204 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



lip from Gr.ivcscnd. Amongst tlio many scuts in the neiglibourliood of this town, 

 Cobliam Hall, in the midst of a magnificent park almost extending to the Medway, 

 is the most important. The pleasure grounds of Roaherville lie at the upper end 

 of the town. A ferry connects Gravesend with Tilbury Fort, on the northern 

 bank of the river, where Queen Elizabeth in 1088 mustered the forces which were 

 to resist the expected invasion of the Spanish Armada. Tilbury, with other 

 formidable works of defence on both banks of the river, disposes of means of 

 destruction which would frustrate any hostile effort to reach London by wa}^ of 

 the Thames. 



Scvoioaks, in the fruitful tract known as the Helmsdale, in the western part 

 of the county, is famed for the beauty of its surrounding scener3\ Knole, one of 

 the most interesting baronial mansions, adjoins the town, whilst Chevcning, full of 

 interest on account of its historical associations, with a park extending up to the 

 far-seen Knockholt beeches, lies 4 miles to the north-west. JVcster/tam, to the 

 west of Sevenoaks, near the source of the Darent, and Wrotham, to the north-east, 

 at the southern escarpment of the Downs, are both interesting old market towns. 



The Medway, which flows through a region abounding in picturesque scenery, 

 rises close to the famous old watering-place of Tiinbridge Wells, which owes more 

 to its bracing air than to the medicinal virtues of its hot chalybeate springs. In 

 the time of Charles II. the visitors to this place were lodged in small cabins 

 placed upon wheels, and the first church was only built in 1658. The neighbour- 

 hood abounds in delightful walks, and country seats are numerous. Pcnshxnt, a 

 quaint old village, rises on the Medway, 7 miles to the north-east of the Wells. 

 Near it is Penshurst Place, which Edward VI. bestowed upon his valiant standard- 

 bearer. Sir William Sidney, amongst whose descendants were Sir Philip, the author 

 of "Arcadia," and Algernon Sidney, whose head fell on the block in 1G83. The 

 Eden joins the Medway at Penshurst. A short distance above the junction stands 

 Bever Castle, the birthplace of the unfortunate Anne Boleyn. 



Tunhridge, at the head of the navigation of the Medway, is a town of con- 

 siderable antiquity-, with the remains of a castle (thirteenth century), a grammar 

 school founded in 1553, and several timbered houses. Wooden articles known as 

 Tunbridge-ware are made here, and hops are grown in the neighbourhood. The 

 centre of the Kentish hop gardens, however, is 3Iaidstotie, lower down on the 

 Medway, an interesting old town, with many gabled houses and other ancient 

 buildings. In 1567 French refugees introduced the linen industry into Maidstone, 

 but that town is at present noted only for its hop trade. Annually during the 

 "picking season" thousands of labourers from London invade it and the sur- 

 rounding villages. 



Maidstone is the assize town of the count}-, but yields in population to the 

 triple town formed by Rochester, Strood, and Chatham, on the estuary of the 

 Medway. Rochester is the oldest of these three. It is the Dubn's of the ancient 

 Britons, the Durohrivœ of the Romans, the Rojf'sceaster of the Saxons. Close to 

 the river rises the massive keep of the Norman castle erected in the time of 

 William the Conqueror by Bishop Gundulph, the same who built the Tower 



