Special Collections
The University of Kent holds a number of archival, manuscript, photographic and rare books collections, especially relating to Victorian and Edwardian theatre, wind and watermills, Kent local history, literature, politics, and the history of science.
Search facility
You can search our collections and view records for all our catalogued items. The search tips page explains how to make the most of the new search facility.
You can search all our collections together, or choose one of the collections areas below. Most of our books are included in the Library catalogue.
Collections
Theatre collections
Our theatre collections consist of books, playbills, play texts, programmes, archives, and other material, with an emphasis on the Victorian and Edwardian periods.
Wind and watermill collections
Special Collections holds several major collections of mill material, documenting wind and watermills in the UK, Europe, and the United States through photographs, postcards, press cuttings, letters and manuscript notes.
Archival and book collections
These include a number of literary and historical collections, as well as Kent local history books, the papers of Bernard Weatherill and Hewlett Johnson, the Jack Johns Darwin Collection, and more.
