds
lying between the London Clay and the Woolwich beds. They consist
chiefly of flint pebbles or of light-coloured quartzose sand, the
thickness being from 20 to 30 ft, and, are best seen at Oldhaven and
Blackheath. To the south the London basin is succeeded by the North
Downs, an elevated ridge of country consisting of an outcrop of chalk
which extends from Westerham to Folkestone with an irregular breadth
generally of 3 to 6 miles, but expanding to nearly 12 miles at
Dartford and Gravesend and also to the north of Folkestone. After
dipping below the London Clay at Canterbury, it sends out an outcrop
which forms the greater part of Thanet. Below the chalk is a thin crop
of Upper Greensand between Otford and Westerham. To the south of the
Downs there is a narrow valley formed by the Gault, a fossiliferous
blue clay. This is succeeded by an outcrop of the Lower
Greensand--including the Folkestone, Sandgate and Hythe beds with the
thin Atherfield Clay at the base--which extends across the country
from west to east with a breadth of from 2 to 7 m., and rises into the
picturesque elevations of the Ragstone hills. The remains of
_Iguanodon_ occur in the Hythe beds. The valley, which extends from
the borders of Sussex to Hythe, is occupied chiefly by the Weald
clays, which contain a considerable number of marine and freshwater
fossils. Along the borders of Sussex there is a narrow strip of
country consisting of picturesque sandy hills, formed by the Hastings
beds, whose highest elevation is nearly 400 ft. and the south-west
corner of the county is occupied by Romney Marsh, which within a
comparatively recent period has been recovered from the sea. Valley
gravels border the Thames, and Pleistocene mammalia have been found in
fissures in the Hythe beds at Ightham, where ancient stone implements
are common. Remains of crag deposits lie in pipes in the chalk near
Lenham. Coal-measures, as will be seen, have been found near Dover.

The London Clay is much used for bricks, coarse pottery and Roman
cement. Lime is obtained from the Chalk and Greensand formations.
Ironstone is found in the Wadhurst Clay, a subdivision of the Hastings
beds, clays and calcareous ironstone in the Ashdown sand, but the
industry has long been discontinued. The last Wealden furnace was put
out in 1828.

_Climate and Agriculture._--The unhealthiness of certain portions of
the county caused by the marshes is practically removed by draining.
In the north-eastern districts the climate is somewhat uncertain, and
damage is often done to early fruit-blossoms and vegetation by cold
easterly winds and late frosts. In the large portion of the county
sheltered by the Downs the climate is milder and more equable, and
vegetation is somewhat earlier. The average temperature for January is
37.9° F. at Canterbury, and 39.8° at Dover; for July 63.3° and 61.6°
respectively, and the mean annual 50° and 50.2° respectively. Rainfall
is light, the mean annual being 27.72 in. at Dover, and 23.31 at
Margate, compared with 23.16 at Greenwich. The soil is varied in
character, but on the whole rich and under high cultivation. The
methods of culture and the kinds of crop produced are perhaps more
widely diversified than those of any other county in England. Upon the
London Clay the land is generally heavy and stiff, but very fruitful
when properly manured and cultivated. The marsh lands along the banks
of the Thames, Medway, Stour and Swale consist chiefly of rich chalk
alluvium. In the Isle of Thanet a light mould predominates, which has
been much enriched by fish manure. The valley of the Medway,
especially the district round Maidstone, is the most fertile part of
the county, the soil being a deep loam with a subsoil of brick-earth.
On the ragstone the soil is occasionally thin and much mixed with
small portions of sand and stone; but in some situations the ragstone
has a thick covering of clay loam, which is most suitable for the
production of hops and fruits. In the district of the Weald marl
prevails, with a substratum of clay. The soil of Romney Marsh is a
clay alluvium.

No part of England surpasses the more fertile portions of this county
in the peculiar richness of its rural scenery. About three-quarters of
the total area is under cultivation. Oats and wheat are grown in
almost equal quantities, barley being of rather less importance. A
considerable acreage is under beans, and in Thanet mustard, spinach,
canary seed and a variety of other seeds are raised. But the county is
specially noted for the cultivation of fruit and hops. Market gardens
are very numerous in the neighbourhood of London. The principal
orchard districts are the valleys of the Darent and Medway, and the
tertiary soils overlying the chalk, between Rochester and Canterbury.
The county is specially famed for cherries and filberts, but apples,
pears, plums, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries and currants are
also largely cultivated. In some cases apples, cherries, filberts and
hops are grown in alternate rows. The principal hop districts are the
country between Canterbury and Faversham, the valley of the Medway in
mid Kent, and the district of the Weald. Much of the Weald, which
originally was occupied by a forest, is still densely wooded, and
woods are specially extensive in the valley of the Medway. Fine oaks
and beeches are numerous, and yew trees of great size and age are seen
in some Kentish churchyards, as at Stansted, while the fine oak at
Headcorn is also famous. A large extent of woodland consists of ash
and chestnut plantations, maintained for the growth of hop poles.
Cattle are grazed in considerable numbers on the marsh lands, and
dairy farms are numerous in the neighbourhood of London. For the
rearing of sheep Kent is one of the chief counties in England. A breed
peculiar to the district, known as Kents, is grazed on Romney Marsh,
but Southdowns are the principal breed raised on the uplands.
Bee-keeping is extensively practised. Dairy schools are maintained by
the technical education committee of the county council. The
South-eastern Agricultural College at Wye is under the control of the
county councils of Kent and Surrey.

_Other Industries._--There were formerly extensive iron-works in the
Weald. Another industry now practically extinct was the manufacture of
woollen cloth. The neighbourhood of Lamberhurst and Cranbrook was the
special seat of these trades. Among the principal modern industries
are paper-making, carried on on the banks of the Darent, Medway, Cray
and neighbouring streams; engineering, chemical and other works along
the Thames; manufactures of bricks, tiles, pottery and cement,
especially by the lower Medway and the Swale. A variety of industries
is connected with the Government establishments at Chatham and
Sheerness. Ship-building is prosecuted here and at Gravesend, Dover
and other ports. Gunpowder is manufactured near Erith and Faversham
and elsewhere.

Deep-sea fishing is largely prosecuted all round the coast. Shrimps,
soles and flounders are taken in great numbers in the estuaries of the
Thames and Medway, along the north coast and off Ramsgate. The history
of the Kentish oyster fisheries goes back to the time of the Roman
occupation, when the fame of the oyster beds off _Rutupiae_
(Richborough) extended even to Rome. The principal beds are near
Whitstable, Faversham, Milton, Queenborough and Rochester, some being
worked by ancient companies or gilds of fishermen.

After the cessation in 1882 of works in connexion with the Channel
tunnel, to connect England and France, coal-boring was attempted in
the disused shaft, west of the Shakespeare Cliff railway tunnel near
Dover. In 1890 coal was struck at a depth of 1190 ft., and further
seams were discovered later. The company which took up the mining was
unsuccessful, and boring ceased in 1901, but the work was resumed by
the Consolidated Kent Collieries Corporation, and an extension of
borings revealed in 1905 the probability of a successful development
of the mining industry in Kent.

_Communications._--Railway communications are practically monopolized
by the South Eastern & Chatham Company, a monopoly which has not
infrequently been the cause of complaint on the part of farmers,
traders and others. This system includes some of the principal
channels of communication with the continent, through the ports of
Dover, Folkestone and Queenborough. The county contains four of the
Cinque Ports, namely, Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Sandwich. Seaside
resorts are numerous and populous--on the north coast are Minster
(Sheppey), Whitstable and Herne Bay; there is a ring of
watering-places round the Isle of Thanet--Birchington, Westgate,
Margate, Broadstairs, Ramsgate; while to the south are Sandwich, Deal,
Walmer, St Margaret's-at-Cliffe, Dover, Folkestone, Sandgate and
Hythe. Tunbridge Wells is a favourite inland watering-place. The
influence of London in converting villages into outer residential
suburbs is to be observed at many points, whether seaside, along the
Thames or inland. The county is practically without inland water
communications, excluding the Thames. The Royal military canal which
runs along the inland border of Romney Marsh, and connects the Rother
with Hythe, was constructed in 1807 as part of a scheme of defence in
connexion with the martello towers or small forts along the coast.

_Population and Administration._--The area of the ancient county is 995,014 acres, with a population in 1901 of 1,348,841. In 1801 the population was 308,667. Excluding the portion which falls within the administrative county of London the area is 974,950 acres, with a population in 1891 of 807,269 and in 1901 of 935,855. The area of the administrative county is 976,881 acres. The county contains 5 lathes, a partition peculiar to the county. The municipal boroughs are Bromley (pop. 27,354), Canterbury, a city and county borough (24,889), Chatham (37,057), Deal (10,581), Dover (41,794), Faversham (11,290), Folkestone (30,650), Gillingham (42,530), Gravesend (27,196), Hythe (5557), Lydd (2675), Maidstone (33,516), Margate (23,118), New Romney (1328), Queenborough (1544), Ramsgate (27,733), Rochester, a city (30,590), Sandwich (3170), Tenterden (3243), Tunbridge Wells (33,373). The urban districts are Ashford (12,808), Beckenham (26,331), Bexley (12,918), Broadstairs and St Peter's (6466), Cheriton (7091), Chislehurst (7429), Dartford (18,644), Erith (25,296), Foots Cray (5817), Herne Bay (6726), Milton (7086), Northfleet (12,906), Penge (22,465), Sandgate (2294), Sevenoaks (8106), Sheerness (18,179), Sittingbourne (8943), Southborough (6977), Tonbridge (12,736), Walmer (5614), Whitstable (7086), Wrotham (3571). Other small towns are Rainham (3693) near Chatham, Aylesford (2678), East Mailing (2391) and West Mailing (2312) in the Maidstone district; Edenbridge (2546) and Westerham (2905) on the western border of the county; Cranbrook (3949), Goudhurst (2725) and Hawkhurst (3136) in the south-west. Among villages which have grown into residential towns through their proximity to London, beyond those included among the boroughs and urban districts, there should be mentioned Orpington (4259). The county is in the south-eastern circuit, and assizes are held at Maidstone. It has two courts of quarter sessions, and is divided into 17 petty sessional divisions. The boroughs having separate commissions of the peace and courts of quarter sessions are Canterbury, Deal, Dover, Faversham, Folkestone, Gravesend, Hythe, Maidstone, Margate, Rochester, Sandwich and Tenterden; while those of Lydd, New Romney, Ramsgate and Tunbridge Wells have separate commissions of the peace. The liberty of Romney Marsh has petty and general sessions. The justices of the Cinque Ports exercise certain jurisdiction, the non-corporate members of the Cinque Ports of Dover and Sandwich having separate commissions of the peace and courts of quarter sessions. The central criminal court has jurisdiction over certain parishes adjacent to London. All those civil parishes within the county of Kent of which any part is within twelve miles of, or of which no part is more than fifteen miles from, Charing Cross are within the metropolitan police district. The total number of civil parishes is 427. Kent is mainly in the diocese of Canterbury, but has parts in those of Rochester, Southwark and Chichester. It contains 476 ecclesiastical parishes or districts, wholly or in part. The county (extra-metropolitan) is divided into 8 parliamentary divisions, namely, North-western or Dartford, Western or Sevenoaks, South-western or Tunbridge, Mid or Medway, North-eastern or Faversham, Southern or Ashford, Eastern or St Augustine's and the Isle of Thanet, each returning one member; while the boroughs of Canterbury, Chatham, Dover, Gravesend, Hythe, Maidstone and Rochester each return one member.

_History._--For the ancient kingdom of Kent see the preceding article. The shire organization of Kent dates from the time of Aethelstan, the name as well as the boundary being that of the ancient kingdom, though at first probably with the addition of the suffix "shire," the form "Kentshire" occurring in a record of the folkmoot at this date. The inland shire-boundary has varied with the altered course of the Rother. In 1888 the county was diminished by the formation of the county of London.

At the time of the Domesday Survey Kent comprised sixty hundreds, and there was a further division into six lests, probably representing the shires of the ancient kingdom, of which two, Sutton and Aylesford, correspond with the present-day lathes. The remaining four, Borowast Lest, Estre Lest, Limowast Lest and Wiwart Lest, existed at least as early as the 9th century, and were apparently named from their administrative centres, Burgwara (the burg being Canterbury), Eastre, Lymne and Wye, all of which were meeting places of the Kentish Council. The five modern lathes (Aylesford, St Augustine, Scray, Sheppey and Sutton-at-Hone) all existed in the time of Edward I., with the additional lathe of Hedeling, which was absorbed before the next reign in that of St Augustine. The _Nomina Villarum_ of the reign of Edward II. mentions all the sixty-six modern hundreds, more than two-thirds of which were at that date in the hands of the church.

Sheriffs of Kent are mentioned in the time of Æthelred II., and in Saxon times the shiremoot met three times a year on Penenden Heath near Maidstone. After the Conquest the great ecclesiastical landholders claimed exemption from the jurisdiction of the shire, and in 1279 the abbot of Battle claimed to have his own coroner in the hundred of Wye. In the 13th century twelve liberties in Kent claimed to have separate bailiffs. The assizes for the county were held in the reign of Henry III. at Canterbury and Rochester, and also at the Lowey of Tonbridge under a mandate from the Crown as a distinct liberty; afterwards at different intervals at East Greenwich, Dartford, Maidstone, Milton-next-Gravesend and Sevenoaks; from the Restoration to the present day they have been held at Maidstone. The liberty of Romney Marsh has petty and quarter sessions under its charters.

Kent is remarkable as the only English county which comprises two entire bishoprics, Canterbury, the see for East Kent, having been founded in 597, and Rochester, the see for West Kent, in 600. In 1291 the archdeaconry of Canterbury was co-extensive with that diocese and included the deaneries of Westbere, Bridge, Sandwich, Dover, Elham, Lympne, Charing, Sutton, Sittingbourne, Ospringe and Canterbury; the archdeaconry of Rochester, also co-extensive with its diocese, included the deaneries of Rochester, Dartford, Malling and Shoreham. In 1845 the deaneries of Charing, Sittingbourne and Sutton were comprised in the new archdeaconry of Maidstone, which in 1846 received in addition the deaneries of Dartford, Malling and Shoreham from the archdeaconry of Rochester. In 1853 the deaneries of Malling and Charing were subdivided into North and South Malling and East and West Charing. Lympne was subdivided into North and South Lympne in 1857 and Dartford into East and West Dartford in 1864. Gravesend and Cobham deaneries were created in 1862 and Greenwich and Woolwich in 1868, all in the archdeaconry of Rochester. In 1873 East and West Bridge deaneries were created in the archdeaconry of Canterbury, and Croydon in the archdeaconry of Maidstone. In 1889 Tunbridge deanery was created in the archdeaconry of Maidstone. In 1906 the deaneries of East and West Dartford, North and South Malling, Greenwich and Woolwich were abolished, and Shoreham and Tunbridge were transferred from Maidstone to Rochester archdeaconry.

Between the Conquest and the 14th century the earldom of Kent was held successively by Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William of Ypres and Hubert de Burgh (sheriff of the county in the reign of Henry III.), none of whom, however, transmitted the honour, which was bestowed by Edward I. on his youngest son Edmund of Woodstock, and subsequently passed to the families of Holland and Neville (see KENT, EARLS AND DUKES OF). In the Domesday Survey only five lay tenants-in-chief are mentioned, all the chief estates being held by the church, and the fact that the Kentish gentry are less ancient than in some remoter shires is further explained by the constant implantation of new stocks from London. Greenwich is illustrious as the birthplace of Henry VIII., Mary and Elizabeth. Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst, being descended from William de Sidney, chamberlain to Henry II. Bocton Malherbe was the seat of the Wottons, from whom descended Nicholas Wotton, privy councillor to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth. The family of Leiborne of Leiborne Castle, of whom Sir Roger Leiborne took an active part in the barons' wars, became extinct in the 14th century. Sir Francis Walsingham was born at Chislehurst, where his family had long flourished; Hever Castle was the seat of the Boleyns and the scene of the courtship of Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII. Allington Castle was the birthplace of Sir Thomas Wyat.

Kent, from its proximity to London, has been intimately concerned in every great historical movement which has agitated the country, while its busy industrial population has steadily resisted any infringement of its rights and liberties. The chief events connected with the county under the Norman kings were the capture of Rochester by William Rufus during the rebellion of Odo of Bayeux; the capture of Dover and Leeds castles by Stephen; the murder of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury in 1170; the submission of John to the pope's legate at Dover in 1213, and the capture of Rochester Castle by the king in the same year. Rochester Castle was in 1216 captured by the dauphin of France, to whom nearly all Kent submitted, and during the wars of Henry III. with his barons was captured by Gilbert de Clare. In the peasants' rising of 1381 the rebels plundered the archbishop's palace at Canterbury, and 100,000 Kentishmen gathered round Wat Tyler of Essex. In 1450 Kent took a leading part in Jack Cade's rebellion; and in 1554 the insurrection of Sir Thomas Wyat began at Maidstone. On the outbreak of the Great Rebellion feeling was much divided, but after capturing Dover Castle the parliament soon subdued the whole county. In 1648, however, a widespread insurrection was organized on behalf of Charles, and was suppressed by Fairfax. The county was among the first to welcome back Charles II. In 1667 the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter advanced up the Medway, levelling the fort at Sheerness and burning the ships at Chatham. In the Kentish petition of 1701 drawn up at Maidstone the county protested against the peace policy of the Tory party.

Among the earliest industries of Kent were the iron-mining in the Weald, traceable at least to Roman times, and the salt industry, which nourished along the coast in the 10th century. The Domesday Survey, besides testifying to the agricultural activity of the country, mentions over one hundred salt-works and numerous valuable fisheries, vines at Chart Sutton and Leeds, and cheese at Milton. The Hundred Rolls of the reign of Edward I. frequently refer to wool, and Flemish weavers settled in the Weald in the time of Edward III. Tiles were manufactured at Wye in the 14th century. Valuable timber was afforded by the vast forest of the Weald, but the restrictions imposed on the felling of wood for fuel did serious detriment to the iron-trade, and after the statute of 1558 forbidding the felling of timber for iron-smelting within fourteen miles of the coast the industry steadily declined. The discovery of coal in the northern counties dealt the final blow to its prosperity. Cherries are said to have been imported from Flanders and first planted in Kent by Henry VIII., and from this period the culture of fruits (especially apples and cherries) and of hops spread rapidly over the county. Thread-making at Maidstone and silk-weaving at Canterbury existed in the 16th century, and before 1590 one of the first paper-mills in England was set up at Dartford. The statute of 1630 forbidding the exportation of wool, followed by the Plague of 1665, led to a serious trade depression, while the former enactment resulted in the vast smuggling trade which spread along the coast, 40,000 packs of wool being smuggled to Calais from Kent and Sussex in two years.

In 1290 Kent returned two members to parliament for the county, and in 1295 Canterbury, Rochester and Tunbridge were also represented; Tunbridge however made no returns after this date. In 1552 Maidstone acquired representation, and in 1572 Queenborough. Under the act of 1832 the county returned four members in two divisions, Chatham was represented by one member and Greenwich by two, while Queenborough was disfranchised. Under the act of 1868 the county returned six members in three divisions and Gravesend returned one member. By the act of 1885 the county returned eight members in eight divisions, and the representation of Canterbury, Maidstone and Rochester was reduced to one member each. By the London Government Act of 1892 the borough of Greenwich was taken out of Kent and made one of the twenty-eight metropolitan boroughs of the county of London.

_Antiquities._--As was to be expected from its connexion with the
early history of England, and from its beauty and fertility, Kent
possessed a larger than average number of monastic foundations. The
earliest were the priory of Christ's Church and the abbey of St Peter
and St Paul, now called St Augustine's, both at Canterbury, founded by
Augustine and the monks who accompanied him to England. Other Saxon
foundations were the nunneries at Folkestone (630), Lyminge (633;
nunnery and monastery), Reculver (669), Minster-in-Thanet (670),
Minster-in-Sheppey (675), and the priory of St Martin at Dover (696),
all belonging to the Benedictine order. Some of these were refounded,
and the principal monastic remains now existing are those of the
Benedictine priories at Rochester (1089), Folkestone (1095), Dover
(1140); the Benedictine nunneries at Malling (time of William Rufus),
Minster-in-Sheppey (1130), Higham (founded by King Stephen), and
Davington (1153); the Cistercian Abbey at Boxley (1146); the Cluniac
abbey at Faversham (1147) and priory at Monks Horton (time of Henry
II.), the preceptory of Knights Templars at Swingfield (time of Henry
II.); the Premonstratensian abbey of St Radigund's, near Dover (1191);
the first house of Dominicans in England at Canterbury (1221); the
first Carmelite house in England, at Aylesford (1240); and the priory
of Augustinian nuns at Dartford (1355). Other houses of which there
are slight remains are Lesnes abbey, near Erith, and Bilsington priory
near Ashford, established in 1178 and 1253 respectively, and both
belonging to the Augustinian canons; and the house of Franciscans at
Canterbury (1225). But no remains exist of the priories of Augustinian
canons at Canterbury (St Gregory's; 1084), Leeds, near Maidstone
(1119), Tunbridge (middle of 12th century), Combwell, near Cranbrook
(time of Henry II.); the nunnery of St Sepulchre at Canterbury (about
1100) and Langdon abbey, near Walmer (1192), both belonging to the
Benedictines; the Trinitarian priory of Mottenden near Headcorn, the
first house of Crutched Friars in England (1224), where miracle plays
were presented in the church by the friars on Trinity Sunday; the
Carmelite priories at Sandwich (1272) and Losenham near Tenterden
(1241); and the preceptory of Knights of St John of Jerusalem at West
Peckham, near Tunbridge (1408).

Even apart from the cathedral churches of Canterbury and Rochester,
the county is unsurpassed in the number of churches it possesses of
the highest interest. For remains of a date before the Conquest the
church of Lyminge is of first importance. Here, apart from the
monastic remains, there may be seen portions of the church founded by
Æthelburga, wife of Edwin, king of Northumberland, and rebuilt, with
considerable use of Roman material, in 965 by St Dunstan. There is
similar early work in the church of Paddlesworth, not far distant.
Among numerous Norman examples the first in interest is the small
church at Barfreston, one of the most perfect specimens of its kind in
England, with a profusion of ornament, especially round the south
doorway and east window. The churches of St Margaret-at-Cliff,
Patrixbourne and Darenth are hardly less noteworthy, while the tower
of New Romney church should also be mentioned. Among several
remarkable Early English examples none is finer than Hythe church, but
the churches of SS. Mary and Eanswith, Folkestone, Minster-in-Thanet,
Chalk, with its curious porch, Faversham and Westwell, with fine
contemporary glass, are also worthy of notice. Stone church, near
Dartford, a late example of this style, transitional to Decorated, is
very fine; and among Decorated buildings Chartham church exhibits in
some of its windows the peculiar tracery known as Kentish Decorated.
Perpendicular churches, though numerous, are less remarkable, but the
fine glass of this period in Nettlestead church may be noticed. The
church of Cobham contains one of the richest collections of ancient
brasses in England.

Kent is also rich in examples of ancient architecture other than
ecclesiastical. The castles of Rochester and Dover are famous; those
of Canterbury and Chilham are notable among others. Ancient mansions
are very numerous; among these are the castellated Leeds Castle in the
Maidstone district, Penshurst Place, Hever Castle near Edenbridge,
Saltwood and Westenhanger near Hythe, the Mote House at Ightham near
Wrotham, Knole House near Sevenoaks, and Cobham Hall. Minor examples
of early domestic architecture abound throughout the county.

AUTHORITIES.--A full bibliography of the many earlier works on the
county and its towns is given in J. R. Smith's _Bibliotheca Cantiana_
(London, 1837). There may be mentioned here W. Lambarde,
_Perambulation of Kent_ (London, 1576, 1826); R. Kilburne,
_Topographie or Survey of the County of Kent_ (London, 1659); J. and
T. Philipot, _Villare Cantianum_ (London, 1659, 1776); J. Harris,
_History of Kent_ (London, 1719); E. Hasted, _History and
Topographical Survey of Kent_ (4 vols. folio, Canterbury, 1778-1799;
2nd ed., 12 vols. 8vo, Canterbury, 1797-1801); W. H. Ireland, _History
of the County of Kent_ (London, 1828-1830); C. Sandys, _Consuetudines
Kantiae_ (London, 1851); A. Hussey, _Notes on the Churches of Kent_
(London, 1852); L. B. Larking, _The Domesday Book of Kent_ (1869); R.
Furley, _History of the Weald of Kent_ (Ashford, 1871-1874); W. A.
Scott Robertson, _Kentish Archaeology_ (London, 1876-1884); Sir S. R.
Glynne, _Notes on Churches of Kent_, ed. W. H. Gladstone (London,
1877); J. Hutchinson, _Men of Kent and Kentish Men_ (London, 1892);
_Victoria County History_, "Kent." See also _Archaeologia Cantiana_
(translations of the Kent Archaeological Society, London, from 1858).

KENTIGERN, ST, or MUNGO ("dear friend," a name given to him, according to Jocelyn, by St Servanus), a Briton of Strathclyde, called by the Goidels _In Glaschu_, "the Grey Hound," was, according to the legends preserved in the lives which remain, of royal descent. His mother when with child was thrown down from a hill called Dunpelder (Traprain Law, Haddingtonshire), but survived the fall and escaped by sea to Culross on the farther side of the Firth of Forth, where Kentigern was born. It is possible that she may have been a nun, as a convent had been founded in earlier times on Traprain Law. The life then describes the training of the boy by Servanus, but the date of the latter renders this impossible. Returning to Strathclyde Kentigern lived for some time at Glasgow, near a cemetery ascribed to St Ninian, and was eventually made bishop of that region by the king and clergy. This story is partially attested by Welsh documents, in which Kentigern appears as the bishop of Garthmwl, apparently the ruler of the region about Glasgow. Subsequently he was opposed by a pagan king called Morken, whose relatives after his death succeeded in forcing the saint to retire from Strathclyde. He thereupon took refuge with St David at Menevia (St David's), and eventually founded a monastery at Llanelwy (St Asaph's), for which purpose he received grants from Maelgwn, prince of Gwynedd. After the battle of Ardderyd in 573 in which King Rhydderch, leader of the Christian party in Strathclyde, was victorious, Kentigern was recalled. He fixed his see first at Hoddam in Dumfriesshire, but afterwards returned to Glasgow. He is credited with missionary work in Galloway and north of the Firth of Forth, but most of the dedications to him which survive are north of the Mounth in the upper valley of the Dee. The meeting of Kentigern and Columba probably took place soon after 584, when the latter began to preach in the neighbourhood of the Tay.

AUTHORITIES.--_Lives_ of St Kentigern; Fragment used by John of
Fordun, and complete "Life" by Jocelyn of Furness in Forbes's
_Historians of Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1874), vol. v.; _Four Ancient
Books of Wales_ (Edinburgh, ed. W. F. Skene, 1868), ii. 457; _Myvyrian
Archaeology_ (London, 1801), ii. 34; D. R. Thomas, _History of Diocese
of St Asaph_ (London, 1874), p. 5; Index of Llyfr Coch Asaph,
_Archaeologia Cambrensis_, 3rd series, 1868, vol. xiv. p. 151; W. F.
Skene, _Celtic Scotland_ (Edinburgh, 1877), ii. 179 ff.; John Rhys,
_Celtic Britain_ (London, 1904), pp. 145, 146, 174, 199, 250.

KENTON, a city and the county seat of Hardin county, Ohio, U.S.A., on the Scioto river, 60 m. N.W. of Columbus. Pop. (1900), 6852, including 493 foreign-born and 271 negroes; (1910), 7185. It is served by the Erie, the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis, and the Ohio Central railways. It is built on the water-parting between Lake Erie and the Gulf of Mexico, here about 1,000 ft. above sea-level. There are shops of the Ohio Central railway here, and manufactories of hardware. The municipality owns and operates its waterworks. Kenton was named in honour of Simon Kenton (1755-1836), a famous scout and Indian fighter, who took part in the border warfare, particularly in Kentucky and Ohio, during the War of American Independence and afterwards. It was platted and became the county seat in 1833, and was chartered as a city in 1885.

KENT'S CAVERN, or KENT'S HOLE, the largest of English bone caves, famous as affording evidence of the existence of Man in Devon (England) contemporaneously with animals now extinct or no longer indigenous. It is about a mile east of Torquay harbour and is of a sinuous nature, running deeply into a hill of Devonian limestone. Although long known locally, it was not until 1825 that it was scientifically examined by Rev. J. McEnery, who found worked flints in intimate association with the bones of extinct mammals. He recognized the fact that they proved the existence of man in Devonshire while those animals were alive, but the idea was too novel to be accepted by his contemporaries. His discoveries were afterwards verified by Godwin Austen, and ultimately by the Committee of the British Association, whose explorations were carried on under the guidance of Wm. Pengelly from 1865 to 1880. There are four distinct strata in the cave. (1) The surface is composed of dark earth and contains medieval remains, Roman pottery and articles which prove that it was in use during the Iron, Bronze and Neolithic Ages. (2) Below this is a stalagmite floor, varying in thickness from 1 to 3 ft., and covering (3) the red earth which contained bones of the hyaena, lion, mammoth, rhinoceros and other animals, in association with flint implements and an engraved antler, which proved man to have been an inhabitant of the cavern during its deposition. Above this and below the stalagmite there is in one part of the cave a black band from 2 to 6 in. thick, formed of soil like No. 2, containing charcoal, numerous flint implements, and the bones and teeth of animals, the latter occasionally perforated as if used for ornament. (4) Filling the bottom of the cave was a hard breccia, with the remains of bears and flint implements, the latter in the main ruder than those found above; in some places it was no less than 12 ft. thick. The most remarkable animal remains found in Kent's Cavern are those of the Sabre-toothed tiger, _Machairodus latidens_ of Sir Richard Owen. While the value of McEnery's discoveries was in dispute the exploration of the cave of Brixham near Torquay in 1858 proved that man was coeval with the extinct mammalia, and in the following year additional proof was offered by the implements that were found in Wookey Hole, Somerset. Similar remains have been met with in the caves of Wales, and in England as far north as Derbyshire (Cresswell), proving that over the whole of southern and middle England men, in precisely the same stage of rude civilization, hunted the rhinoceros, the mammoth and other extinct animals.

See Sir John Evans, _Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain_
(London, 1897); Lord Avebury's _Prehistoric Times_ (1900); W.
Pengelly, _Address to the British Association_ (1883) and Life of him
by his daughter (1897); Godwin Austen, _Proc. Geo. Soc. London_, 111.
286; Pengelly, "Literature of Kent's Cavern" in _Trans. Devonshire
Association_ (1868); William Boyd Dawkins, _Cave-hunting and Early Man
in Britain_.

KENTUCKY, a South Central State of the United States of America, situated between 36° 30´ and 39° 6´ N., and 82° and 89° 38´ W. It is bounded N., N.W., and N.E. by Illinois, Indiana and Ohio; E. by the Big Sandy river and its E. fork, the Tug, which separates it from West Virginia, and by Virginia; S.E. and S. by Virginia and Tennessee; and W. by the Mississippi river, which separates it from Missouri. It has an area of 40,598 sq. m.; of this, 417 sq. m., including the entire breadth of the Ohio river, over which it has jurisdiction, are water surface.

_Physiography._--From mountain heights along its eastern border the
surface of Kentucky is a north-western slope across two much dissected
plateaus to a gracefully undulating lowland in the north central part
and a longer western slope across the same plateaus to a lower and
more level lowland at the western extremity. The narrow mountain belt
is part of the western edge of the Appalachian Mountain Province in
which parallel ridges of folded mountains, the Cumberland and the
Pine, have crests 2000-3000 ft. high, and the Big Black Mountain rises
to 4000 ft. The highest point in the state is The Double on the
Virginia state line, in the eastern part of Harlan county with an
altitude of over 4100 ft. The entire eastern quarter of the state,
coterminous with the Eastern Kentucky coal-field, is commonly known as
the region of the "mountains," but with the exception of the narrow
area just described it properly belongs to the Alleghany Plateau
Province. This plateau belt is exceedingly rugged with sharp ridges
alternating with narrow valleys which have steep sides but are seldom
more than 1500 ft. above the sea. The remainder of the state which
lies east of the Tennessee river is divided into the Highland Rim
Plateau and a lowland basin, eroded in the Highland Rim Plateau and
known as the Blue Grass Region; this region is separated from the
Highland Rim Plateau by a semicircular escarpment extending from
Portsmouth, Ohio, at the mouth of the Scioto river, to the mouth of
the Salt river below Louisville; it is bounded north by the Ohio
river. The Highland Rim Plateau, lying to the south, east and west of
the escarpment, embraces fully one-half of the state, slopes from
elevations of 1000-1200 ft. or more in the east to about 500 ft. in
the north-west, and is generally much less rugged than the Alleghany
Plateau; a peculiar feature of the southern portion of it is the
numerous circular depressions (sink holes) in the surface and the
cavernous region beneath. Kentucky is noted for its caves, the
best-known of which are Mammoth Cave and Colossal Cavern (qq.v.). The
caves are cut in the beds of limestone (lying immediately below the
coal-bearing series) by streams that pass beneath the surface in the
"sink holes," and according to Professor N. S. Shaler there are
altogether "doubtless a hundred thousand miles of ways large enough to
permit the easy passage of man." Down the steep slopes of the
escarpment the Highland Rim Plateau drops 200 ft. or more to the
famous Blue Grass Region, in which erosion has developed on limestone
a gracefully undulating surface. This Blue Grass Region is like a
beautiful park, without ragged cliffs, precipitous slopes, or flat
marshy bottoms, but marked by rounded hills and dales. Especially
within a radius of 20 m. around Lexington, the country is clothed with
an unusually luxuriant vegetation. During spring, autumn, and winter
in particular, the blue-grass (_Poa compressa_ and _Poa pratensis_)
spreads a mat, green, thick, fine and soft, over much of the country,
and it is a good winter pasture; about the middle of June it blooms,
and, owing to the hue of its seed vessels, gives the landscape a
bluish hue. Another lowland area embraces that small part of the state
in the extreme south-east which lies west of the Tennessee river; this
belongs to that part of the Coastal Plain Region which extends north
along the Mississippi river; it has in Kentucky an average elevation
of less than 500 ft. Most of the larger rivers of the state have their
sources among the mountains or on the Alleghany Plateau and flow more
or less circuitously in a general north-western direction into the
Ohio. Although deep river channels are common, falls or impassable
rapids are rare west of the Alleghany Plateau, and the state has an
extensive mileage of navigable waters. The Licking, Kentucky, Green
and Tradewater are the principal rivers wholly within the state. The
Cumberland, after flowing for a considerable distance in the
south-east and south central part of the state, passes into Tennessee
at a point nearly south of Louisville, and in the extreme south-west
the Cumberland and the Tennessee, with only a short distance between
them, cross Kentucky and enter the Mississippi at Smithland and
Paducah respectively. The drainage of the region under which the
caverns lie is mostly underground.

_Fauna and Flora._--The first white settlers found great numbers of
buffaloes, deer, elks, geese, ducks, turkeys and partridges, also many
bears, panthers, lynx, wolves, foxes, beavers, otters, minks,
musk-rats, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, woodchucks, opossums and
skunks, and the streams were inhabited by trout, perch,
buffalo-fish, sun-fish, mullet, eels, and suckers. Of the larger game
there remain only a few deer, bears and lynx in the mountain
districts, and the numbers of small game and fish have been greatly
reduced. In its primeval state Kentucky was generally well timbered,
but most of the middle section has been cleared and here the blue
grass is now the dominant feature of the flora. Extensive forest areas
still remain both in the east and the west. In the east oak, maple,
beech, chestnut, elm, tulip-tree (locally "yellow poplar"), walnut,
pine and cedar trees are the most numerous; in the west the forests
are composed largely of cypress, ash, oak, hickory, chestnut, walnut,
beech, tulip-tree, gum and sycamore trees. Locust, pawpaw, cucumber,
buck-eye, black mulberry and wild cherry trees also abound, and the
grape, raspberry and strawberry are native fruits.

_Climate._--The climate is somewhat more mild and even than that of
the neighbouring states. The mean annual temperature, about 50° F. on
the mountains in the S.E., and 60° W. of the Tennessee, is about 55°
F. for the entire state; the thermometer seldom registers as high as
100° or as low as -10°. The mean annual precipitation ranges from
about 38 in. in the north-east to 50 in. in the south, and is about 46
in. for the entire state; it is usually distributed evenly throughout
the year and very little is in the form of snow. The prevailing winds
blow from the west or south-west; rain-bearing winds blow mostly from
the south; and the cold waves come from the north or north-west.

_Soil._--The best soils are the alluvium in the bottom-lands along
some of the larger rivers and that of the Blue Grass Region, which is
derived from a limestone rich in organic matter (containing
phosphorus) and rapidly decomposing. The soil within a radius of some
20 m. around Lexington is especially rich; outside of this area the
Blue Grass soil is less rich in phosphorus and contains a larger
mixture of sand. The soils of the Highland Rim Plateau as well as of
the lowland west of the Tennessee river vary greatly, but the most
common are a clay, containing more or less carbonate of lime, and a
sandy loam. On the escarpment around the Blue Grass Region the soils
are for the most part either cherty or stiff with clay and of inferior
quality. On the mountains and on the Alleghany Plateau, also, much of
the soil is very light and thin.

_Agriculture._--Kentucky is chiefly an agricultural state. Of the
752,531 of its inhabitants who, in 1900, were engaged in some gainful
occupation, 408,185 or 54.2%, were agriculturists, and of its total
land surface 21,979,422 acres, or 85.9%, were included in farms. The
percentage of improved farm land increased from 35.2 in 1850 to 49.9
in 1880 and to 62.5 in 1900. The number of farms increased from 74,777
in 1850 to 166,453 in 1880 and to 234,667 in 1900; and their average
size decreased from 226.7 acres in 1850 to 129.1 acres in 1880 and to
93.7 acres in 1900, these changes being largely due to the breaking up
of slave estates, the introduction of a considerable number of negro
farmers, and the increased cultivation of tobacco and market-garden
produce. In the best stock-raising country, e.g. in Fayette county,
the opposite tendency prevailed during the latter part of this period
and old farms of a few hundred acres were combined to form some vast
estates of from 2000 to 4000 acres. Of the 234,667 farms in 1900,
155,189 contained less than 100 acres, 76,450 contained between 100
and 500 acres, and 558 contained more than 1000 acres; 152,216 or
64.86%, were operated by owners or part owners, of whom 5320 were
negroes; 16,776 by cash tenants, of whom 789 were negroes; and 60,289
by share tenants, of whom 4984 were negroes. In 1900 the value of farm
land and improvements was $291,117,430; of buildings on farms,
$90,887,460; of livestock, $73,739,106. In the year 1899 the value of
all farm products was $123,266,785 (of which $21,128,530 was the value
of products fed to livestock), including the following items: crops,
$74,783,365; animal products, $44,303,940; and forest products,
$4,179,840. The total acreage of all crops in 1899 was 6,582,696.
Indian corn is the largest and most valuable crop. As late as 1849,
when it produced 58,672,591 bu., Kentucky was the second largest
Indian-corn producing state in the Union. In 1899 the crop had
increased to 73,974,220 bu. and the acreage was 3,319,257 (more than
half the acreage of all crops in the state), but the rank had fallen
to ninth in product and eleventh in acreage; in 1909 (according to the
_Yearbook_ of the United States Department of Agriculture) the crop
was 103,472,000 bu. (ninth among the states of the United States), and
the acreage was 3,568,000 (twelfth among the states). Among the
cereals wheat is the next largest crop; it increased from 2,142,822
bu. in 1849 to 11,356,113 bu. in 1879, and to 14,264,500 bu. in 1899;
in 1909 it was only 7,906,000 bu. The crop of each of the other
cereals is small and in each case was less in 1899 than in 1849. The
culture of tobacco, which is the second most valuable crop in the
state, was begun in the north part about 1780 and in the west and
south early in the 19th century, but it was late in that century
before it was introduced to any considerable extent in the Blue Grass
Region, where it was then in a measure substituted for the culture of
hemp. By 1849 Kentucky ranked second only to Virginia in the
production of tobacco, and in 1899 it was far ahead of any other state
in both acreage and yield, there being in that year 384,805 acres,
which was 34.9% of the total acreage in the continental United States,
yielding 314,288,050 lb. As compared with the state's Indian corn crop
of that year, the acreage was only a little more than one-ninth, but
the value ($18,541,982) was about 63%. In 1909 the tobacco acreage in
Kentucky was 420,000, the crop was 350,700,000 lb., valued at
$37,174,200; the average price per pound had increased from 5.9 cents
in 1899 to 10.6 cents in 1909. The two most important tobacco-growing
districts are: the Black Patch, in the extreme south-west corner of
the state, which with the adjacent counties in Tennessee grows a black
heavy leaf bought almost entirely by the agents of foreign governments
(especially Austria, Spain and Italy) and called "regie" tobacco; and
the Blue Grass Region, as far east as Maysville, and the hill country
south and east, whose product, the red and white Burley, is a
fine-fibred light leaf, peculiarly absorbent of licorice and other
adulterants used in the manufacture of sweet chewing tobacco, and
hence a peculiarly valuable crop, which formerly averaged 22 cents a
pound for all grades.[1] The high price received by the hill growers
of the Burley induced farmers in the Blue Grass to plant Burley
tobacco there, where the crop proved a great success, more than twice
as much (sometimes 2000 lb.) being grown to the acre in the Blue Grass
as in the hills and twice as large patches being easily managed. In
the hill country the share tenant could usually plant and cultivate
only four acres of tobacco, had to spend 120 days working the crop,
and could use the same land for tobacco only once in six years. So,
although a price of 6.5 cents a pound covered expenses of the planter
of Burley in the Blue Grass, who could use the same land for tobacco
once in four years, this price did not repay the hill planter. The
additional production of the Blue Grass Region sent the price of
Burley tobacco down to this figure and below it. The planters in the
Black Patch had met a combination of the buyers by forming a pool, the
Planters' Protective Association, into which 40,000 growers were
forced by "night-riding" and other forms of coercion and persuasion,
and had thus secured an advance to 11 cents a pound from the "regie"
buyers and had shown the efficacy of pooling methods in securing
better prices for the tobacco crop. Following their example, the
planters of the Burley formed the Burley Tobacco Society, a Burley
pool, with headquarters at Winchester and associated with the American
Society of Equity, which promoted in general the pooling of different
crops throughout the country. The tobacco planters secured legislation
favourable to the formation of crop pools. The Burley Tobacco Society
attempted to pool the entire crop and thus force the buyers of the
American Tobacco Company of New Jersey (which usually bought more than
three-fourths of the crop of Burley) to pay a much higher price for
it. In 1906 and in 1907 the crop was very large; the pool sold its
lower grades of the 1906 crop at 16 cents a pound to the American
Tobacco Company and forced the independent buyers out of business; and
the Burley Society decided in 1907 to grow no more tobacco until the
1906 and 1907 crops were sold, making the price high enough to pay for
this period of idleness. Members of the pool had used force to bring
planters into the pool; and now some tobacco growers, especially in
the hills, planted new crops in the hope of immediate return, and a
new "night-riding" war was begun on them. Bands of masked men rode
about the country both in the Black Patch and in the Burley, burning
tobacco houses of the independent planters, scraping their
newly-planted tobacco patches, demanding that planters join their
organization or leave the country, and whipping or shooting the
recalcitrants. Governor Willson, immediately after his inauguration,
took measures to suppress disorder. In general the Planters'
Protective Association in the Black Patch was more successful in its
pool than the Burley Tobacco Society in its, and there was more
violence in the "regie" than in the "Burley" district. In November
1908 the lawlessness subsided in the Burley after the agreement of the
American Tobacco Company to purchase the remainder of the 1906 crop at
a "round" price of 20½ cents and a part of the 1907 crop at an average
price of 17 cents, thus making it profitable to raise a full crop in
1909.