The area which now forms the country park has a rich history which stretches back thousands of years from its recent industrial past, through invasion from Vikings and Normans back to Britain’s very earliest settlers.

The Romans and Earlier

Some two thousand years ago much of Kent and indeed Britain was heavily wooded. The Marshes that formed the land around the Swale were an exception to this and archaeological evidence from nearby Iwade indicates that our early ancestors made use of this tree free land to settle.

In 43 AD England became a province of the Roman Empire. The Romans   landed at Richborough in Kent, and defeated the people of Kent, the Catvellauni and their allies in two battles on the rivers Medway and Thames. The Romans were great road builders and the road we know as the A2, an ancient celtic trackway became a major Roman route north, the Inter III: "Item a Londinio ad portum Dubris", literally the road from London to the Port of Dover. At the time much of the area around Sittingbourne was submerged and the land where the Holy Trinity Church stands is though to have been an island. It is thought that this may have been the location of a Roman temple or villa although very few details are known. There are certainly traces of Roman brickwork to be found among the walls of the church and when the churchyard was extended in 1872 significant amounts of pottery and brickwork were found however the vicar at the time Rev William Harker refused permission for an archeological investigation to be made. In 1889 when a new floor was laid in the church foundations of a former building thought to have been Roman in Origin were found. Whilst most reports suggest that a Roman Villa lies beneath the church, the early Christians tended to build their churches on the sites of pre-existing Roman Temples and the Romans themselves would build their temples on earlier pagan sites. It is perhaps interesting to note that there is a large stone standing in the porch of the church said to be a pagan altar!


The Saxons

It is not known precisely when the first church was built, however legend tells how in 680, less than a hundred years after Christianity was introduced to Kent in 597, Queen Sexburga was said to have given her life in the doorway of the church. According to Sheppy historian Brian Slade, this event actually refers to her abdication of the crown of the Kingdom of Kent to her son who had become old enough to rule and her entrance into religious orders. At this time the Church was one of the largest in Kent and part of the wealthy Royal estate of Middletun which encompassed the whole of Sheppy! The village of Middletun was congregated around the church, as the creek, which was then much larger was the lifeblood of the community allowing the movement of goods and was in fact the only safe and practible means of transport, especially for goods to and from the continent.

In 892AD the Creek became a curse to the local population when the Dane Hastein brought a fleet of some 80 ships (part of a fleet of 250) up the creek from France.  as part of an invasion (following a particularly poor harvest) that was joined by Vikings from York and East Anglia. Legend has it Hastein built a fort known later as Castle Rough somewhere in the vicinity of the modern day country park,however this myth was dispelled by an archaeological dig in the 1970's. The Viking settlers however remained for almost 100 years until they were finally expelled by King Ælfred, who we now know as Alfred the Great.

In 1052, the church was burned by Earl Godwin (father of King Harold, infamous for his death at Hastings) as part of the uprising against his half-brother Edward the Confessor who owned the estate of Middletun, which at the time covered some 5000 acres. It was at this time that the town we know now as Milton moved to its present, healthier position on higher ground.

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