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Stuart
Cakebread
Sites and Monuments Record Officer
English Heritage
1 Waterhouse Square
138-142 Holborn
London
EC1N 2ST
UK
Tel: 020 7973 3000
Kent is one of the most populous counties in England and yet has historically contained few major centres. For most of its history, the pattern of settlement in the country has instead been a dispersed one with a large number of small towns and villages accommodating the majority of the population. These small towns have served a number of different functions as markets, civil and religious centres and drivers for trade, industry and communications. Today, the small towns of Kent retain their importance within the County and continue to experience processes of growth, change and development.
Within these changing modern centres, however, older historic cores remain. The shape and street patterns of the towns, the historic buildings and structures within them and the continuing relationship between the towns and the surrounding countryside, all remind us of their origins and development and it is this historic element which provides so much of their appeal and value today.