New book explores the history of life and work along the Medway
A new history of industry and community in the Medway Valley will be launched this month at a celebratory river cruise along the Medway.
Written by Dr Andrew Hann who led the project at the University of Greenwich, The Medway Valley: a Kent Landscape Transformed looks at the history of the area from 1750-1900. It looks at the impact of the rise and decline of a variety of industries, including shipbuilding, papermaking, brickmaking, cement production and agriculture, on the communities clustered along the Medway.
The book has been produced as part of the Victoria County History’s Heritage Lottery-funded project, England’s Past for Everyone. The Kent project is also supported locally by the University of Greenwich, Kent County Council, the Kent Archaeological Society and City of Rochester Society.
EPE is working with academics and local communities across the country to produce a series of 15 paperback books, an interactive website and learning resources for schools. In Kent local volunteers took part in a series of building surveys in the Medway villages and received training in archive research, photography, data recording and ICT skills. A school project, in partnership with Holy Family School, Centre for Kentish Studies and education consultant Jessika Worrall, looked at the lives of children working in the papermaking industry in the 19th century and the importance of recycling.
Author Dr Andrew Hann says: “The project owes so much to the hard work of a dedicated team of volunteers, and the support of the wider community who have embraced the project with enthusiasm from its outset. Hopefully this book will play a small part in preserving the memory of the Medway’s industrial heritage as it moves forward towards an exciting future as part of the Thames Gateway development”.
A second project in Kent is currently ongoing . Looking at the history of the Medway Towns Chatham, Gillingham, Rochester and Strood from 1550-1900, the project is led by Dr Sandra Dunster based at the University of Greenwich. A paperback will be published in 2010.
Further resources from both of the Kent projects, including images and transcribed documents, can be accessed via our free Explore website www.ExploreEnglandsPast.org.uk/Kent
ENDS
For further information and photos please contact:
Nick Davison, Public Relations,
University of Greenwich
020 8331 8092
For further information about the national EPE project please contact Mel Hackett, EPE Communications Manager, 020 7664 4896 melanie.hackett@sas.ac.uk
Notes for Editors
England’s Past for Everyone (EPE)
www.EnglandsPastForEveryone.org.uk
England's Past for Everyone (EPE) is a Heritage Lottery funded local history project, run by the Victoria County History and involving communities across the country. Volunteers are working alongside authors and researchers in 10 counties to bring local history to life. Their topics include the history of ethnic minorities in Bristol, life and work in the lower Medway Valley, and the origins and townscape of Sunderland.
The research will result in an interactive website and fifteen paperback books, which will provide an insight into the way history is investigated and help inspire people to do their own research. The website will contain images, audio visual materials and historical documents which users will be able to search by place, time and theme. EPE is also working with schools to produce curriculum materials, linked to the interactive website.
Victoria County History (VCH)
www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk
Begun in 1899 and dedicated to Queen Victoria, the Victoria County History (VCH) is creating an encyclopaedic history of the counties of England, based on original research and ranging from earliest times to the present.
Over the past 100 years over 230 distinctive large red volumes have been published. General chapters cover subjects such as prehistory, and ecclesiastical and economic history and topographical chapters give a comprehensive, fully referenced account of each city, town, and village in the county. This work is carried out by staff in counties all over England, whose research is edited and prepared for publication by a central team based at the University of London's Institute of Historical Research.
The Institute of Historical Research (IHR)
EPE central support staff are based in the VCH offices at the Institute of Historical Research (IHR), University of London.
The IHR, under its Director, Professor Miles Taylor, offers a wide range of services to historians from the UK and around the world. The IIHR promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching through its library, seminars, conferences, fellowships, training, publications and the work of its three research centres, of which VCH is one.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has provided a grant of £3.4million to the EPE project.
HLF enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy.
English Heritage
English Heritage is providing 510 new photographs and reconstruction drawings of selected buildings and sites for use by the EPE project. EPE are also working in partnership with English Heritage Education and Outreach departments.
English Heritage is the government’s advisor on the historic environment. The organisation is responsible for all aspects of protecting and promoting the historic environment.
The National Monuments Record (NMR) is English Heritage’s public archive of 10 million items. It’s the first port of call for anyone seeking information on the historic environment.
Phillimore & Co. Ltd
Phillimore & Co. Ltd is the publisher for the EPE paperback publications. Based in Chichester Phillimore is the leading specialist publisher of British local and family history.