Lathe (county subdivision)

Lathe (Old English lǽð, Latin lestus ) is the name for a regional subunit of Kent, as they already existed at the time of the Anglo-Saxons. It was only in the early 20th century, the term fell into disuse.

There are weitverbreitende opinion that Lathen were originally formed around the royal offices in the Kingdom of Kent. In the late period of the Anglo-Saxons, however, it seems to be a purely administrative designation, with several hundreds were summarized.

In the late 11th century West Kent consisted of three Lathen:

Lathe of Aylesford
Lathe of Milton
Lathe of Sutton

While East Kent from four Lathen was:

Lathe of Borough
Lathe of Eastry
Lathe of Lympne
Lathe of Wye

In the 13th century there were five in Kent Lathen:

The Borough of Lathe and Lathe of Eastry were combined to Lathe of Saint Augustine,
The Lathe of Lympne now called Lathe of Shepway
The Lathe of Aylesford remained unchanged