Owing to various vicissitudes, and
particularly to the troubles during and since the war, the publication
of this volume has unfortunately been long delayed. The article on
Romano-British Kent which was undertaken by the late Professor F.
Haverfield was far advanced towards completion at the time of his death.
The importance of the subject induced him to expend on it that
meticulous care which made his work so valuable. Although some of his
deductions regarding the history and development of the Saxon Shore
have had to be modified in the light of later excavations at
Richborough, Folkestone and elsewhere, his treatment of the subject
will, it is hoped, be a lasting contribution to Romano-British history.
The editor is much indebted to Dr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler for
undertaking the revision and completion of this article and for the
assistance given in its compilation by Miss Margerie Taylor, so long
associated with Professor Haverfield’s work, the Rev. C. Eveleigh
Woodruff, Mr. R. F. Jessup and Mr. C. F. C. Hawkes. For reading the
proofs and otherwise helping on this article the editor is indebted to
Sir George Macdonald, Mr. R. G. Collingwood, Mr. H. T. Elgar, Mr. N. C.
Cook and Miss J. C. Dodgson. With the exception of the translation of
the Domesday text by the late Rev. F. W. Ragg which has been revised by
the editor, the other sections of this volume have either been newly
written or have been revised and brought up to date by their authors.
In the peculiarly difficult task of the
identification of place-names in the Kent Domesday Text and Domesday
Monachorum, the editor wishes to express his gratitude for the help
afforded by Dr. Gordon Ward, Mr. H. H. Knocker, Mr. E. C. Matthews, Mr.
E. S. M. Perowne, Dr. Rose Graham and Miss J. Churchill, and also to the
Rev. Dr. Samuel Bickersteth and the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury for
permission to photograph the MS. of the Domesday Monachorum preserved in
their library.
The editor desires to express his gratitude to Mr. S. C.
Ratcliff for information as to ‘the Custom of Kent,’ Mr. W. H. Aymer
Valance, Mr. Richard Croker, Mr. Eustace Craig and the Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries for information regarding the industries of
the county. He has also to thank Mr. O. G. S. Crawford, Mr. S. E.
Winbolt, Mr. J. P. Bushe-Fox, Mr. G. C. Druce, Major Gordon Home, the
late Mr. William Whiting, Miss Jessie Mothersole, the Kent
Archaeological Society, the Society of Antiquaries of London, the British Academy, the
Clarendon Press, the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office, the Director—
General of the Ordnance Survey and the Secretary of the Air Ministry for
permission to reproduce plans and other illustrations and for the loan
of blocks and photographs. |