KENT

 

 

Kent on the extreme south-east of England is known as The Garden of England.

Access can be gained to Continental Europe via rail tunnel and car ferry.

 

 

 

 

The Royal Military Canal

 

At the beginning of the 19^th century it was thought that a likely point of possible invasion by Napoleon’s Army was at Romney Marsh and as a result a unique defensive canal was built as a third line of defence after the Royal Navy and a line of 74 Martello Towers along the coast. Construction began at Seabrook near Hythe in Kent in 1804 and was competed in 1809 at a total cost of £234,000. It runs for 28 miles to Cliff End near Hastings. A Royal Military Road constructed parallel to the canal with an earth parapet 13 feet high had field guns positioned every 600 yards which as a whole formed an impressive defensive structure.

The canal is still well maintained being an important environmental site for the control of water levels in the area. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is said that the seaside resort of FOLKESTONE is one of the sunniest places in mainland Britain with an average of 6 hours sunshine a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the 6th century the Roman town of CANTERBURY became the seat of English Christianity under St Augustine. Building of the Cathedral, which is the seat of the primate of all England, was commenced in 1070.

 

 

Archbishop Thomas a Beckett was murdered on the altar steps in 1170 on the impetuous word of King Henry 11. His shrine, which is situated in Trinity Chapel, is a place of pilgrimage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

An interesting Grade 11 listed 18th century building in Faversham Road at LENHAM was originally the mortuary of the since demolished workhouse.

It subsequently became the town lock-up and then an air raid shelter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLANK

WEST SUSSEX

 

 

To the south of Surrey, WEST SUSSEX sweeps from the South Downs

to the English Channel.

 

 

 

 

 

The former Roman  town  of CHICHESTER is quartered by four main streets centred on the

Market Cross which dates to 1501.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The spire of the 900 years old Cathedral is a local landmark.

 

 

 

There is a curious detached Cathedral bell tower,

the only surviving such in England.

 

 


 

The popularity of BRIGHTON grew in the late 18th century when the
Prince Regent gave it his seal of approval and the resort soon became known as 'London by the Sea'. 

 

  The Royal Pavilion was the fantasy palace of the Prince Regent, later  King George 1V, who had a simple farmhouse enlarged in the late 18th century, beginning 35 years of transformation which resulted in this extraordinary building with all its domes, spires and minarets reminiscent of an Indian Palace with a Chinoiserie interior where no two rooms are the same. The Pavilion is now owned by Brighton Council and is open to the public.

 

This must be the most amazing stately building in  the country.

 

The Victorian pier is one of the best of its kind.

The trainspotter’s dream

 

A fine castellated building at CLAYTON north of Brighton is not all that it seems to be.   This unusual Gothic style home, a Grade 11 listed building, with its castellated façade, was built in 1836 by the London and Brighton Railway Company, over the entrance to Clayton Tunnel, to house a railway policeman come signalman.   This detached Victorian residence comes complete with three bedrooms, a bathroom in one turret and a kitchen in the other; and a garden with ghostly stories of railway victims roaming therein.   
Who lives in a house like this?

 

 

SURREY

SURREY, to the south of London, is one of the home counties.

It is divided by the North Downs.

The little village of CHARLWOOD retains its two cell 19th century lock-up. The building, which is Grade 11 listed, has been converted in to a small office.

 

and a fine 11th-15th century parish church.



Charlwood Church

Thursley Church

 

 



The unidentified victim of a murder was buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels church at THURSLEY, where a gravestone tells the story :

 

‘ In memory of a generous but unfortunate sailor who was barbarously murdered in Hindhead on September 24th 1786 by three villains, after he had treated them liberally and promised them further assistance on the road to Portsmouth.’

 

 

 

A memorial on Gibbet Hill at Hindhead, marks the spot where a sailor was murdered. The three villains responsible were hanged on Gibbet Hill, in chains made at Thursley Forge, which can be seen at the Royal Hotel at Hindhead.

 

 

 

 

 

ISLE OF WIGHT 3

The iconic Needles is a row of three distinctive eroded stacks of chalk which rise out of the sea off the western extremity of the island. 

A fourth thinner needle like stack  collapsed in a storm in 1764.

The lighthouse was built in 1859

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alum Bay, accessible by steep path or by chair lift, is a great tourist attraction alongside the Needles. Of great geological significance it is noted for its multi-coloured sand cliffs.  There is also a small pier where boat trips leave for a tour of The Needles.

 

Yarmouth is a tiny town and port ion the western part of the island with car ferry connection to Lymington in the New Forest. A settlement for over a thousand years, Henry V111 built a castle type gun emplacement here in 1547.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yarmouth :Pier, opened in 1876 is Grade 11 listed and at 609 feet in length is the longest timber pier in England which is open to the public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gribble Seat

 

St James Church

There is a very fine statue of King Louis X1V of France in the church at Yarmout but the interesting thing is that the head is not that of the king.

The statue which was sculptured for and represents Louis X1V  was being conveyed to France when the vessel containing it (and the sculptor) was captured by an English ship commanded by Sir Robert Holmes.
The sculptor had finished the body but the head was left to be completed in France. Upon learning who the statue was for, Holmes compelled the sculptor to finish it by carving his (Holmes) head on the King’s body.
Holmes later became the Governor of the Isle of Wight and held the office from 1667 to 1692, and after his death the statue was erected in the church in his memory.

Godshill is the quintessential English village where the church on its hill dominates the charming thatched cottages. Legend has it that when the villagers tried to build their church at the foot of the hill, the stones were found to have persistently been moved to the top of the hill where the church was eventually built on Gods Hill.