Portal:South East England
The South East England Portal
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England that are in the top level category for statistical purposes. It consists of the nine counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex. South East England is the third-largest region of England, with a land area of 19,072 square kilometres (7,364 sq mi), and is also the most populous with a total population of 9,642,942 in 2024.
South East England contains eight legally chartered cities: Brighton and Hove, Canterbury, Chichester, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester. Officially it does not include London, which is a separate region. The geographical term for "South East England" may differ from the official definition of the region; for example, London, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex are sometimes colloquially referred to as being in the south east of England. This article only considers the South East as being the official statistical region.
In medieval times, South East England included much of the Kingdom of Wessex, which was the precursor to the modern state of England. Winchester was the capital of England after unification of the various states, including the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex and Mercia. Winchester stopped being the administrative capital of England some time in the 13th century as its influence waned while the City of London dominated commerce. The last monarch to be crowned at Winchester was Richard II in 1377, although the last monarch to be crowned by the Bishop of Winchester was Queen Mary I in 1553.
Today, the region's close proximity to London has led to South East England becoming a prosperous economic hub with the largest economy of any region in the UK, after London. The region is home to Gatwick Airport (the UK's second busiest airport). The coastline along the English Channel provides numerous ferry crossings to mainland Europe. South East England is also known for its countryside, which includes two national parks: the New Forest and the South Downs, as well as the North Downs, the Chiltern Hills and part of the Cotswolds. The River Thames flows through the region and its basin is known as the Thames Valley.
It is also the location of a number of internationally known places of interest, such as HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, Thorpe Park and RHS Wisley in Surrey, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Leeds Castle, the White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, Brighton Palace Pier, and Hammerwood Park in East Sussex, and Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. The region has many universities; the University of Oxford is the oldest in the English-speaking world, and ranked among the best in the world.
South East England is host to various sporting events, including the annual Henley Royal Regatta, Royal Ascot and The Derby, and sporting venues include Wentworth Golf Club and Brands Hatch. Some of the events of the 2012 Summer Olympics were held in the south east, including the rowing at Eton Dorney and part of the cycling road race in the Surrey Hills. (Full article...)
Selected article
Winchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity and of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and of Saint Swithun in Winchester, is the cathedral of the city of Winchester, England, and is among the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Winchester and is the mother church for the ancient Diocese of Winchester. It is run by a dean and chapter, under the dean of Winchester.
The cathedral as it stands today was built from 1079 to 1532 and is dedicated to numerous saints, most notably Swithun. It has a very long and very wide nave in the Perpendicular Gothic style, an Early English retroquire, and Norman transepts and tower. With an overall length of 558 feet (170 m), it is the longest medieval cathedral in the world. With an area of 53,480 square feet (4,968 m2), it is also the sixth-largest cathedral by area in the UK, surpassed only by Liverpool, St Paul's, York, Westminster (RC) and Lincoln.
A major tourist attraction, the cathedral attracted 365,000 visitors in 2019, an increase of 12,000 from 2018. (Full article...)
Selected pictures
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Credit: Dave Bushell.A Eurostar on High Speed 1 going through the Medway Towns (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
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Oxford skyline from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures) -
A 1959 view of South Street in Dorking, Surrey. (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
Donnington Castle in Berkshire (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
A train on the Watercress Line (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
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The seafront and beach at Lee-on-the-Solent (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
Credit: O1iveDover is a major channel port in the English county of Kent (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
View of the Vale of Holmesdale and Winterfold Forest from Newlands Corner, near Clandon and Albury, east of Guildford (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
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McLaren Technology Centre, Woking (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
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Mermaid Street in Rye showing typically steep slope and cobbled surface (from Portal:East Sussex/Selected pictures) -
Georgian hotel/restaurant typical of many larger Surrey villages and its oldest towns. (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
The Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, as viewed from the tower of the Church of St Mary the Virgin. (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures) -
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A view of Newbury, Berkshire and its surroundings (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Lawns at RHS Garden, Wisley, north-east of Guildford (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
Credit: C HoyleBrockhill Country Park is dominated by a large grassy valley, bisected by the Brockhill Stream as it makes its way to the Royal Military Canal at Hythe. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Hayling Island's mainly shingle beach with Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower beyond (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
Walton Bridge built in the 2010s is a landmark of the northerly Spelthorne and Elmbridge boroughs (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
The town of Dorking and its section of the Vale of Holmesdale from Box Hill in the North Downs, with more heavily wooded Greensand Hills beyond. These sets of hills make up the Surrey Hills AONB. (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
Painshill Park in Cobham has follies on natural, but landscaped slopes by part of the Mole disguised as ornamental lakes and the Great Cedar thought to be the largest Cedar of Lebanon in Europe. In the mid-north of the county. (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
Hovercraft passing the mixed architecture, public gardens and shingle beach at Southsea, Portsmouth (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
The grandstand at Ascot Racecourse (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
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Breamore House in the west of the county, north of the New Forest (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
The church at Breamore in the west of the county, north of the New Forest (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
Credit: PireotisRochester is a large town in Kent, England, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Seven reservoirs. View of four in Spelthorne with small lakes of lower elevation, from aggregate extraction, in the south of the borough to the right. Beyond three reservoirs in Elmbridge. The flattest areas of the far north of the county. Staines road and rail bridges span the Thames into Runnymede in the right of the photograph. (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Marco SinibaldiAround AD 50 the Romans built a lighthouse which still stands to its full height in the grounds of Dover Castle. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Baryonic BeingChartwell, located two miles south of Westerham, Kent, England, was the home of Sir Winston Churchill. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Highclere Castle in the far north of Hampshire, a large country house in the Jacobethan style by the architect Charles Barry, with a large park designed by Capability Brown, used as the set for Downton Abbey. (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
One of the several golf courses in Woking's borough in the mid/north-west of the county (from Portal:Surrey/Selected pictures) -
Credit: StephenDawsonThe Channel Tunnel terminal at Cheriton near Folkestone in Kent, from the Pilgrims' Way on the escarpment on the southern edge of Cheriton Hill, part of the North Downs. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Michael RoweCanterbury is a cathedral city in east Kent and is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Sdwelch1031Rochester is a large town in Kent, England, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. Construction of Rochester Cathedral, shown, began in about 1080. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Michael HaslamHowletts Wild Animal Park was set up as a private zoo in 1958 by John Aspinall in Canterbury, Kent. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Oxford skyline from the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures) -
The West window of Romsey Abbey (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Lancevortex (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Windsor Castle, viewed from the Long Walk (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Credit: CharlesdrakewThe bridge over the River Arun at Greatham. (from Portal:West Sussex/Selected pictures) -
Credit: Adam MillerThe Swale refers to the strip of water separating North Kent from the Isle of Sheppey. (from Portal:Kent/Selected pictures) -
Aerial view of Oxford city centre (from Portal:Oxfordshire/Selected pictures) -
Virginia Water Lake on the southern edge of Windsor Great Park (from Portal:Berkshire/Selected pictures) -
Trees on Southampton Common in winter (from Portal:Hampshire/Selected pictures)
Selected biography
_(Keith_Richards).jpg)
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership with the band's lead vocalist Mick Jagger is one of the most successful in history. His career spans over six decades, and his guitar playing style has been a trademark of the Rolling Stones throughout the band's career. Richards gained press notoriety for his romantic involvements and illicit drug use, and he was often portrayed as a countercultural figure. First professionally known as Keith Richard, in 1978 he fully asserted his family name.
Richards was born in and grew up in Dartford, Kent. He studied at the Dartford Technical School and Sidcup Art College. After graduating, Richards befriended Jagger, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, Ian Stewart and Brian Jones and joined the Rolling Stones. As a member of the group, Richards also sings lead on some of their songs, typically at least one song per concert, including "Happy", "Before They Make Me Run", and "Connection". Outside of his career with the Rolling Stones, Richards has also played with his own side-project, The X-Pensive Winos. He also appeared in two Pirates of the Caribbean films as Captain Teague, father of Jack Sparrow, whose look and characterisation were inspired by Richards himself.
In 1989, Richards was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2004 into the UK Music Hall of Fame with the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him fourth on its list of 100 best guitarists in 2011. In 2023, Rolling Stone's ranking was 15th. The magazine listed fourteen songs that Richards wrote with Jagger on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. (Full article...)
On This Day in South East England
2 August:
1899: Screenwriter Charles Bennett was born in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex
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