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The History and Library Centre, which
opened its doors on Shakespeare Day
(April 23) back in 2012, contains some
40,000 books, a huge quantity of archives
and an area where visitors can access
historic books and archives dating back
to 699 AD.
The idea behind its construction was
to consolidate the county archives
from two separate centres - the Centre
for Kentish Studies and the East Kent
Archives Centre in Dover, together
with two libraries - the County Central
Library and Maidstone Public Library -
into one central location.
The centre made international headlines
in February 2015 when it announced
the re-discovery of a long-forgotten
Magna Carta belonging to Sandwich
Town Council, held in the archives.
The document is an original Magna
Carta from the issue made in 1300
by King Edward I to the borough of
Sandwich, one of the Cinque Ports.
The historic charter, which was
celebrated nationally in 2015 on
the 800th anniversary of King John’s
issue of the very first Magna Carta, at
Runnymeade in 1215, was discovered
by KCC Community History Officer
Dr Mark Bateson.
He had been contacted by leading
Magna Carta historian Professor
Nicholas Vincent to investigate a
separate document in the archives –
Sandwich’s original Charter of
the Forest.
Dr Bateson spotted the Magna Carta
next to the charter and Prof Vincent
authenticated the discovery. Dr Bateson
said: “I was leafing through and I
thought ‘this looks interesting’ and it
turned out to be the Magna Carta
to Sandwich.
“I didn’t expect it at all and it was extremely
exciting. This is an original Magna Carta
even though it’s not dated 1215.
“It’s one of numerous parchments
that were issued in the years after 1215
for different reasons and for different
organisations.”
Dr Bateson is a qualified archivist who
worked at Canterbury Cathedral Archives
for about 17 years, eventually as its
Public Services Manager.
In 2012 he moved to Maidstone. His first
job was helping at the Centre for Kentish
Studies just before and during its was
amalgamation into the Kent History
and Library Centre He has worked there
ever since, first as Community History
Officer, and since 2015, as Heritage
Services Manager.
Kent History and
Library Centre
With about nine miles of historic material on the shelves, the Kent
History and Library Centre is a purpose built facility to protect and
give access to the county’s archives together with the collections of
two large Maidstone public libraries that have now closed.
What the Kent History and Library
Centre offers:
•
access to Kent’s archives and local
history under one roof
•
a state-of-the-art public search
room for consulting original
documents, older books and local
studies material
• superb photocopying and
photography facilities
• free access to history websites –
including Ancestry and Find My Past
• a bookable meeting room
• a multi-use space used for history
workshops, talks and exhibitions
• advice from experts in reading old
handwriting (palaeography), Latin,
locating sources, research topics,
conserving books and documents
• courses on reading old handwriting,
family and local history – ask staff
for details
• exciting programmes of exhibitions
and talks
“The centre made international headlines earlier this
year when a long-forgotten Magna Carta belonging to
Sandwich Town Council was discovered in the archives.”