Filming in the South East

The South East of England has long served as the primary gateway between Great Britain and continental Europe, a geographical reality that has dictated its history for millennia. From the moment the Romans established a permanent presence at Richborough in Kent, the region became a tapestry of fortified coastal towns and cathedral cities designed to protect and manage the wealth of the island. Throughout the Middle Ages, the establishment of the Cinque Ports—such as Dover and Hastings—underlined the region’s strategic naval importance. This era also saw the rise of Canterbury as a major site of Christian pilgrimage, cementing the South East’s role as the nation’s spiritual and administrative cornerstone outside of London.

In the centuries that followed, the South East transformed from a series of agricultural and maritime outposts into the powerhouse of the British industrial and military machine. The Royal Dockyards at Portsmouth and Chatham became symbols of global naval reach, while the fertile soils of the “Garden of England” in Kent supplied the burgeoning population of the capital. During the Victorian era, the region experienced a second boom as the railway network expanded, turning quiet coastal fishing villages into fashionable seaside resorts like Brighton and Eastbourne, which offered the Victorian public their first taste of leisure travel.