Canterbury, ENG - Postcode - CT1 1AJ - Post Codes & Zip Codes List

Description of Canterbury, England

The city of Canterbury, a local government district in Kent, England, is home to Canterbury Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is situated on the Stour River.

Due to St. Augustine's role as apostle to the pagan Kingdom of Kent around the turn of the 7th century, the Archbishop of Canterbury serves as the primate of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion. Although the city had been a popular pilgrimage site since since the 1012 murder of St. Alphege at the hands of King Canute's troops, the 1170 martyrdom of Thomas Becket brought an unprecedented influx of visitors to the cathedral. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, written in the 1400s, centers on a group of pilgrims making their way to a shrine dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket.

One of the most visited cities in the UK, Canterbury relies largely on tourism to sustain its thriving economy. This city has been inhabited since the Paleolithic era, and it was the center of power for the Kingdom of Kent in the Celtic Cantiaci and Jute dynasties. A Roman city wall, reconstructed in the 14th century, stands nearby, as are the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey, the Norman Canterbury Castle, and the King's School, the oldest school still in use in the world. The Marlowe Theatre and St. Lawrence Ground, where the Kent County Cricket Club plays, are two examples of recent construction in the area. There is also a sizable student population thanks to the Canterbury campus of Girne American University and the nearby campuses of the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University. In comparison to other major British cities, however, Canterbury is still relatively tiny.

Geographical Description of Canterbury

Located in the county of Kent, 55 miles (89 km) east-southeast of London stands the city of Canterbury. Herne Bay and Whitstable, two seaside towns, are 6 miles (10 km) to the north, and Faversham, to the northwest, is 8 miles (13 km). Chartham, Rough Common, Sturry, and Tyler Hill are some of the nearby communities. Thanington Without, to the southwest, is a civil parish, although the remainder of the city is not. Suburbs include St. Dunstan's, St. Stephen's, Longport, Stuppington, Wincheap, and Hales Place.

The river flows north-east from its source in Lenham, past Ashford, and into the sea near Sandwich. The river splits in two as it runs north-east, with one fork passing through the heart of the city and the other skirting the site of the old city walls. Before merging again near Fordwich, a settlement on the border of the marshland to the north-east of the city, the two tributaries form multiple river islands. Until Fordwich, boats can travel on the Stour thanks to the tide, but after that, only canoes and other small craft will do. Hire a punt or a rowed river boat in Canterbury. Mainly brickearth and chalk make up the region's geology. Around a mile to the northwest of the city center are St. Thomas's Hill and St. Stephen's Hill, both of which are composed of Tertiary sands overlain by London clay.

Economical Description of Canterbury

In 2001, the Canterbury area was still home to roughly 4,761 firms, up to 60,000 full- and part-time workers, with a GDP of £1.3 billion.

As a result, the district's economy rose to become Kent's second largest. Currently, the tourism, academic, and commercial sectors are the most important ones.

Over £450 million was generated for the city of Canterbury thanks to the 7.2 million tourists who visited in 2015. Over the course of the year, tourism boosted the economy by 9,378 jobs, an increase of 6% from the year before. There was an added bonus because of the cooperation between the two colleges. Both universities contributed £909m to the city's economy and accounted for 16% of all jobs in 2014/2015.

The development of the Whitefriars shopping complex in 2001 brought thousands of new work possibilities to the city, greatly reducing the unemployment rate.

Large economic developments including the Canterbury Enterprise Hub, Lakesview International Business Park, and the Whitefriars retail development have had a substantial impact on the city's economy.

As of the month of September 2011, the official unemployment rate was 5.7%. By May of that year, the rate had fallen to 1.8%, and in Kent as a whole, the rate was a manageable 2%. This information solely takes into account those who are applying for benefits due to unemployment (Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit). Those lacking such resources are left out of the analysis. Nationally, the rate was 4.2% at the time.

Kent

You'll find the county of Kent in Southeastern England. It faces the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover and shares borders with Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west. Maidstone is the county seat. This county has the highest population of any home county and is the most populous non-Metropolitan county in England.

After the Romans left Britain, one of the first areas to be colonized by Germanic tribes was Kent, specifically by the Jutes.

Since Saint Augustine's initial conversion of England to Christianity in the sixth century, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury has been at Canterbury Cathedral in Kent. In the county of Medway, you'll find Rochester Cathedral, the second-oldest cathedral in all of England. Kent, which lies between London and the Strait of Dover, which divides England from mainland Europe, has played host to both battles and peace talks, such as World War II's "Battle of Britain" and the peace conferences held at Leeds Castle in 1978 and 2004.

The Cinque Ports in the 10th -14th centuries and Chatham Dockyard in the 16th-20th centuries were particularly important in providing warships for England. From Folkestone and the White Cliffs of Dover, France is visible on a clear day. Most of the county's twenty-six castles can be found in the Vale of Holmesdale, which is located between the North Downs and the Greensand Ridge in the south.

The economy of Kent is diverse, featuring multiple sectors such as agriculture, transportation, logistics, and tourism. The county of Kent is often referred to as "The Garden of England" due to its abundance of fruit orchards and backyard gardens. Aggregate mining, printing, and scientific study are just a few of the major employers in the region of northwest Kent. Kent's industrial history also includes the mining of coal. Much of Kent lies inside the London commuter zone, and the county as a whole benefits from excellent transportation links to both London and the continent. The North Downs and The High Weald together make up 28% of the county, and both are designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Geography

Kent occupies a southeastern position in the United Kingdom. The north is the North Sea and the Thames Estuary, and the south is the Straits of Dover and the English Channel. In fact, France is only 21 miles (34 kilometers) away across the Strait. 

A sequence of mountains and valleys that trend in an east-west direction characterize the county's topography. The Wealden dome, which spans Kent and Sussex and was formed by alpine movements 20–10 million years ago, has been eroded to reveal these features. Upper Greensand, Gault Clay, Lower Greensand, Weald Clay, and Wealden sandstone are all found inside this dome's descending layers. These undulations are the result of differential erosion between the underlying clay and the overlying chalk, greensand, or sandstone.

Many Kentish towns, including Sevenoaks, Maidstone, Ashford, and Folkestone, are constructed on greensand, while Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells are laid out on sandstone.

The Kentish towns of Dartford, Gravesend, Sittingbourne, Faversham, Canterbury, Deal, and Dover were all constructed on chalk.  Where a chalk ridge called the North Downs meets the coast, cliffs like the White Cliffs of Dover can be found.The eastern portion of the Wealden dome has been washed away by the sea. The Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is located between the cities of Dover and Westerham.

It is possible that the Wealden dome, a Mesozoic structure resting on a Palaeozoic base, provided the ideal circumstances for coal to originate. It's in the area of East Kent that includes Deal, Canterbury, and Dover. Coal Measures in the Westphalian Sandstone range in depth from around 250 to 400 meters (820 to 1,310 feet) and frequently experience flooding. They are located in two large troughs that run under the English Channel. 

Offshore epicentres have occasionally been detected, but seismic activity has been seen on occasion in Kent. Two earthquakes with Richter magnitudes greater than 6.0 occurred in 1382 and 1580. Quakes of about 4.3 magnitude occurred in 1776, 1950, and on 28 April 2007. Folkestone had actual damage in that quake back in 2007. On May 22, 2015, there was another quake that registered 4.2 on the Richter scale. Its epicenter was located some ten miles below the surface in the Sandwich region of east Kent. Almost no damage was reported.

Because to processes like geological uplift and coastal erosion, Kent's coastline is always shifting. The Isle of Thanet was once an island, divided from the mainland by the Wantsum channel, which was built around a deposit of chalk; however, the channels have now become silted up with alluvium. Alluvium deposition has also created Romney Marsh and Dungeness. 

The River Medway, the main river of Kent, begins at East Grinstead, Sussex, and runs east to Maidstone. It then makes a sharp bend to the north, passing past Rochester and the North Downs on its way to the Thames near Sheerness. There are about 112 kilometers (70 miles) of the Medway. Even though the river is currently tidal only up to the Allington lock, in the past cargo ships were able to travel as far upstream as Tonbridge. The Medway now receives water that once flowed in rivers like the River Darent. To the east, you'll find the River Stour, which is another of Kent's rivers

According to a study conducted in 2014, Kent and its surrounding counties have shale oil reserves totaling 4.4 billion barrels of oil. At the time, Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon said that these reserves "will bring jobs and business opportunities" and would go a long way toward ensuring energy independence for the United Kingdom. In order to accomplish these goals, fracking must be conducted in the region, despite the fact that this practice has been strongly contested by environmental activists. 

The county of Kent is known as one of the UK's warmest. On August 10, 2003, the hamlet of Brogdale, located close to Faversham, reached 38.5 degrees Celsius (101.3 degrees Fahrenheit), marking the hottest day in British history at the time.

Economy

Employment rates in Kent and Medway as of the 2001 UK census out of date Employment status breaks down as follows: 41.1% are working full time, 12.4% are working part time, 9.1% are self-employed, 2.9% are unemployed, 2.3% are students with jobs, 3.7% are students without jobs, 12.3% are retired, 7.3% are caring for home or family, 4.3% are permanently sick or disabled, and 2.7% are economically inactive for other reasons. About one-sixth of people aged sixteen to seventy-four held a bachelor's degree or its equivalent, compared to about one-fifth of Americans in general. 

Men in Kent put in an average of 43.1 hours each week, while women put in an average of 30.9 hours. In terms of occupation, 17.3% worked in wholesale, 12.4% in manufacturing, 11.8% in real estate, 10.3% in health and social work, 8.9% in construction, 8.2% in transportation and communications, 7.9% in education, 6.0% in government, 5.6% in finance, 4.8% in hotels and restaurants, 1.6% in agriculture, 0.8% in energy and water supply, 0.2% in mining, and 0.1% in private households. Construction, transportation, and communications are all higher here, while manufacturing is lower than in all of England.

Due to its many fruit orchards and hop farms, Kent is often called "Garden of England." Specifically, the county is known for its tree-grown fruit, berry, and nut production.  Oasts, the distinctive buildings originally used for drying hops, may be seen all over the countryside; many of them have since been turned into homes. The market gardens that are located closer to London are likewise rather successful. The majority of the United Kingdom's hazelnuts come from the state of Kent.

England, UK Description

England is the UK's largest constituent unit, occupying more than half of the island. Despite its political, economic, and cultural legacy, England is no longer a governmental or political unit. 

With its rich soil and crisscrossing network of rivers and streams, England has been and remains a thriving agricultural economy. England became the epicenter of the global Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, quickly rising to the top of the global industrialization rankings. Manufacturing industries in Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool turned raw materials into finished goods for export. London, the country's capital, became one of the world's most important cities, a hub for a global political economy. The London metropolitan area continues to be Europe's financial center and a hotbed of innovation, particularly in the fields of popular culture.

At the same time, the UK is a place with a very developed tourism industry. The culture and scenery of the UK attract a lot of tourists to come for vacation all year round. If you also want to travel to the UK or have been there and want to leave some traces of your visit, you can try to customize Custom Keyrings with a UK theme, such as the British flag, Buckingham Palace, etc.  Customized keychains can be carried with you and retain beautiful travel memories.

One of the most fundamental features of the English language is its diversity within a limited compass. Even England's most remote regions are accessible by car or train within a day's drive or train ride of London. Many English people identify with the regions or shires from which they are descended—for example, Yorkshire, the West Country, or the Midlands—and maintain strong ties to those regions even if they live in other parts of the country. Some differences exist, but many more, especially as England transitioned from a rural to an urban society, began to fade after 1945. The country's island location has shaped the English character, which values social harmony, social harmony, and good manners that ensure orderly relations in a densely populated landscape, among other characteristics.

During the dismantling of Britain's vast overseas empire in the mid-20th century, England suffered an identity crisis, and much attention has been paid to discussions of "Englishness"—that is, what it means to be English in a country that now has large immigrant populations from many former colonies and is far more cosmopolitan than insular. Although influenced by other cultures, English culture is distinct and difficult to define. The Lion and the Unicorn by George Orwell, a self-described "revolutionary patriot" who chronicled politics and society in the 1930s and 1940s, makes this observation. 

Geographical Description of England

Except for Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire in the east, England's topography is low-lying but rarely flat. The area has many rolling hillsides, with the highest elevations in the north, north-west, and southwest. Intricate underlying structures have resulted in intricate patterns in the landscape. The oldest sedimentary rocks and some igneous rocks (found in isolated granite hills) are found in Cornwall and Devon, while the most recent alluvial soils are found in the Fens of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk. Both the sandstone and limestone bands that separate these two regions date from prehistoric times when large sections of central and southern England were submerged under warm seas. Geological forces lifted and folded some of these rocks, forming northern England's spine. Scafell Pike, England's highest point, stands at 3,210 feet (978 metres) and is part of the world's highest mountain range. The northern mountains are mostly slate, while the southern mountains are mostly lava flows. Mountain ranges have developed from the North Downs at 965 feet (294 meters) to the Cotswolds at 1,083 feet (330 meters).

The Chiltern Hills, North Yorkshire Moors, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wolds, and Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Wolds were rounded into distinctive plateaus with west-facing escarpments during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago). A land bridge connecting Britain to the rest of Europe was engulfed as the last glacial sheet melted. The retreating glaciers left behind gravel, sand, and glacial mud, further altering the land surface. Rain, rivers, and tides, as well as subsidence, have shaped the hills and coastline of eastern England. Limestone, gritstone, and carboniferous strata plateaus are associated with major coalfields, some visible as surface outcrops.

A great example of England's geologic complexity is its cliff structure. The chalk cliffs of Dover are made up of a series of sedimentary rocks of varying ages that start at Land's End in the far southwest and end at the Isle of Wight. The English coastline is dotted with cliffs, bays, and river estuaries that add to the overall beauty of the landscape. 

England's weather is as varied as its topography. The average temperature in England, like other temperate maritime zones, is moderate, ranging from around 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) in January to 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) in July in the Thames river valley (32 degrees Celsius). Tacitus, the Roman historian, described it as "unpleasant" with "frequent rains and mists but no extreme cold." However, the higher elevations of England receive snow for roughly 50 days out of the year. In fact, the northwest and southwest of England are particularly "wet". These areas receive less than 30 inches (750 mm) of rain per year and are frequently subject to severe drought. Rainfall averages only 20 inches in parts of the southeast (500 mm). The weather has influenced English art and literature not only seasonally but also day-to-day and even hour-to-hour. The bumbershoot's moniker as the stereotypical English gentleman's walking stick is not accidental.

The Economy of England

In the 18th and 19th centuries, England's economy was primarily agricultural until the Industrial Revolution transformed it into a highly urbanized and industrialized region as a result of the Industrial Revolution. A result of the close proximity of coal and iron ore deposits, heavy industries (iron and steel, textiles, and shipbuilding) sprang up in the north-eastern counties, and they continue to thrive today. During the 1930s, the Great Depression and foreign competition both contributed to a decline in manufactured goods production and an increase in unemployment in the industrial north, which contributed to the Great Depression. Residents of these northern counties who were out of work were forced to relocate south to London and its environs. Because of urbanization and industrialization, the southeast has become dominated by industries such as automotive, chemical, electrical, and machine tool manufacturing. Despite the fact that population growth and urbanization significantly reduced farmland in England during the twentieth century, the geographical counties of Cornwall, Devon, Kent, Lincolnshire, Somerset, and North Yorkshire have retained a significant proportion of their agricultural land.

Another period of industrial decline occurred in the late twentieth century, during which coal mining was virtually phased out and job losses in industries such as iron and steel production, shipbuilding, and textile manufacturing were particularly severe. The decline of these industries had a disproportionately negative impact on the economies of the north and the Midlands, while the economies of the south remained relatively prosperous. By the turn of the twenty-first century, the service sector had taken over as the dominant sector of the English economy, with banking and other financial services, retail, distribution, media and entertainment, education, health care, and hotels and restaurants among the leading sectors.