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Making History in Smarden

This film is about the things we do in Smarden as a local history group: our talks programme, the way in which we catalogue and preserve archives in our Heritage Centre, our research projects, our interaction with the village and the services we provide to researchers and other groups like ours.

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The Mapping of Smarden

Smarden has been on the map for 500 years, but probably not as you know it. For example, do you know where Udden Bridge is? Or Harbileden? Or Spiers Ash? If you are familiar with Smarden will know them, but not by these names.

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Power Politics and the Man from Maidstone

This film is about power and politics in the years leading up to the 1914 – 1918 war. It tells the remarkable story of how one man challenged the world’s most powerful oil empire… and won. But having achieved his aim he decided there were more important things in life.

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May Day! May Day! May Day!

To mark the 80th Anniversary of The Battle of Britain our new film looks at the life stories of two pilots who came down in Smarden in 1940, one Canadian and one German. However the film begins with earlier crashes involving two planes, each of them carrying gold, one in 1929 and the other in 1931.

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Germany is in Smarden: So is North America

You may be puzzled by those two lines, but we promise you they are true. We are taking a fact-finding tour around Smarden’s lanes and fields but geography apart, we’ll be talking about some of the interesting characters who have lived in Smarden: sportsmen, writers, craftsmen and entertainers. Some of them with local reputations, others known around the world.

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A Disorderly Parish

In 1688 the Reverend Richard Rands described Smarden as "A Disorderly Parish" so this film explores some of the more notable transgressions which have taken place in our village, ranging from treason and murder to affrays of various kinds.

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The Lion from the West

The life story of John Sella Martin, a man born into poverty and slavery, who became a Baptist minister and a forceful proponent of abolition. In Britain his powerful oratory attracted huge crowds who came to hear him speak during the American Civil War. He spoke in Smarden in 1863.

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Wartime Memories of Smarden

The Rathbone family lived in Smarden at Hegg Hill during World War Two. This film is based on the fascinating memoir written by Lettice Rathbone for the Women's Institute and covers events such as the army coming back from Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain and how the village prepared for invasion. Her sister Marion also wrote about village life in WW2 which you can read here.

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Smarden’s Deadly Year

A heroic doctor, contagion, lockdown, shocking fatalities. A scenario only too familiar to us today, but this is what happened in the Kent village of Smarden 350 years ago. This is a forgotten episode in the history of a rural village that resonates strongly with us now.

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