By Dr Adrian Greaves
The Tenterden author of Rorke’s Drift and Lawrence of Arabia
NEW !!
Forgotten Snippets and Gruesome History of Tenterden and District
This new book on the history of Tenterden and surrounding villages is highly readable, well illustrated and packed full of fascinating and unusual snippets or forgotten events. Commencing with how the area came into existence, the book investigates the role of our first visitors, mostly unwelcome invaders such as the Romans and Vikings. It goes on to consider the development of the area from the Ice Age to modern times.
There is much in our town and district’s history that is sad, gruesome and terrible by modern day standards, indeed, until recent times life was hard and often short. It was not uncommon for pregnant girls to kill themselves by various means and the local treatment of petty criminals was cruel with various forms of savage punishment and execution regularly used. Even our vicars were not immune from persecution with two being burned at the stake along with a number of local men and women.
Overall, the book contains some 1,000 interesting snippets about Tenterden and the surrounding villages, such as tale of shipwrecked Vikings hung as pirates; of the vicar’s daughter who shot and killed the local schoolmaster; the four young men who drowned at Stone when the dam burst; the murder of local Jews fleeing their homes and other gruesome events which most local history books have overlooked or have been lost or forgotten in the mists of time.
More recently, the two World Wars both had a huge effect on the area and many dramatic incidents are reviewed; the book closes with an up-to-date overview of the location, size and origins of villages’ place-names.
Everyone likes a mystery and this book comes with a special one of its own. Each book sold comes with a prize question - the answer is within the book. The prize, for the first three correct answers to be drawn on the 31st December 2017, is Life Membership of Tenterden Museum and champagne. Full details are on the entry form.
Finally, the cost of printing the book has already been donated so the full price of each book sold goes to the Tenterden and District Museum, a Registered Charity.
CHAPTERS
Chapter 1, In the beginning
Chapter 2, The Romans
Chapter 3, The development of Tenterden after 100AD
Chapter 4, Tenterden and the Cinque Ports
Chapter 5, Ship building at Small Hythe
Chapter 6, Tenterden Church
Chapter 7, Rebellion and Retribution
Chapter 8, Crime and Punishment
Chapter 9, Defence of Tenterden and the Church Beacon
Chapter 10, Tenterden Develops; roads, transport, tolls and houses
Chapter 11, Tenterden Hotels, Public Houses and Mills
Chapter 12, Education in Tenterden
Chapter 13, Snippets of Tenterden and surrounding villages
Chapter 14, Towards Modern Times
Chapter 15, The effect of the two World Wards in and around Tenterden
Available to purchase from the Tenterden Museum, Station Road, Tenterden, and the French Gourmet, 64 High Street, Tenterden, price £10