Kent is officially Britain’s oldest county. Here are 20 things you may not know about the garden of England…
- Kent has more conservation areas than any other county in Britain
- The town of Sandwich has the highest density of listed buildings of any town in England
- RAF Manston was the most bombed airfield in the UK during WW2
- Dover is the busiest passenger sea port in the world.
Watch a fantastic time-lapse for the port in action
- Rochester Cathedral is the second oldest cathedral in England
- Remains of what is believed to be the world’s oldest known seagoing boat were found off the coast of Kent
- Kent has more 20th century defensive fortifications than any other county
- The very first white road lines were painted in Kent in 1914
- The Short Brothers set up the world’s first volume production aircraft factory on the Isle of Sheppey in 1908.
- Shepherd Neame, founded in Faversham, is the country’s oldest brewer
- The only underground army barracks ever to have been built in the UK are in Kent
- Dungeness is the largest shingle beach in Europe
- Kent Farms represent more than 40% of British fruit production
- The importance of Kent as a point of defence means that it has more castles than any other county – 18 in total.
- Barnes Wallis’ Bouncing Bomb was secretly tested off the coast of Kent in 1943, before being used in the Dambuster raids. There is a statue of Barnes Wallis in Herne Bay, near the site of the tests.
- Each year, 44 million tourists visit Kent and contribute to the local economy.
- The highest temperature ever recorded in England was 38.5C in Brogdale, Kent in 2003.
- A third of Kent’s population live in a coastal or estuary district
- Winston Churchill lived in Kent during and after the war – Chartwell House was a source of escape where family could gather
- 67% of Kent is agricultural land
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