Kent

Why Is Kent Not A Shire?

Essex, Kent, and Sussex, for example, have never borne a -shire, as each represents a former Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Similarly Cornwall was a British kingdom before it became an English county. The term “shire” is not used in the names of the six traditional counties of Northern Ireland. What makes a county a shire? A non-metropolitan …

Why Is Kent Not A Shire? Read More »

Who Settled Kent?

According to tradition, the first settlers, led by Hengest and Horsa, landed at the invitation of the British king Vortigern at Ebbs Fleet in Kent around the mid-5th century. Did Saxons settle in Kent? After AD 825, Kent became part of the large West Saxon kingdom; for a while the heir to the throne on …

Who Settled Kent? Read More »

Was Kent Called Cent?

The meaning has been explained as ‘coastal district,’ ‘corner-land’ or ‘land on the edge’ (compare Welsh cant ‘bordering of a circle, tire, edge;’ Breton cant ‘circle;’ Dutch kant ‘side, edge’). In Latin sources the area is called Cantia or Canticum, while the Anglo-Saxons referred to it as Cent, Cent lond or Centrice. Why was Kent …

Was Kent Called Cent? Read More »

Does Kent Have An Accent?

“There is no such thing as a Kent dialect or accent,” socio-linguist Dr David Hornsby boldly claims. Over time the Estuary English accent has swept across the county and the view is we don’t speak too differently to Londoners or people from Essex. Is the Kent accent posh? In case you haven’t heard of it, …

Does Kent Have An Accent? Read More »