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10 The Early Modern Period 1500–1700: Trade and Industry

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Maritime Kent Through the Ages
This chapter is in the book Maritime Kent Through the Ages
10The Early Modern Period 1500–1700: Trade and IndustryJane AndrewesDuring the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, maritime Kent expe-rienced increasing economic activity and expansion in waterborne commerce and industry along the coast, the most important the growth in the coastal grain trade to London. The fishing industry continued to be an important part of their livelihood for many men with small boats in coastal communities but a commercial expansion in the herring industry took place at Dover in the early seventeenth century. The range of goods imported from abroad in general increased, while a boom in Dover’s inter-national trade took place between 1620 and 1650. New industries were established including naval shipbuilding along the Medway and Thames estuaries, a new draperies textile industry in Sandwich, and smaller-scale copperas and gunpowder industries on the Thames and Swale estuaries, all of which expanded Kent’s coastal and continental trade. It was a period which saw continuity, innovation and increasing commercialisation. Some of these developments continued throughout the period whilst others took place during a more limited time, and individual ports, villages and creeks along the coast varied in their fortunes.Various factors influenced the history of Kent’s maritime trade and industry during this period. The dramatic growth in the population of London and its importance as a distribution centre shaped Kent’s mari-time economy and its coastal trade, in particular, increasing the demand for grain from the 1560s and especially malt in the seventeenth century. Imports from the Continent to ports such as Dover and Sandwich were transported to London by road, although also destined for growing local markets as Kent’s population increased. The location of the emergent naval shipbuilding centres on the Medway and at Deptford, Woolwich and Erith on the Thames Estuary was influenced by their proximity to the capital.
© 2021, Boydell and Brewer

10The Early Modern Period 1500–1700: Trade and IndustryJane AndrewesDuring the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, maritime Kent expe-rienced increasing economic activity and expansion in waterborne commerce and industry along the coast, the most important the growth in the coastal grain trade to London. The fishing industry continued to be an important part of their livelihood for many men with small boats in coastal communities but a commercial expansion in the herring industry took place at Dover in the early seventeenth century. The range of goods imported from abroad in general increased, while a boom in Dover’s inter-national trade took place between 1620 and 1650. New industries were established including naval shipbuilding along the Medway and Thames estuaries, a new draperies textile industry in Sandwich, and smaller-scale copperas and gunpowder industries on the Thames and Swale estuaries, all of which expanded Kent’s coastal and continental trade. It was a period which saw continuity, innovation and increasing commercialisation. Some of these developments continued throughout the period whilst others took place during a more limited time, and individual ports, villages and creeks along the coast varied in their fortunes.Various factors influenced the history of Kent’s maritime trade and industry during this period. The dramatic growth in the population of London and its importance as a distribution centre shaped Kent’s mari-time economy and its coastal trade, in particular, increasing the demand for grain from the 1560s and especially malt in the seventeenth century. Imports from the Continent to ports such as Dover and Sandwich were transported to London by road, although also destined for growing local markets as Kent’s population increased. The location of the emergent naval shipbuilding centres on the Medway and at Deptford, Woolwich and Erith on the Thames Estuary was influenced by their proximity to the capital.
© 2021, Boydell and Brewer

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations viii
  4. Notes on Contributors xiii
  5. Acknowledgements xix
  6. Abbreviations xx
  7. 1 Introduction 1
  8. PART I Topography
  9. 2 Kent’s Changing Coastal Landscape: A View across Space and Time (or ‘Where the Land Meets the Sea’!) 25
  10. PART II Defence
  11. 3 Defending the Kent Coast – Roman to Anglo-Saxon 85
  12. 4 The Maritime Defences of Kent from the Loss of Normandy to the Hundred Years’ War 111
  13. 5 To Defend the Coast 133
  14. 6 Kent’s Role in the National Defence Strategy, 1815 to 1865: Dockyards and Harbours in the Age of Steam 149
  15. PART III Trade and Industry
  16. 7 Trade and Industry during the Roman Period 171
  17. 8 Far-Fetched Treasures: The Maritime Networks of the Kingdom of Kent 195
  18. 9 Maritime Trade and Industry in Medieval Kent 215
  19. 10 The Early Modern Period 1500–1700: Trade and Industry 235
  20. 11 Maritime Kent: Trade and Industry since 1700 253
  21. PART IV Coastal Communities
  22. 12 Urban Privilege? The Advantages and Enjoyment of Cinque Ports’ Status in the Middle Ages 277
  23. 13 Empire, Race, and Diversifying Kent’s History, c.1500–1840 299
  24. 14 Maritime Communities in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Kent 325
  25. 15 A Rich Diversity: Modern Kent Coastal Communities 345
  26. PART V Case Studies
  27. 16 The Political and Strategic Importance of the Port of Sandwich in the Later Middle Ages c.1340–1500 371
  28. 17 ‘Ready for to go to the Sea’: Maintaining Fishing Families in Late Medieval Hythe 387
  29. 18 Saints and Weirs: Late Medieval and Early Modern Communities within a Small Island Landscape in North Kent 401
  30. 19 Early Modern Thanet: An Open Society 417
  31. 20 ‘Dost Thou Know Dover?’: Locating Dover in the Early Modern Literary Imagination c.1500–1660 433
  32. 21 ‘Fat persons bathing whose appearance was most disgusting’: Entertaining Thanet in the Age of Steam 451
  33. 22 Rhododendrons and Raids: Dover Naval Women’s Daily Life and Emotions in 1918 467
  34. 23 Afterword 487
  35. Bibliography 493
  36. Index 547
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9781800103054-014

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations viii
  4. Notes on Contributors xiii
  5. Acknowledgements xix
  6. Abbreviations xx
  7. 1 Introduction 1
  8. PART I Topography
  9. 2 Kent’s Changing Coastal Landscape: A View across Space and Time (or ‘Where the Land Meets the Sea’!) 25
  10. PART II Defence
  11. 3 Defending the Kent Coast – Roman to Anglo-Saxon 85
  12. 4 The Maritime Defences of Kent from the Loss of Normandy to the Hundred Years’ War 111
  13. 5 To Defend the Coast 133
  14. 6 Kent’s Role in the National Defence Strategy, 1815 to 1865: Dockyards and Harbours in the Age of Steam 149
  15. PART III Trade and Industry
  16. 7 Trade and Industry during the Roman Period 171
  17. 8 Far-Fetched Treasures: The Maritime Networks of the Kingdom of Kent 195
  18. 9 Maritime Trade and Industry in Medieval Kent 215
  19. 10 The Early Modern Period 1500–1700: Trade and Industry 235
  20. 11 Maritime Kent: Trade and Industry since 1700 253
  21. PART IV Coastal Communities
  22. 12 Urban Privilege? The Advantages and Enjoyment of Cinque Ports’ Status in the Middle Ages 277
  23. 13 Empire, Race, and Diversifying Kent’s History, c.1500–1840 299
  24. 14 Maritime Communities in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Kent 325
  25. 15 A Rich Diversity: Modern Kent Coastal Communities 345
  26. PART V Case Studies
  27. 16 The Political and Strategic Importance of the Port of Sandwich in the Later Middle Ages c.1340–1500 371
  28. 17 ‘Ready for to go to the Sea’: Maintaining Fishing Families in Late Medieval Hythe 387
  29. 18 Saints and Weirs: Late Medieval and Early Modern Communities within a Small Island Landscape in North Kent 401
  30. 19 Early Modern Thanet: An Open Society 417
  31. 20 ‘Dost Thou Know Dover?’: Locating Dover in the Early Modern Literary Imagination c.1500–1660 433
  32. 21 ‘Fat persons bathing whose appearance was most disgusting’: Entertaining Thanet in the Age of Steam 451
  33. 22 Rhododendrons and Raids: Dover Naval Women’s Daily Life and Emotions in 1918 467
  34. 23 Afterword 487
  35. Bibliography 493
  36. Index 547
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