kent | A set of themed essays about Kent, a county in South East England, which include interactive maps and images. Kent has a rich history and provided inspiration for a number of writers and artists.

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Children’s authors

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Hans Christian Andersen

Andersen visited Charles Dickens at his Gads Hill home in 1857 for five weeks and famously outstayed his welcome.

Jessie Challacombe

Dover-born author of popular evangelical stories for children.

Primrose Cumming

‘It was sunny, in the cool, golden way, as on the other days. The trees and hedges, and the grassy line of a hilly field stood out clearly in the pure light, and yet it was impossible to see for a very great distance. A lilac mist hung all round and rose up to meet the sky, where it turned rosy and then gradually melted into the golden rays’ (Silver Snaffles, 59)

George Alfred Henty

Crimean War correspondent and prolific author, Henty spent some of his childhood in Canterbury.

Bessie Marchant

Bessie Marchant, who was born in Petham, set a number of her earlier novels in Kent.

Edith Nesbit

E.Nesbit spent her formative years in Halstead, near Sevenoaks. A keen oarswoman and swimmer, she took many boating holidays on the Medway with family and friends.

Rupert Bear

Rupert Bear is a children’s comic strip character first published on the 8th November 1920 in the Daily Express newspaper. He was created by the Canterbury-born illustrator Mary Tourtel.

Mary Tourtel

Writer and illustrator of the cartoon character Rupert Bear, Mary Tourtel was born and grew up in Canterbury.

Stig of the Dump

One day Barney tumbles into an old chalk pit that is used as a local dumping ground. Here he encounters a ‘cave boy’ who recycles the materials discarded by others to create his home, tools, and other paraphernalia… This childhood freedom is evoked in Clive King’s classic 1963 children’s book ‘Stig of the Dump’.

The Winter Diary of a Country Rat

The enchanting story of the adventures of Branwell, a rat and a young wolf called Lukin, as they journey from Howletts, the wildlife park by Bekesbourne via Patrixbourne and the North Downs Way, to Canterbury.