Tenterden, in the ancient Wealden forest, was a swine-pasture at the time of Domesday Book but over the next three centuries it developed into a centre of the cloth industry and a thriving market town.
By the middle of the 15th century, Henry VIII had granted a charter and within a few years the town had a free grammar school and was a member of the Cinque Ports, with its own harbour at Smallhythe. As late as the 17th century it was assessed more heavily for ship-money than Rochester of Gravesend; an indication of its wealth. But when the 19th century brought sharp increases in population to most towns, Tenterden's remained static, even declined.
The result is that the High Street is little different today from a century ago, with many of the houses concealing medieval origins beneath a more recent facade of mathematical tiles or weatherboard. Though Tenterden has been spared the 'improvements' of the past century and a half that have transformed many other old towns, there have been changes enough since the invention of the camera to make this powerful pictorial record of that period a source of endless fascination to those who know the town today.
There have been many books on Tenterden, but this one is different. Its carefully captioned selection of superb old photographs reveals the town as it was and its people living their lives at the slower pace of the past in a way that words alone cannot achieve. The photographs are grouped together into different categories, such as local government, prominent buildings, shops and businesses, churches agriculture, events and so much more.
Contents:
Local Government
Churches
Street Scenes
Shops and Businesses
Prominent Buildings
Education
Mills
Public Services
Agriculture in and Around Tenterden
Hop Picking and Brewing
Other Trades and Crafts
Transport
Leisure and Please
Events
St Michaels
Smallhythe
