Screen Archive South East is a public sector moving image archive serving the South East of England. The archive's collections of magic lantern slides, films, videos and associated materials capture the many varied aspects of life, work and creativity from the early days of screen history to the present day and serve as a rich and invaluable historical resource.
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Lenham (A Kentish Village)
The sleepy Kent village of Lenham appears in this charming film which shows buildings little changed from Tudor times and streets scarcely affected by traffic.
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Overview
The Kent market village of Lenham, mentioned in the Domesday Book, is featured in this film from 1936. It shows many half-timbered buildings, squares and streets, many of which date back to Tudor times. We see the church, a tithe barn, a forge and an hotel where, according to the captions, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth once stayed. We also see the River Len, from which the village derives its name and peaceful bucolic scenes of a Britain that's largely vanished.
This film was awarded a Special Commendation by the Amateur Cine World board. Both Barnes brothers were also members of this association. Lenham remains a village though technically, because of its market, which dates back to 1088, it could be called a town. However, its residents prefer Lenham's village status. The Dog & Bear Hotel, which features in the film, was visited by Queen Anne in 1704, as well as the later Queens mentioned by the Barnes brothers.
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