History of Kent - Early Modern Kent

Early Modern Kent

The Royal Navy first used the River Medway in 1547 when a storehouse was rented on 'Jyllingham Water'. 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 continental powers of the Netherlands and France led to increasing military build-up in the county. Forts were built all along the coast following a daring raid by the Dutch navy on the shipyards of the Medway towns in 1667.

The 18th Century was dominated with wars with France, and the Medway became the prime position to base a fleet that would act against the Dutch and French Coasts. When the theatre of operation moved to the Atlantic, Portsmouth and Plymouth assumed these roles and Chatham concentrated on shipbuilding and ship repair. Many of the Georgian naval buildings are still extant. In peacetime the work force at Chatham Dockyard was reduced to a quarter of its wartime roll.

Chatham Dockyard built over 400 naval ships including HMS Victory in the age of ships of the line, ironclads including HMS Africa 1905, and 57 submarines, while also refitting ships. The keel for HMS Victory was laid at Chatham on 23 July 1759. During World War II, Chatham refitted 1360 warships such as HMS Ajax. Charles Dickens' father worked in the Dockyard, and Chatham, Rochester and the Cliffe marshes were to feature in many of his books.

As an indication of the area's military importance, the first Ordnance Survey map ever drawn was the 1 inch map of Kent, published in 1801. Work on the map started in 1795.

In the early 19th century smugglers were very active on the Kent coastline, with gangs, such as The Aldington Gang bringing spirits, tobacco and salt to Kent, taking goods like wool across the English Channel to France.

On Saturday night, 28 August 1830, a widespread uprising by rural workers began in East Kent, with the destruction of threshing machines in the Elham Valley area and by the third week of October, over one hundred machines had been destroyed. The uprising, that eventually became known as the Swing Riots, spread across southern England and East Anglia. The general unrest, particularly about the state of the workhouses, was instrumental in the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.