 |
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Site Last Updated |
||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|
|
Centre for Kentish Studies Local History Talks 2006-2007 This year the Centre for Kentish Studies is presenting a joint programme of talks together with Maidstone Library and Maidstone Museum and Bentliff Art Gallery, under the title of "Time Talks". The programme as a whole explores the general themes of Kent's rich heritage and take about one hour with additional time for questions. Examples so far identified include:
For more information about the talks being held at the Library, the Museum, or Sessions House - as indicated. To book or for more details, call the venue:
Tickets cost £3 each (£1.50 for Friends of Maidstone Museum or Friends of the Kent Archives Service; unfortunately, this concession is not available for talks at Maidstone Library). Thursday 16 November 2006 - 6.30pm at Maidstone Museum (01622 701943) What's in a name? Or Kentish place-names explained - Paul Cullen Place-names can do far more than simply help us to find our way in the world. They are short but rewarding texts, precious indicators of past peoples, languages, landscapes and events. In this introduction to toponymic methods and discoveries, Paul Cullen explores the multi-disciplinary nature of this primarily linguistic subject, using examples from the whole of Kent. Tuesday 28 November 2006 - 6.30pm at Maidstone Library Maidstone's typhoid epidemic - lan Coulson Well-known local historian lan Coulson tells the dramatic story of the Maidstone typhoid epidemic of 1897, in which more than 100 people died. Schools and churches were turned into emergency hospitals and doctors and nurses from London, including the young Edith Cavell, had to be drafted in to help. The talk is illustrated with fascinating images taken from contemporary photographs. Wednesday 20 December 2006 - 6.30pm - Sessions House Lecture Theatre at County Hall (Call 01622 696197) Smallhythe Place and Ellen Terry - Paul Meredith Paul Meredith recounts the history of Smallhythe Place, including its association with medieval shipbuilding, its conversion to a farm and its purchase by the famous Victorian actress Ellen Terry. After Ellen's death, her daughter Edy Craig turned the house into a museum and converted the Barn into a theatre. Paul rounds off the story by talking about what happens at the property today. Thursday 25 January 2007 - 6.30pm at Maidstone Museum (Call 01622 701943) Andrew Hann, editor of the Kent VCH, looks at the wages earned by working people in the Medway valley, and the strategies they adopted to make ends meet during the 18th and 19th centuries. How did earnings change as the area industrialised, and what were the implications for household incomes? Did people become more or less dependent on poor relief, charity or the support of family or friends? Monday 12 February 2007 - 6.30pm - Sessions House Lecture Theatre at County Hall (Call 01622 696197) Mailing Abbey and the Mailing charter - Anne Oakley Founded as a Benedictine nunnery by Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, in about 1090 and almost wiped out by the Black Death in 1349, Mailing Abbey was finally dissolved in 1538. For over 350 years the splendid medieval buildings were in secular hands, but in 1893 the wheel turned full circle when nuns returned to Mailing. Since 1916 the Abbey has been home to an Anglican Benedictine community and is again used for its original purpose. Wednesday 14 March 20076.30pm - Sessions House Lecture Theatre at County Hall (Call 01622 696197) Paper-making in Kent - Maureen Green In 1588 John Spilman built a paper mill on the River Darent near Dartford, Kent. Spilman's enterprise marked the beginning of a viable paper industry in Britain. By 1800, the county had become one of the most important centres for the production of fine quality, as opposed to more utilitarian brown, paper. The history of the industry in Kent and the role played by mills located in and around the county town of Maidstone, will be covered in this illustrated talk. Wednesday 28 March 2007 6.30pm at Maidstone Museum (Call 01622 701943) Ightham Mote: history and conservation - Pat Mortlock Ightham Mote is now a remote and tranquil manor house but this was not always so. In the period c.!475-1640s it was the residence of several owners of national importance whose ownership resulted in the buildings and ornamentation we see today. The house was refurbished in the late Victorian period, but in the twentieth century there was quiet neglect until the National Trust began an impressive £10 million conservation programme. There will be slides of much of the recent work-from timber to wallpaper!
All Three Events - £3.00 Entry Fee Make cheques payable to Kent County Council and send to The Centre for Kentish Studies, Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone ME14 IXQ enclosing a stamped addressed envelope |