Victoria County History Project
Dr Andrew Hann has recently been appointed as Kent Team Leader for the Victoria County History’s ‘England’s Past for Everyone’ (EPE) programme, and started work on 1st September. EPE is a new venture for the Victoria County History, to help widen access to, and involvement in, the writing and use of the VCH’s parish-by-parish local histories. The aim is to provide accessible, reliable and engaging local history materials for life-long learners, volunteers, schoolchildren and young people. The research will be made available both online, via the VCH website, and in paperback as part of a new VCH Studies series of accessible local histories.
Andrew will be based in the Medway area, and will initially focus his research on eight parishes in the lower Medway valley (Aylesford, Burham, Cuxton, Frinsbury, Halling, Snodland, Strood and Wouldham), looking specifically at processes of industrialisation during the 18th and 19th centuries and its impact on the local environment, society and economy. Special
Dr Andrew Hann has recently been appointed as Kent Team Leader for the Victoria County History’s ‘England’s Past for Everyone’ (EPE) programme, and started work on 1st September. EPE is a new venture for the Victoria County History, to help widen access to, and involvement in, the writing and use of the VCH’s parish-by-parish local histories. The aim is to provide accessible, reliable and engaging local history materials for life-long learners, volunteers, schoolchildren and young people. The research will be made available both online, via the VCH website, and in paperback as part of a new VCH Studies series of accessible local histories.
Andrew will be based in the Medway area, and will initially focus his research on eight parishes in the lower Medway valley (Aylesford, Burham, Cuxton, Frinsbury, Halling, Snodland, Strood and Wouldham), looking specifically at processes of industrialisation during the 18th and 19th centuries and its impact on the local environment, society and economy. Special attention will be paid to linkages between the older maritime and newer industrial sectors, although the relationship between these local communities, the port city of Rochester and the naval base in Chatham will also be examined. This research will be published as a paperback volume, ‘People and Work in the Lower Medway Valley, 1750-1900’. In the longer term it is hoped to broaden the chronological and geographical scope of the research, one possibility being a study of early modern Rochester and its neighbourhood.
A central aim of the EPE programme is the involvement of local people in researching and writing the history of their own communities, and thus there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved from an early stage of the research. Andrew will be pleased to hear from anyone who is interested in the project and would like to know more. He can be contacted on 01634 202 270, on mobile 07939 188 310, or by email at ah616@gre.ac.uk.