One hundred years ago this week, construction started on a new village built for mill workers.

The aim was to build a thriving community for the employees. Reporter Joe Crossley visited Kemsley, near Sittingbourne, to find out what it is like to live there today…

In 1925, the owner of the nearby paper mill, Edward Lloyd, funded and oversaw the construction of homes for his workers.

As part of the project, Grovehurst Avenue, Ridham Avenue, Coldharbour Lane and Castle Rough Lane were all built.

Football pitches, a bowls club, tennis courts and a social club, which would become The Kemsley Arms pub, were developed to foster a sense of community.

Local historian Stephen Palmer has been researching the history of the village as part of his work rededicating a Second World War memorial plaque.

It honours the 12 soldiers from Kemsley and Grovehurst villages who were killed in service and is being moved from Kemsley Bowls Club, which is facing closure, to the village’s community centre.

The 63-year-old Imperial War Museum volunteer, who lives in Borden, described what Kemsley was like when it was first built.

He said: “Like most places 100 years ago, it would have been a lot quieter in terms of traffic.

“There wouldn't have been many cars on the road. Most people have walked everywhere.

“It was very much one big family in its own right. The Lloyd family cared about the workers.

“They provided a doctor, dentist, I believe they had their own ambulance and fire brigade as well.”

Fast forward to today, people living in Kemsley told KentOnline how the community feeling is still going strong a century later, although the area has not been without its troubles.

Tracey Stratfull, who lives in East Green and plays for the bowls club, says while not as many people now work at the mill, there is still a sense of togetherness with families often living in Kemsley for generations.

The 64-year-old, who has lived in the area since the 1980s and worked for London firm Bridge and Company Ltd, said: “Once you're established as a villager, then you are in the community. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone looks out for everybody.

“Even when a property goes up for sale, it's usually bought by a family who is already living around here.

“I know one family where the parents live in one part, and then the son and the daughter have moved out to different parts, so it’s nice.

“When I first moved here, people who didn’t live here used to say ‘you wouldn’t want to live in Kemsley’ and if you don’t know much about the area, you might find it rough.

“But everywhere has its own problems, and over the last few years, it has definitely got quieter.

“A lot of people who had worked in the mill don’t anymore, and there’s only one person I know who still works there.

“But the mill is still involved within the community, it does litter picks with the school.”

Kemsley Mill was built by Lloyd in 1924 to produce newspaper print for Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper and The Daily Chronicle.

When opened, its four paper machines were the largest in the world.

Now it is the largest mill for recycled papers in the UK, and the second largest in Europe. The majority of its products are converted into boards and boxes for packaging.

As of last year, 440 people were employed at the plant, now owned by DS Smith, which last year received a £48million cash injection to redevelop part of the site.

Neighbour Vikki Randall says that when she moved out to Bell Road in Sittingbourne, she quickly changed her mind and moved back within two years.

The mum-of-three, who has lived in Kemsley for 13 years, said: “I moved back because there is a real sense of community.

“You all look out for each other. When you go to the corner shop down the road, you can be gone for an hour as you see people you know.

“I felt welcomed when I moved here from London with my family.

“But something needs to be done about The Kemsley Arms. It’s not nice to see when you come home. Anything would be good as kids are going in it all the time.”

The former pub building has been empty since May 2013 and has been up for sale since 2023.

It is due to go up for auction in either December or February, and if sold and redeveloped into flats and retail space, a “popular supermarket” is set to move in.

Cleaner at Kemsley Primary School, Deborah Thomas, says the former watering hole is “the only thing” that needs serious work.

The 56-year-old, who now lives in Borden, said: “The school is fantastic and there is a community in the village, but something needs to be done about the old pub.

“When it was open, it was thriving on Friday and Saturday nights, and it was somewhere where all the people met up.”

Her mother, June McHugo, 75, had lived in the village for 30 years before moving to Milton Regis.

The retired carer says that during the ‘80s and ‘90s, there was a real drug problem, which forced her to leave.

She said: “There were a lot of rough people who moved into the area, and the drugs started coming out.

“My house got broken into several times, so it got bad. I had to move because I couldn't cope with it anymore.

“But most of the people were really nice, and there was a community here.”

Colin Anderson, 46, says there had been a lot of crime in and around the area of the pub, but the police have stepped up patrols and cracked down on it in recent years.

The Morrisons warehouse worker had moved from Birmingham a decade ago and said the area had been "really rough”.

“Crime was bad, especially around the pub,” he said, “The pub was also part of the reason.

“I was shocked when I went in there once, and I never went back.

“The gangs would come up here and fight each other.

“I was going to move out, but the police started coming up and also the pub shut, and that made a difference.

“Now I love living in Kemsley. It’s really quiet and nice.”

Police Chief Inspector, Vanessa Foster, says it is “pleasing” to hear the “positive feedback" from people living in Kemsley.

He said: “We are committed to providing a high-quality policing service that has a significant impact on the communities we serve.

“Within Kemsley, we have adopted a proactive, high visibility policing approach which not only ensures officers are on hand to enforce the law and effectively deter those intent on causing problems but also encourages increased reporting of offences.

“We also use intelligence-led information to identify and effectively patrol crime hotspots to catch criminals and solve crime. I am delighted that this targeted approach has ensured that residents feel supported and protected.”