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87-510: Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London , England. Also classified as a civil parish , Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is 21 miles (34 km) from Charing Cross , the traditional centre of London. It is the principal town of the Sevenoaks district , followed by Swanley and Edenbridge . A settlement

174-416: A ceremony involving well-known people from television shows such as Blue Peter and locals such as Gloria Hunniford and Caron Keating , were vandalised, leaving the one mature tree standing. The trees have been replaced and eight Oak trees of varying ages line The Vine. A serious railway accident occurred nearby on 24 August 1927. Southern Railway K class passenger tank engine No. A800 River Cray

261-400: A foundling, had been brought up in the town. In later life he became a merchant and served as alderman, sheriff and Mayor of London . Founding the school and adjacent almshouses was his thanks to the town. In 1560 the school was granted letters patent by Queen Elizabeth I and became known as 'Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School'. In 1456 Thomas Bourchier , Archbishop of Canterbury , purchased

348-598: A higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationwide. The average hours worked per week by residents of Kent were 43.1 for males and 30.9 for females. Their industry of employment was 17.3% retail, 12.4% manufacturing, 11.8% real estate, 10.3% health and social work, 8.9% construction, 8.2% transport and communications, 7.9% education, 6.0% public administration and defence, 5.6% finance, 4.8% other community and personal service activities, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 1.6% agriculture, 0.8% energy and water supply, 0.2% mining, and 0.1% private households. This

435-630: A line between Dunstable and Tatsfield and of uncertain extent to the east of London. Outcrops of the Upper Greensand occur in the southwest of England including the Blackdown Hills and East Devon Plateau and the Haldon Hills , remnants of a once much wider extent. The green color of greensand is due to variable amounts of the mineral glauconite , an iron potassium silicate with very low weathering resistance; as

522-487: A meadow, before becoming a bus station and car park. Access can be gained from several directions including the High Street and London Road. In 2008, a new third side of the development opened, housing a Costa Coffee , a Robert Dyas and Tommelise and Zapata: A Mexican restaurant (now closed). Much of the architecture is based on slightly earlier periods but with a contemporary edge. Music string manufacturer RotoSound

609-580: A new club house in Ide Hill village. The Vine Cricket Ground is one of the oldest cricket venues in England. It was given to the town of Sevenoaks in 1773 by John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (1745–1799) and owner of Knole House. The land was thought previously to have been used as a vineyard for the Archbishops of Canterbury. Sevenoaks Suns is a women's basketball team that plays in

696-675: A population of 24,987 at the 2011 census. Sevenoaks, like much of West Kent , is characterised by high levels of economic activity and a skilled resident workforce. A large proportion of that workforce commutes elsewhere to their places of employment, mostly to central London. Those factors have led to high house prices and pressure on the local area to build more houses. Many of those houses attract high prices, making it difficult for people to buy property. A wide range of middle-class occupations are in short supply locally. Industries such as finance and business services tend to predominate. Transport links are generally very busy and town centre congestion

783-404: A result, greensand tends to be weak and friable. It is a common ingredient as a source of potassium in organic gardening and farming fertilisers . Greensand glauconite is used as a water softener for its chemical-exchange properties. Greensand coated with manganese oxide (called manganese greensand) is used in well water treatment systems to remove dissolved (reduced) iron and manganese with

870-494: A town council with sixteen members. The town is divided into six wards: Kippington, Northern, St John's, Town, Wildernesse and Eastern. The offices of Sevenoaks District Council are located in the town. The town is situated at the junction of two main routes from the north before traffic climbs over the Greensand Ridge which crosses Kent from west to east; that situation is similar to Maidstone and Ashford . That road

957-587: A view to forming a new unified authority for East Kent, although remaining within the auspices of Kent County Council. This idea was eventually dropped. For almost nine centuries, a small part of present-day East London (the North Woolwich , London E16 area), formed part of Kent. Kent is in the southeastern corner of England. It borders the Thames Estuary and the North Sea to the north, and

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1044-524: Is Maidstone . It is the fifth most populous county in England, the most populous non-metropolitan county and the most populous of the Home Counties , an area influenced by the capital such as commutes and transport connections to the capital. Twenty-eight per cent of the county forms part of two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty : the North Downs and The High Weald . Kent was one of

1131-611: Is Sennockian . The demonym Old Sennockian is used by alumni of Sevenoaks School . The local radio station for Sevenoaks is KMFM West Kent , although no local programmes are broadcast on the station due to it being part of the KMFM network across Kent that broadcasts from Medway. The station still receives local adverts, what-on local events and sponsors. Sevenoaks is served by county wide stations BBC Radio Kent , Heart South , Smooth Radio and many London stations. Because of its proximity to London, television signals are received from

1218-408: Is Sevenoaks School , a co-educational boarding and day school, The Granville School, a girls’ prep school 3-11 (with boys in pre-school) and Walthamstow Hall, an all-girls day school; and several preparatory schools , including Solefield School , New Beacon School and Sevenoaks Preparatory School. Sevenoaks is located at the junction of two ancient roads heading south from London and Dartford to

1305-650: Is twinned with: Kent Kent is a county in the South East England region, the closest county to continental Europe . It borders Essex across the entire estuary of the River Thames to the north; the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover to the south-east; East Sussex to the south-west; Surrey to the west and Greater London to the north-west. The county town

1392-679: Is England's second-oldest cathedral, the present building built in the Early English Style. These two dioceses ensured that every village had a parish church. Greensand Greensand forms in anoxic marine environments that are rich in organic detritus and low in sedimentary input. Having accumulated in marine environments, greensands can be fossil -rich, such as in the late- Cretaceous deposits of New Jersey . Important exposures are known from both northern and western Europe , North America , southeastern Brazil and north Africa . Well known and important greensands are

1479-402: Is a notable sector: "The Garden of England" is a nickname for the county, which has multiple orchards and allotments. In north-west Kent, industries include aggregate building material extraction, printing and scientific research. Coal mining has also played its part in the county's industrial heritage. The name is of Celtic origin, and dates back to at least the 4th century BC. It is one of

1566-632: Is a rich sequence of Bronze Age , Celtic Iron Age , and Britto- Roman era occupation, as indicated by finds and features such as the Ringlemere gold cup and the Roman villas of the Darent valley . Julius Caesar described the area as Cantium , or the home of the Cantiaci , in 51 BC. The extreme west of the modern county was by the time of Roman Britain occupied by a Celtic Iron Age tribe known as

1653-506: Is based in Sevenoaks. The company's strings have been used by Jimi Hendrix , Brian May , and Pete Townshend . In the US, the company is associated with the 'British Invasion' sound of the 1960s and 70s. Knole Park is a 1,000-acre (4 km²) SSSI and medieval deer park containing several thousand trees, a cricket pitch and a golf course running across. In its centre is Knole , the home of

1740-459: Is common at peak times. The main industrial area is located north of the town, alongside the A225. Sevenoaks Quarry is on Bat and Ball Road, also to the north. The shopping area in High Street includes the new Bligh's development. It is a typical small town centre, with one M&S department store having opened in 2014. Bligh's shopping development opened in phases in 2002. The site was originally

1827-477: Is higher than the whole of England for construction and transport/communications and lower for manufacturing. Kent is sometimes known as the "Garden of England" for its abundance of orchards and hop gardens. In particular the county produces tree-grown fruits, strawberries and hazelnuts. Distinctive hop-drying buildings called oasts are common in the countryside, although many have been converted into dwellings. Nearer to London, market gardens also flourish. Kent

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1914-419: Is located at the top of London Road (TN13 1ZZ). It was re-opened as a community arts centre by Sevenoaks Town Council on 2 January 2009 and is supported by a strong network of volunteers. It became a not for profit charity in 2010. The multiplex cinema is open daily showing films. Around £550,000 has invested in equipment, infrastructure and the building since it re-opened. The demonym for a person from Sevenoaks

2001-597: Is made between the Upper Greensand and Lower Greensand. The term greensand was originally applied by William Smith to glauconitic sandstones in the west of England and subsequently used for the similar deposits of the Weald , before it was appreciated that the latter are actually two distinct formations separated by the Gault Clay . The Upper Greensand was also once known as either the "Malm" or "Malm Rock Of Western Sussex". Both Upper and Lower Greensand outcrops appear in

2088-633: Is quite varied, ranging from fertile to fairly sterile. On the fertile soils chestnut and stands of hazel and oak are common, while Scots pine and birch colonise the poorer soils. These Greensand Ridges are popular long distance walking routes, for instance the Greensand Way in Kent. The Lower Greensand (known as the Woburn Sand north of the London Basin ) is of Aptian age. In

2175-534: Is the main area for hazelnut production in the UK. However, in recent years, there has been a significant drop in agriculture, and industry and services are increasing their utilisation of the area. This is illustrated by the following table of economic indicator gross value added (GVA) between 1995 and 2003 (figures are in £ millions): North Kent is heavily industrialised, with cement-making at Northfleet and Cuxton , brickmaking at Sittingbourne, shipbuilding on

2262-984: Is to the north of the town centre, around one of the former gravel pits. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest , covering some 175 acres (71 ha). Sevenoaks Scouts is the active Scouting organisation in the town. Sevenoaks Information provides a comprehensive What's On events diary for the town and surrounding area. Sevenoaks Community Forum is a growing, active discussion forum for News and Events within Sevenoaks and surrounding areas. Sevenoaks District Community Directory provides information on local leisure facilities, plus details of Clubs, Societies and Organisations covering all activities, including Sport across Sevenoaks and surrounding Towns / Villages. Sevenoaks has three Non-League football clubs: Corinthian Football Club who play at Gay Dawn Farm, Sevenoaks Town F.C. who play at Greatness Park and Ide Hill F.C. who currently play in Borough Green due to construction of

2349-464: Is under Liberal Democrat control (Tunbridge Wells), and six are under no overall control and are administered by coalitions (Tonbridge and Malling, Maidstone, Swale, Ashford, Canterbury, Folkestone and Hythe). Notably, Thanet is the only council in the United Kingdom to have come under UK Independence Party (UKIP) control, which it did in 2015 . At the national level, Kent is represented in

2436-646: The Chalk Group which underlies the basin; the Gault lies directly on eroded Jurassic or Devonian rocks under much of the area. The Upper Greensand is of Albian age. It represents a sandy lithofacies deposited in areas of stronger currents than the Gault Clay . Like the Lower Greensand it is not present beneath the whole of the London Basin, apparently passing laterally into Gault clay east of

2523-517: The County of London was created and took over responsibility for local administration of parts of north-west Kent. These included the towns of Greenwich , Woolwich , Plumstead , Deptford , Lee , Eltham , Charlton , and Kidbrooke . In 1900, however, Kent absorbed the district of Penge . Some of Kent is contiguous with the Greater London sprawl, notably parts of Dartford . Originally,

2610-739: The Crystal Palace TV transmitter, placing Sevenoaks in the BBC London and ITV London areas. However, the town can also receive the Bluebell Hill TV transmitter which broadcast BBC South East & ITV Meridian and also through satellite television such as Freesat . The local paper is the Sevenoaks Chronicle , which is published every Thursday by the Courier Media Group . Sevenoaks

2697-595: The House of Commons by eighteen Members of Parliament (MPs). The county has historically been dominated by the Conservative Party at general elections. Prior to 2024, the party had won a majority of Kentish seats in every election since the local government reforms of 1974, including during Labour's landslide victories of 1997 and 2001 . In both 2010 and 2015 , the Conservatives won every seat in

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2784-773: The Local Government Act 1972 , Kent County Council has been under Conservative Party control; the exception was between 1993 and 1997 when the party came under no overall control with Labour Party leadership. At the most recent county council election in 2021 , the Conservatives won 62 out of 81 seats. Also elected were seven Labour councillors, six Liberal Democrats , four from the Green Party , one Swale Independent and one residents' association representative. Of Kent's thirteen districts, two are under Conservative control (Sevenoaks, Dartford), four are under Labour control (Gravesham, Medway, Thanet, Dover), one

2871-504: The Regni . Caesar wrote that the people of Kent were 'by far the most civilised inhabitants of Britain'. Following the withdrawal of the Romans, large numbers of Germanic speakers from mainland Europe settled in Kent, bringing their language, which came to be Old English . While they expelled the native Romano-British population, some likely remained in the area, eventually assimilating with

2958-832: The River Darent , tributaries of the River Medway, and on the River Stour . Two 18th century mills were on the River Len and at Tovil on the River Loose . In the late 19th century huge modern mills were built at Dartford and Northfleet on the River Thames and at Kemsley on The Swale. In pre-industrial times, almost every village and town had its own windmill or watermill , with over 400 windmills known to have stood at some time. Twenty-eight survive within

3045-527: The River Medway in 1547. By the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) a small dockyard had been established at Chatham . By 1618, storehouses, a ropewalk , a drydock , and houses for officials had been built downstream from Chatham. By the 17th century, tensions between Britain and the powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along

3132-543: The River Medway , rises near East Grinstead in Sussex and flows eastwards to Maidstone . Here it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at Rochester, then joins the estuary of the River Thames near Sheerness . The Medway is some 70 miles (112 km) long. The river is tidal as far as Allington lock, but in earlier times, cargo-carrying vessels reached as far upstream as Tonbridge . The Medway has captured

3219-808: The Serra da Saudade Formation, Bambuí Group, of Neoproterozoic / Ediacaran age. The outcrops occur in the Serra da Saudade ridge, in Alto Paranaíba region, Minas Gerais . It is a silt-clay sedimentary rock, laminated, bluish-green, composed of glauconite (40–80%), potassium feldspar (10–15%), quartz (10–60%), muscovite (5%) and minor quantities of biotite (2%), goethite (<1%), titanium and manganese oxides (<1%), barium phosphate and rare-earth elements phosphates (<1%). Enriched levels of potash have K 2 O grades between 8% and 12%, thickness up to 50 m (160 ft) and are associated to

3306-745: The Strait of Dover , which separates England from mainland Europe, Kent has been the setting for both conflict and diplomacy, including the Battle of Britain in World War II and the Leeds Castle peace talks of 1978 and 2004. England relied on the county's ports to provide warships through much of its history; the Cinque Ports in the 10th –14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th–20th centuries were of particular importance. France can be seen clearly in fine weather from Folkestone and

3393-817: The Straits of Dover and the English Channel to the south. France is 21 miles (34 km) across the Strait. The major geographical features of the county are based on a series of ridges and valleys running east–west across the county. These are the results of erosion of the Wealden dome, a dome across Kent and Sussex created by alpine movements 20–10 million years ago. This dome consists of an upper layer of chalk above successive layers of Upper Greensand , Gault Clay , Lower Greensand , Weald Clay , and Wealden sandstone. The ridges and valleys formed when

3480-596: The Weald . In 1710 part of one of the roads – from Sevenoaks through Tonbridge and Pembury to Tunbridge Wells – was the first in Kent to be turnpiked , and others followed within the century. It became the A21 road in the 1920s; the road now bypasses the town, and also takes traffic to the M25 London Orbital motorway at Junction 5. The Dartford road is now the A225 . The cross-country A25 road passes through

3567-582: The White Cliffs of Dover . Hills in the form of the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge span the length of the county and in the Vale of Holmesdale in between and to the south are most of the county's 26 castles . The county has agriculture, haulage, logistics and tourism industries. As the land between the capital and the wider continent, it is a high-income county. Agriculture of the county

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3654-519: The "160 BT building" in London Road. A food market is held in the centre of town every Saturday. In the Middle Ages two hospitals were provided by religious orders for the care of old or sick people, especially those going on pilgrimage . Sevenoaks School , at the south end of High Street, is one of the oldest lay foundations in England. It was founded by William Sevenoke in 1432. Sevenoke,

3741-425: The 19th and 20th centuries. Cement came to the fore in the 19th century when massive building projects were undertaken. The ready supply of chalk and huge pits between Stone and Gravesend bear testament to that industry. There were also other workings around Burham on the tidal Medway. Chalk, gravel and clay were excavated on Dartford Heath for centuries. Kent's original paper mills stood on streams like

3828-570: The Knole estate and built Knole House . The mansion dominates the town. The eponymous oak trees in Knole Park have been replaced several times over the centuries. In 1902 seven oaks were planted on the north side of The Vine cricket ground to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII . During the Great Storm of 1987 , six of those trees were blown down. Their replacements, planted in

3915-645: The Medway and Swale , engineering and aircraft design and construction at Rochester, chemicals at Dartford, papermaking at Swanley , and oil refining at Grain . There is a steel mini mill in Sheerness and a rolling mill in Queenborough . There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness , although the older one, Dungeness A, built in 1965, was decommissioned in 2006. Cement-making, papermaking, and coal-mining were important industries in Kent during

4002-756: The Richter Scale. It was centred in the Sandwich area of east Kent at about ten miles below the surface. There was little if any damage reported. The coastline of Kent is continuously changing, due to tectonic uplift and coastal erosion . Until about 960, the Isle of Thanet was an island, separated by the Wantsum channel , formed around a deposit of chalk; over time, the channels silted up with alluvium . Similarly Romney Marsh and Dungeness have been formed by accumulation of alluvium. Kent's principal river,

4089-692: The Sackville family (the Earls of Dorset ) since it was given to them by Queen Elizabeth I in 1577. The estate is owned and maintained by the National Trust , although the Sackvilles still live there. Riverhill House and gardens are located directly to the south of Knole Park, on the southern edge of Sevenoaks. The house and gardens, which were first built in the 16th century, are privately owned by Jane Margaret Rogers but are periodically open to

4176-650: The Seal Hollow Road in the North-Eastern edge of town, and Seal Hollow Road is also the site of the controversial first new UK Grammar school , an annex of Weald of Kent Grammar School for girls in Tonbridge, in over 50 years. A further annex grammar school, of Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, is due to open on the same site in September 2021. Among the high number of independent schools

4263-465: The Upper and Lower Greensands of England and occur within Eocene and Cretaceous sedimentary strata underlying the coastal plains of New Jersey and Delaware . Although greensand has been found throughout Phanerozoic and Late Precambrian sedimentary deposits, it appears to be most common in Eocene, Cambrian , and Cretaceous sedimentary deposits. In Brazil , greensand refers to a fertilizer produced from glauconitic siltstone units belonging to

4350-407: The Weald the Lower Greensand consists of four deposits which are partly diachronous : the Atherfield Clay 5–15 m (15–50 ft) thick, the Folkestone Beds 20–80 m (60–250 ft) thick; the Hythe beds 20–110 m (60–350 ft) thick and the Sandgate Beds 2–37 m (5–120 ft) thick. Although it appears both north and south of the London Basin it is not present everywhere beneath

4437-541: The Westphalian Sandstone are about 820–1,310 ft (250–400 m) deep, and are subject to flooding. They occur in two major troughs, which extend under the English Channel. Seismic activity has occasionally been recorded in Kent, though the epicentres were offshore. In 1382 and 1580 there were two earthquakes exceeding 6.0 on the Richter Scale . In 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007 there were earthquakes of around 4.3. The 2007 earthquake caused physical damage in Folkestone. A further quake on 22 May 2015 measured 4.2 on

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4524-406: The addition of an oxidant, usually potassium permanganate, under controlled pH conditions. It is also used as a type of rock for stone walls in areas where greensand is common. In Roman times in Britain, coarse grits derived from the lower greensand were used to line the inner surface of mortars (grinding bowls) produced in Oxfordshire pottery kilns. Recently, glauconitic greensand has become

4611-407: The area is called Cantia or Cantium , while the Anglo-Saxons referred to it as Cent , Cent lond or Centrice . The area was first occupied by early humans , intermittently due to periods of extreme cold, during the Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), as attested by an early Neanderthal skull found in the quarries at Swanscombe . The Medway megaliths were built during the Neolithic era. There

4698-489: The area is required to achieve these objectives; it has been opposed by environmental groups. Kent is one of the warmest parts of Britain. On 10 August 2003, in the hamlet of Brogdale near Faversham the temperature reached 38.5 °C (101.3 °F), at that time the highest temperature ever officially recorded in the United Kingdom. The record still stands as the hottest August day ever recorded. Kent County Council and its twelve district councils administer most of

4785-410: The area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was a one-inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Many of the Georgian naval buildings still stand. In the early 19th century, smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline. Gangs such as The Aldington Gang brought spirits, tobacco and salt to the county, and transported goods such as wool across the sea to France. In 1889,

4872-631: The border between Kent and Sussex (later East Sussex ) ran through the towns of Tunbridge Wells and Lamberhurst . In 1894, by the Local Government Act , the parts of these towns that lay in East Sussex were absorbed by Kent. During the Second World War, much of the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over Kent. Between June 1944 and March 1945, more than 10,000 V1 flying bombs , or "Doodlebugs", were fired towards London from bases in Northern France . Although many were destroyed by aircraft, anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons , both London and Kent were hit by around 2,500 of these bombs. After

4959-486: The coast following the raid on the Medway , a successful attack by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667. The 18th century was dominated by wars with France, during which the Medway became the primary base for a fleet that could act along the Dutch and French coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to the Atlantic , this role was assumed by Portsmouth and Plymouth , with Chatham concentrating on shipbuilding and ship repair. As an indication of

5046-418: The county (3352 km ), whilst the Medway Council administers the more densely populated Medway unitary authority (192 km ), independently of the county council. Together they have around 300 town and parish councils . Kent County Council's headquarters are in Maidstone , while Medway's offices are at Gun Wharf, Chatham . For most of its history since the local government reforms instituted by

5133-556: The county (including Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, and Sevenoaks) has less than 50% of the average claimant count for low incomes or worklessness as the coastal districts of Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, and Thanet (chiefly three resorts: Ramsgate, Broadstairs, and Margate). West and Central Kent have long had many City of London commuters . Kent's geographical location between the Straits of Dover and London has influenced its architecture, as has its Cretaceous geology and its good farming land and fine building clays. Kent's countryside pattern

5220-427: The county today, plus two replica mills and a further two in that part of Kent now absorbed into London. All the major rivers in the county were used to power watermills. From about 1900, several coal pits operated in East Kent. The Kent Coalfield was mined during the 20th century at several collieries, including Chislet, Tilmanstone, Betteshanger, and the Snowdown Colliery, which ran from 1908 to 1986. The west of

5307-411: The county was granted similar powers to those granted in the areas bordering Wales and Scotland . During the medieval and early modern period, Kent played a major role in several of England's most notable rebellions, including the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, led by Wat Tyler , Jack Cade 's Kent rebellion of 1450, and Wyatt's Rebellion of 1554 against Queen Mary I . The Royal Navy first used

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5394-441: The county. The 2024 election saw a sharp decline in support for the Conservatives, and the county is currently represented by eleven Labour MPs, six Conservatives and one Liberal Democrat. At the 2011 census , Kent, including Medway, had 1,727,665 residents (18.0% of which in Medway); had 711,847 households (17.5% of which in Medway) and had 743,436 dwellings (14.8% of which in Medway). 51.1% of Kent's population excluding Medway

5481-470: The earliest names recorded in Britain, known to the Greeks since the explorer Pytheas recorded it as Kantion during his voyage around the British Isles in about 325 BC. As such, it has been claimed as the "oldest recorded name still in use in England." The meaning has been explained as 'coastal district,' 'corner-land' or 'land on the edge' (Welsh cant 'bordering of a circle, tyre, edge;' Breton cant 'circle;' Dutch kant 'side, edge'). In Latin sources

5568-419: The exposed clay eroded faster than the exposed chalk, greensand, or sandstone. Sevenoaks , Maidstone , Ashford , and Folkestone are built on greensand, while Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are built on sandstone. Dartford , Gravesend , the Medway towns, Sittingbourne , Faversham , Canterbury , Deal , and Dover are built on chalk. The easterly section of the Wealden dome has been eroded away by

5655-521: The first Archbishop of Canterbury . In the previous year, Augustine successfully converted the pagan King Æthelberht of Kent to Christianity. The Diocese of Canterbury became England's first Episcopal See with first cathedral and has since remained England's centre of Christianity. The second designated English cathedral was for West Kent at Rochester Cathedral . Kent was traditionally partitioned into East and West Kent, and into lathes and hundreds . The traditional border of East and West Kent

5742-453: The first British territories to be settled by Germanic tribes, most notably the Jutes , following the withdrawal of the Romans. Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, the oldest cathedral in England, has been the seat of the Archbishops of Canterbury since the conversion of England to Christianity that began in the 6th century with Saint Augustine . Rochester Cathedral in Medway is England's second-oldest cathedral. Located between London and

5829-555: The glauconitic levels, dark green in color. Glauconite is authigenic and highly mature. The high concentration of this mineral is related to a depositional environment with a low sedimentation rate. The glauconitic siltstone has resulted from a high level flooding event in the Bambuí Basin. The sedimentary provenance is from supracrustal feldsic elements on a continental margin environment with an acidic magmatic arc (foreland basin). In Great Britain , greensand usually refers to specific rock strata of Early Cretaceous age. A distinction

5916-449: The head waters of other rivers such as the River Darent . Other rivers of Kent include the River Stour in the east. A 2014 study found that Kent shares significant reserves of shale oil with other neighbouring counties, totalling 4.4 billion barrels of oil , which then Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon said "will bring jobs and business opportunities" and significantly help with UK energy self-sufficiency. Fracking in

6003-411: The main roads. The settlement of Riverhead to the north-west is the largest; other parts of the town (in clockwise order from the north) include Greatness; Wildernesse; St John's; Hollybush; Sevenoaks Common; and Kippington. The 2001 census counts approximately 18,588 residents within the Sevenoaks civil parish authority, compared to its population in 1801 of 2,600. The built-up area of the town had

6090-432: The motto Invicta , meaning "undefeated" or "unconquered". The adoption of this motto followed the invasion of Britain by William of Normandy , as he was unable to subdue the county and they negotiated favourable terms. The continued resistance of the Kentish people against the Normans led to Kent's designation as a semi-autonomous county palatine in 1067. Under the nominal rule of William's half-brother Odo of Bayeux ,

6177-444: The newcomers. Of the invading tribes, the Jutes were the most prominent, and the area became a Jutish kingdom recorded as Cantia in about 730 and Cent in 835. The early medieval inhabitants of the county were referred to as the Cantwara , or Kentish people. The city of Canterbury was the largest in Kent. In 597, Pope Gregory I appointed the religious missionary (who became Saint Augustine of Canterbury after his death) as

6264-881: The north of the town along the Vale of Holmesdale . There are two railway stations in Sevenoaks, and two on the outskirts. The principal station is located on the South Eastern Main Line and also acts as the terminus for the suburban stopping services to both London Charing Cross and Blackfriars . The latter services follow the branch line via Swanley , calling at the second of the stations, named Bat & Ball . The outlying stations are Dunton Green (served at off peak times by two trains per hour to London Charing Cross, and three trains per hour to London Cannon Street at peak times) and Otford (two trains per hour to London Victoria ). There are also bus routes in and around Sevenoaks provided by Go-Coach and Arriva Southern Counties . Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve

6351-403: The oldest state primary schools in England. Lady Margaret Boswell left a bequest to educate 12 poor scholars of the town. The first school building was erected on London Road in 1818: it is a Grade II Listed building with a neo-Classical frontage, now called Lady Boswell House. The school moved to its current site in 1972. A Christian 'Free School' called Trinity School, opened in the 2010s on

6438-544: The place of the seven oaks. The original seven oaks were in Knole Park and have been replaced many times. Alternatively, Baedeker's Guide of 1887 states that Sevenoaks "is said to be a corruption of Chevenix". There are few records earlier than the 13th century for the town, when it was given market status. The weekly cattle market was held in Hitchen Hatch Lane until 1999. It was closed to make way for

6525-636: The public. There are four churches belonging to the Church of England in Sevenoaks, dedicated to St Nicholas, St Luke, St Mary and St John the Baptist; and also St Mary's at Riverhead. The Roman Catholic church is dedicated to St Thomas of Canterbury ; and there are some eight other denominations represented in the town. These include Hope Church ( Charismatic ), the United Reformed Church and also Baptist and Evangelical churches across

6612-869: The scarp slopes surrounding the London Basin and the Weald. Prominent seams are to be found in the Vale of White Horse , in Bedfordshire , in Kent , Surrey , the South Downs National Park , elsewhere in Hampshire , the Isle of Wight , and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset . Some minor seams are found further west in Devon in the Blackdown and Haldon hills. The soil of the greensand

6699-584: The sea, and cliffs such as the White Cliffs of Dover are present where a chalk ridge known as the North Downs meets the coast. Spanning Dover and Westerham is the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The Wealden dome is a Mesozoic structure lying on a Palaeozoic foundation, which can often create the right conditions for coal formation. This is found in East Kent roughly between Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. The Coal Measures within

6786-717: The top flight of UK women's basketball, the WBBL . In 2017, the team won the WBBL Trophy , defeating the Leicester Riders 82-67 in the final in Glasgow. Sevenoaks Hockey Club is a large club with a clubhouse at The Vine Pavilion. HC Knole Park is also based in Sevenoaks. Sevenoaks has two leisure centres and many sports and other activities are available. The Stag Theatre, cinema and the Plaza music and conference complex

6873-461: The town and its villages. There is one mixed state secondary school, the Knole Academy , which was created in 2009 from an amalgamation of Wildernesse School (for boys) and Bradbourne School (for girls), and four state primary schools, one of which is Church of England and another of which is Catholic. Lady Boswell's C of E Primary School on Plymouth Drive dates back to 1675 and is one of

6960-630: The war, Kent's borders changed several more times. In 1965, the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley were created from nine towns formerly in Kent. In 1998, Rochester, Strood, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham left the administrative county of Kent to form the Unitary Authority of Medway . Plans for another unitary authority in north-west Kent were dropped, but in 2016 consultations began between five Kent local authorities (Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone & Hythe, and Ashford) with

7047-409: Was derailed hauling a Cannon Street to Deal express, knocking a road bridge and killing 13 passengers. The locomotive crew survived. The entire K class was subsequently rebuilt to prevent such an event from occurring again. The accident called into question the quality of track laying in the area. A number of institutions provided healthcare in the 19-20th centuries including: Sevenoaks is governed by

7134-634: Was determined by a gavelkind inheritance system that generated a proliferation of small settlements. There was no open-field system, and the large tracts were owned by the two great abbeys, Christ Church, Canterbury and St Augustine's Abbey , that did not pass into the hands of the king during the Reformation . Canterbury Cathedral is the United Kingdom's metropolitan cathedral ; it was founded in AD 598 and displays architecture from all periods. There are nine Anglo-Saxon churches in Kent. Rochester Cathedral

7221-590: Was female — as to Medway, this proportion was 50.4%. The tables below provide statistics for the administrative county of Kent, that is, excluding Medway. At the 2001 UK census , employment statistics for the residents in Kent, including Medway, were as follows: 41.1% in full-time employment, 12.4% in part-time employment, 9.1% self-employed, 2.9% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 3.7% students without jobs, 12.3% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 4.3% permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% economically inactive for other reasons. Of residents aged 16–74, 16% had

7308-439: Was formerly a major local employer. Located to the south-east of the town is Knole Park , within which lies Knole House . Educational establishments in the town include Trinity School , Knole Academy , and the independent Sevenoaks School . In 1100 the name of the settlement was recorded as Seouenaca (here the "v" is interchangeable with "u"), in turn derived from the 10th-century Old English seofon combined with ac :

7395-399: Was one of the earliest in the county to be turnpiked in 1709, because of the clay soils. The valley to the north is that of the River Darent ; that river turns to the north to cut through the North Downs . Several lakes are located along the course of the river here, the result of the extraction of sand and gravel in the past. The built-up area of the town has developed primarily along

7482-423: Was recorded in the 13th century, when a market was established. Construction of Knole House in the 15th century helped develop the village. Sevenoaks became part of the modern communications network when one of the early turnpikes was opened in the 18th century; the railway was relatively late in reaching it. In the 21st century, it has a large commuting population . The nearby Fort Halstead defence installation

7569-589: Was the county's main river, the Medway . Men and women from east of the Medway are Men (or Maids) of Kent, those from the west are Kentishmen or Kentish Maids. The divide has been explained by some as originating in the Anglo-Saxon migrations, with Jutes mainly settling east of the Medway and Saxons settling west of it. In the 11th century, the people of Kent (or Chenth , per the Domesday Book ) adopted

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