THE RIVER MEDWAY
While the source of the Medway lies across the border in the High Weald of Sussex, this ambling river is a true icon of Kent. It bisects the county, passing by the elegant manor house of Penshurst Place and the bustling market towns of Tonbridge and Maidstone. The notion of the Medway as a dividing line stretches back more than 1,500 years, when the Saxons occupied the north-westerly portion of the county while the Jutes lived to the southeast. In fact, the split was so pronounced that people in the former were known as “Kentish Men” (or “Maids”), while those in the latter were the “Men (or Maids) of Kent” – an apparently significant distinction for those born in the county.
The Medway had been a key focus for the early Roman invasion and later the Knights Templar setting sail for their crusades to the Holy Land in the Middle Ages, yet it really grew in importance with the emergence of maritime trade in the Tudor era., he imagined the Medway as a “loving” bride to the Thames in a fanciful marriage –a suggestion that the two rivers were once thought of as equals. During the Anglo-Dutch wars of the 17th century, the dockyards at Chatham and Sheerness (the latter still under construction) became a focal point for raids. This was the age of empires, when naval fleets would stop at nothing to disrupt the commercial prowess of a rival.
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