Collection: Local history reference

The word Borstal is synonymous with the treatment of young criminals, but do you know where it originates? A convict prison built on the top of a hill above the River Medway, which took its name from the local village. First a prison to house the labour building forts to defend Chatham Dockyard...

This book looks at the lives of 100 women in Medway who challenge our assumptions that women lived largely unremarkable lives. Some quietly devoted their lives to caring for others, whilst other travelled the world, promoted women's suffrage, lived disguised as men or followed a life of crime. Th...

The area around Grange Farm has been dominated by a manorial centre since the medieval period; elements of this structure still stand. But by weaving together archaeological evidence and extensive research, a vivid, detailed picture has emerged of an enduring human presence at the site, from flee...

This work details the links that Charles Dickens had with Northern England (Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire), plus Scotland and Ireland, and with personalities from those areas. It examines the influences that these areas and personalities had on his life an...

'Black Victorians' shows how Black lives were visible, present and influential - not temporary presences but established and rooted; and how paradox and ambivalence characterised the Victorian view of race.

Old orchards have an irresistible appeal. Their ancient trees and obscure fruit varieties seem to provide a direct link with the lost rural world of our ancestors, a time when the pace of life was slower and people had a strong and intimate connection with their local environment. They are also o...