Gravesend, Kent
Encyclopedia
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent
, England, on the south bank of the Thames
, opposite Tilbury
in Essex
. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham
and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of England. It still retains today a strong link with the river. The opening of the Eurostar
railway station at Ebbsfleet, the arrival of the High Speed service at Gravesend station itself and the fact that it lies within the Thames Gateway
, add to the town's importance.
in the Domesday Book
in 1086 as belonging to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux: the name probably derived from "graaf-ham": the home of the Reeve, or Bailiff, of the Lord of the Manor
. Another theory suggests that the name Gravesham may be a corruption of the words grafs-ham – a place "at the end of the grove".
Frank Carr
asserts that the name derives from the Saxon Gerevesend, the end of the authority of the Portreve, (originally Portgereve), the officer in charge of the town.
The Domesday spelling is the only historical record; all other spellings - in the later (c1100) Domesday Monarchorum and in Textus Roffensis the town is Gravesend/Gravesende. Gravesham has however been adopted for the 1974 Borough title.
Some of the locals believe, erroneously, that the name was born when the bodies of those who died from the plague in London were buried in the town in attempts to put an end to it. Hence the name Graves-end. This is clearly not the case as the plague was in 1665 - a full 500 years after the name Gravesend/Gravesende was referred to (see above).
. Extensive Roman
remains have been found nearby, at Vagniacae (Springhead); and Gravesend lies immediately to the north of their road connecting London with the Kent coast – now called Watling Street
. The Domesday Book recorded mills hythes and fisheries here.
In the Fort Gardens is Milton Chantry
, Gravesend's earliest existing building of the late 13th century. It was refounded about 1321 on the site of a hospital founded in 1189. At the time it was supported by lands in Essex.
Gravesend has one of the oldest surviving markets in the country, its earliest charter dating from 1268. Town status was granted to the two parishes of Gravesend and Milton
, the Charter of Incorporation being received in that year. The first Mayor of Gravesend was elected in that year, although the first Town Hall
was in place by 1573: it was replaced in 1764. A new frontage was built in 1836. Although its use as a Town Hall came to an end in 1968, when the new Civic Centre was opened, it continued in use as the Magistrates' Courts. At present (2004) it is disused, and discussions are being held with a view to its future.
In 1380, during the One Hundred Years' War, Gravesend was sacked and burned.
In 1401, a Royal Grant was issued, allowing the men of the town to operate boats between London and the town; these became known as the ‘’Long Ferry’’. It became the preferred form of passage, because of the perils of the road journey (see below).
On the river front is recorded the archaeological remains of a riverside fort built at the command of Henry VIII
in 1543. At Fort Gardens is the New Tavern Fort built during the 1780s and later extensively rebuilt by General Gordon between 1865 and 1879: it is now a museum, partly open-air under the care of the Gravesend Local History Society.
Journeys by road to Gravesend were once quite hazardous, since the main London-Dover
road crossed Blackheath
, notorious for its highwaymen. Stagecoaches from London to Canterbury
, Dover and Faversham
used Gravesend as one of their "stages" as did those coming north from Tonbridge
. In 1840 there were 17 coaches picking up and setting down passengers and changing horses each way per day. There were two coaching inns in the New Road: the New Prince of Orange and the Lord Nelson. Stagecoaches had been plying the route for at least two centuries: Samuel Pepys
records having stopped off at Gravesend in 1650.
Although a great deal of the economy of the town continued to lie with the shipping trades, the other big employees were the cement and paper industries.
During the period 1932-1956 there was an airport
located to the east of the town. It began life as a civilian field, but during the World War II
it became a Royal Air Force
fighter station, RAF Gravesend
and the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe
. In 1956 the site was taken over by the town council; the large estate known as Riverview Park was built on its site.*
At 03:35 GMT on Sunday 5th February 1939, Alex Henshaw took off from Gravesend Airfield at the start of his epic record breaking flight to Cape Town and back. He completed the flight in 39 hours 36 minutes over the next four days. His record still stands.
. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972
, by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Gravesend and Northfleet Urban District. Gravesend had been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1835 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835
and Northfleet was constituted an urban district in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894
.
of the North Downs
- reaches the river bank. To the east are the low-lying marshy areas of the Shorne Marshes; to the west, beyond Northfleet, the Swanscombe Marshes. The settlement which grew up was therefore the only good landing place; it was also sheltered by the prominent height of what is now called Windmill Hill
(see Landmarks below). Although Windmill Hill dominates the town, Gravesend's highest point is actually Marling Cross to the south adjacent to the A2.
From its origins as a landing place and first port of call for shipping Gravesend gradually extended. southwards and eastwards. The well-off people from London were coming to the town during the summer months; at first by boat, and then by railway. More extensive building began after World War I
; this increased after World War II, when many of the estates around the town were built.
Those built-up areas include Painters Ash, adjacent to the A2 main road; King's Farm (most of King's Farm estate was built in the 1930s); and Christianfields housing estates. The latter is in process of being completely rebuilt. part of the southern built-up area of the town, was originally two separate rural parishes.
, with a reading of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit), only beaten by Brogdale
, near Faversham
, 26 miles (42 km) to the ESE. Brogdale, which is run by a volunteer, only reports its data once a month; Gravesend which is a Met Office site reports its data each hour.
One explanation for the phenomenon was the large amount of earthworks in connection with High Speed 1, which had exposed a great deal of the local sandy soil, which absorbed more sunshine.
Gravesend as a rule inherits a more continental climate like the rest of Kent, Essex and East Anglia rather than the usual maritime oceanic climate the West of the UK experiences. It is therefore less cloudy, drier, and less prone to Atlantic depressions with their associated wind and rain than more westerly locations of the UK.
Gravesend and the surrounding area is relatively dry, especially in comparison to much of the UK, due to rainfall being light and patchy by the time it reaches the region. Heavy rain usually comes up from France.
In the winter, snow is not uncommon and like much of the area, it will inherit more of the continental winters, tempered slightly by the Jet Stream and the coastal location.
Gravesend continues to record high temperatures in summer, sometimes reaching country-wide records, recently including the warmest day of 2011, when temperatures reached 33.1 degrees. Additionally, the town holds at least two records for the year in 2010 of 30.9 degrees and 31.7 degrees. Another record was set during the Autumn 2011 United Kingdom heat wave
with 29.9 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in October in the country.
The Kent Downs
lie to the south of Gravesend, although it is not known if this causes Gravesend to experience the effects of Foehn Winds that occur as a result of adiabatic warming
. This foehn effect seems most likely to occur during a southerly wind flow because of the location of the hills in relation to the town, and indeed it is during times of southerly winds that high temperatures would normally occur anyhow.
The weather station, coded 03784, is on the Broadness Salt Marsh at TQ 60657 76470 51.46440°N 0.31140°W. It is at the foot of a triangulation mast, on the river bank at St Clement's Reach, 3m above mean sea level but actually not on the Gravesham District Council area but in that of Dartford.
In the past twenty years the economy of Gravesham has changed from being based on heavy industry to being more service-based. The population in 2001 was 95,717, an increase of 2.6% since 1991; it has a high population density (almost 10 people per hectare) compared nationally; it has a relatively young population (40% of the population are below 30); and 60% of the population are of working age.
The second largest religious group in the Borough are Sikhs, who make up 6.7% of the population.
s. Gravesend "watermen" were often in a family trade; and the town is the headquarters of the Port of London Authority
Port Control Centre (formerly known as "Thames Navigation Service"), supplying both river and sea pilots. Today radar plays an important part in the movement of shipping on the river.
Its position in the Thames Gateway
is an important asset: there are many commuters away from the town, but local enterprises employ as many people.
it is a unique structure with the first known iron cylinders used for its foundation. The pier was completely refurbished in 2004 and now has upon it a bar and restaurant. There is access for the public to the pier head when the premises are open.
A pontoon is to be placed from the Pier into the Thames this year so that craft can make a landing at the town.
, to commemorate the 50th year of her long reign. Built with Portland and Dumfries stone, backed with hard stock brickwork, the design of the structure was based on St Stephens tower, the Westminster tower that houses Big Ben
. The centre of the clock itself is measured at 50 feet (15 m) above the ground and the face is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) in diameter.
An American sculptor, William Ordway Partridge
, had created a life-size statue of Pocahontas
, which was unveiled in Jamestown, Virginia
in 1922. Queen Elizabeth II viewed this statue in 1957 and again on 4 May 2007, while visiting Jamestown on the 400th anniversary of the founding of the first successful English colonial settlement in America. On 5 October 1958 an exact replica of the Pocahontas statue by Partridge was dedicated as a memorial to the princess at St George's Church here. The Governor of Virginia presented the statue as a gift to the British people; this gesture was prompted by The Queen's visit to America the previous year. The actual resting place of Pocahontas in the town is unknown.
named for its erstwhile windmill
s, offers extensive views across the Thames, and was a popular spot for Victorian visitors to the town, because of the Camera obscura
installed in the old mill and for its tea gardens and other amusements. The hill was the site of a beacon in 1377, which was instituted by Richard II
, and still in use 200 years later at the time of the Spanish Armada
, although the hill was then known as "Rouge Hill". A modern beacon was erected and lit during 1988, the 300th anniversary.
It was during the reign of Elizabeth I
that the first windmill
was placed on top the highest point in Gravesend, 179 ft (55 m) above the high water mark of the river. One mill burnt down in 1763, but was replaced the following year and that too demolished in 1894. The last surviving windmill was destroyed by fire during Mafeking Night celebrations in 1900.
During World War I
A German airship passed over Windmill Hill and dropped bombs on it. Today there are three markers indicating where these bombs struck.
. Gravesend soon became one of the first English resort towns and thrived from an early tourist trade.
Gravesend "watermen" were often in a family trade; and the town is the headquarters of the Port of London Authority
Port Control Centre (formerly known as Thames Navigation Service), supplying both river and sea pilots. Today radar plays an important part in the movement of shipping on the river.
A dingy and unmodernised Gravesend was the backdrop to the 1952 thriller The Long Memory
starring Sir John Mills
. In the film, Mills lives in poverty on a derelict fishing boat stranded in the mud.
Gravesend also has one of the oldest regattas in England again showing its strong links to the river. Although the origins of the regatta are shrouded in mystery it dates back to at least Tudor times. The races are traditionally done with Gravesend Skiffs, 21 feet (6.4 m) oak-built clinker-built boats.
The Thames Navigation Service was first thought up between 1950 and 1952 by Captain Peter de Neumann, GM
, when he was Commander of HMRC Vigilant (HM Customs & Excise), whose base was in Gravesend Reach. [It is possible that "Vigilant Way" in Gravesend is named for her.] This idea followed on from considering such incidents as the accidental ramming of HMS Truculent by the Divina in 1950, the collision with the Nore Forts by Baalbek, and the disastrous flooding of Canvey, Foulness and the East Coast in 1953. In these and other situations, rescue and intelligence gathering were severely hampered by a lack of centralised command and control, and lack of detailed "picture". de Neumann resigned his command after returning Vigilant from the Spithead Review and joined the PLA, immediately suggesting in a report to them, submitted in 1953, that a feasibility study of such a system be commenced. He then oversaw its development and ultimate installation at Gravesend.
Until the building of Tilbury Docks
on the opposite side of the river, between 1882-6, Gravesend was the first port of entry. Thousands of emigrants, as well as large numbers of troops, embarked from here. Tilbury Docks have expanded considerably since with the closure of all the London Docks
. The entrance to the Docks is somewhat awkward, situated as it is on the sharp bend of the river, and often need tugboat
assistance, as do the larger ships moored at Tilbury landing stages. There have been many tug companies based at Gravesend: among them the Sun Company, the Alexandra Towing Company and, today, the Smith Howard Towing Company. East Indiaman traditionally stopped here at a point known as Long Reach to lighten their loads before sailing up the Thames
to moorings at Blackwall
.
The river still plays a vital part in the life of the community today, providing an important link for industry and jobs to the benefit of many people. The cross-river passenger ferry to Tilbury
provides a long-established route to and from the neighbouring County of Essex. Before the Dartford Crossing
came into being there was a vehicle ferry here as well.
There is an RNLI lifeboat station at Gravesend established at Royal Terrace Pier which has become one of the busiest in the country. See: www.rnli.org.uk
The Thames and Medway Canal
was opened for barge traffic in 1824. It ran from Gravesend on the Thames to Frindsbury near Strood on the Medway. Although seven miles long it had only two locks, each 94 ft by 22 ft in size, one at each end. Its most notable feature was the tunnel near Strood which was 3,946 yds long, the second longest canal tunnel ever built in the UK. The great cost of the tunnel meant that the canal was not a commercial success. After only 20 years most of the canal was closed and the canal's tunnel was converted to railway use. Initially canal and railway shared the tunnel, with the single track built on timber supports, but by 1847 canal use was abandoned and a double track laid. Today the canal basin at the Gravesend end of the Canal is used for pleasure craft. Gravesend Sailing Club is based here. The lock has been dredged and restoration and strengthening works have been carried out to the basin walls as part of regeneration of the area.
from Dartford
and beyond to Rochester; and the A227 road
to Tonbridge
. The A2 road
passes two miles (3 km) south of Gravesend town centre; a mile stretch of it was rerouted in the early 2000s to take the traffic away from the south end of the town.
In March 2006 the first of the area’s new Fastrack
bus services, which use a combination of ordinary roads and dedicated 'bus tracks', opened. The service links to Ebbsfleet International railway station
, Greenhithe
, Bluewater Shopping Centre and Dartford
.
Gravesend railway station
lies on the North Kent Line
, and was opened in 1849. The Gravesend West Line
, terminating by the river and for some time operating as a Continental ferry connection, closed in 1968.
Gravesend is the closest major town to the new Ebbsfleet International railway station
(although the closest town to the station is actually a smaller one named Northfleet
). Since December 2007, Eurostar
services have run to Paris
and Brussels
from the station and their London St Pancras International station. In December 2009, the full high-speed timetable between London and Kent came into force. High-speed services are offered to the Medway towns, Sittingbourne and Faversham via High Speed 1, the North Kent Line
(on which Gravesend lies) and the Chatham Main Line
.
, a long distance footpath, starts at Gravesend and traces the coast as it was in Roman
times as far as Hastings
, East Sussex
; 163 miles (262 km) in total. The Wealdway
also starts at the Town Pier, and proceeds almost due south over the Weald
to Eastbourne
in East Sussex where it links with South Downs Way
, a distance of 80 miles (128 km).
churches, Roman Catholic, Methodist,(www.gravesendmethodistchurch.org.uk), United Reformed and Baptist
churches, and other smaller chapels.
The 1st Gurdwara
was set up in 1956 by Bhat Sikh Hersharan Singh-Takk (of 10 Pelham Road South ) in Edwin Street. The second in Clarence Place (1966) closed in November 2010. The new Gurdwara was opened in November 2010 and cost £12 million. It is one of the largest Sikh
temples in Britain
. The Gravesend Sikh
community welcome all to their Gurdwara regardless of their beliefs, colour, caste or class.
; Northfleet School for Girls, Northfleet Technology College (Northfleet School for Boys); Mayfield Grammar School (formly Gravesend Grammar School for Girls
); St Johns Catholic Comprehensive School; Thamesview School and St George's Church of England School. There are also primary age schools such as Wrotham Road Primary School, special schools and several independent schools.
in 1853; it had its origin on 2 December 1850, as a dispensary on the Milton road "to assist the really destitute poor of Gravesend and Milton and vicinities ... unable to pay for medical aid". By 1893, 4,699 such people had benefited by its presence. In 2004 the original building, and parts of the newer buildings were demolished to make way for a new local health centre. This hosts several remote wards for Darent Valley Hospital
, the Gravesend emergency doctor's out of hours service as well as podiatry and other services.
The town also hosts a large doctor's clinic in Swan Yard, next to the Market car park and several other doctor's surgeries throughout the town
football ground in neighbouring Northfleet
is home to Ebbsfleet United F.C., who controversially changed their name from Gravesend and Northfleet F.C. in June 2007. Ebbsfleet currently play in the Conference National
and are managed by ex-Coventry City F.C.
defender Liam Daish
; the club won the FA Trophy in May 2008
. An agreement was reached for the MyFootballClub
online community to purchase a 75% stake in the club in November 2007, and the takeover was completed early in 2008.
Gravesend also has two rugby teams, Gravesend RFC and Old Gravesendians, both situated next to each other and opposite Gravesend Grammar School. Established in the 1870s, Gravesend RFC have been the towns senior club since league rugby was established in the 1980s.
In the 2009/10 season Gravesend RFC secured a league and cup double by winning the London 1 South
title in emphatic style and the Kent Cup for just the second time.
The 2010/11 season saw the club make their debut in National League 3 London & SE finishing a respectable 6th. This is the highest level attained, in their 130 year history, and only four leagues below The Aviva Premiership.They were also successful in retaining the Kent Cup, beating Tonbridge Juddians in a close fought final.
Old Gravesendians were initially the Old Boys Club for former Grammar School pupils although many Grammar School pupils move onto to Gravesnd RFC now. Old G's have had some of their best success in recent seasons achieving two Kent Plate Titles and promotion to London League rugby in 2009. Unfortunately this proved a step too far with relegation in 2009/10.
Rowing matches have been taking place on the river Thames at Gravesend since from at least the year of 1698 , and the first organized Regatta was in 1715. The first Borough Regatta began in 1882, setting the pattern for an annual event on the Thames that is carried on to this day. The popularity of the early events have recently begun to return, thanks to much Borough Council publicity and the presence of a boathouse owned by Dartford's Cambria Sea Scouts.
To the south of Gravesend, on 43ha of land adjacent to the A2, Cyclopark
is being developed as a venue for cycling
events and other activities. The site features mountain bike trails, a road circuit, a BMX racetrack and family cycling paths, and is due to open officially in early 2012.
Charles Dickens
lived in Gadshill Place, not far from Gravesend. Gravesend and its environs are mentioned in at least two of his novels. In David Copperfield
Mr. Peggotty, Ham and the Micawbers say their goodbyes and sail away from Gravesend to begin a new life in Australia. In Great Expectations
, Pip, with accomplices, rows Magwitch from London downriver in expectation of waylaying a regular steamer (whilst under way in the Lower Hope, off Gravesend) bound for Hamburg. Gravesend is briefly mentioned in two other novels: Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
during Victor's travels through the United Kingdom with Clerval; ultimately culminating in Victor's residence in the Orkney Islands
; and also in the novel Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad
.
The 1952 film "The Long Memory
" starring John Mills
was filmed in and around Gravesend. It features many squalid streets running down towards the river that even then were being progressively cleared for redevelopment. It is also possible to hear in the background steam engines working out of the Gravesend West Line
West Street terminus. Except for the skeletal remains of the pier all evidence of this station has now disappeared.
Gravesend is mentioned in Ridley Scott
's 2010 film Robin Hood
. Robin
(Russell Crowe
) and his companions intend to return to England from France by boat to Gravesend, after they flee the army of King Richard I
, at whose death in battle they were present as archers.
The Borough is twinned with Chesterfield County in Virginia where the Henricus Settlement was in the 17th Century where Pocahontas was married.
Gravesend Tourist Information Centre -- known as TOWNCENTRIC -- has recently introduced new audio trail guides for people walking the riverside. These refer to the heritage buildings and the famous people associated with them. http\\www.gogravesham.co.uk 01474 337600
, Germany
Cambrai
, France
Chesterfield, Virginia, United States
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England, on the south bank of the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, opposite Tilbury
Tilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham
Gravesham
Gravesham is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the City of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling ; and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.Its council is based at...
and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of England. It still retains today a strong link with the river. The opening of the Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
railway station at Ebbsfleet, the arrival of the High Speed service at Gravesend station itself and the fact that it lies within the Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from inner east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. The area, which includes much brownfield land, has been designated a national priority for urban regeneration, taking advantage of the development opportunities...
, add to the town's importance.
Toponymy
The town was recorded as GraveshamGravesham
Gravesham is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the City of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling ; and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.Its council is based at...
in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086 as belonging to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux: the name probably derived from "graaf-ham": the home of the Reeve, or Bailiff, of the Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
. Another theory suggests that the name Gravesham may be a corruption of the words grafs-ham – a place "at the end of the grove".
Frank Carr
asserts that the name derives from the Saxon Gerevesend, the end of the authority of the Portreve, (originally Portgereve), the officer in charge of the town.
The Domesday spelling is the only historical record; all other spellings - in the later (c1100) Domesday Monarchorum and in Textus Roffensis the town is Gravesend/Gravesende. Gravesham has however been adopted for the 1974 Borough title.
Some of the locals believe, erroneously, that the name was born when the bodies of those who died from the plague in London were buried in the town in attempts to put an end to it. Hence the name Graves-end. This is clearly not the case as the plague was in 1665 - a full 500 years after the name Gravesend/Gravesende was referred to (see above).
History
Stone Age implements have been found in the area; as has the evidence of an Iron Age settlement at nearby SpringheadSpringhead
Springhead lies at the source of the River Ebbsfleet, just southwest of the Gravesend suburban conurbations. Springhead forms one of the major quarters of the Ebbsfleet Valley development, with housing and the associated facilities now under construction...
. Extensive Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
remains have been found nearby, at Vagniacae (Springhead); and Gravesend lies immediately to the north of their road connecting London with the Kent coast – now called Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
. The Domesday Book recorded mills hythes and fisheries here.
In the Fort Gardens is Milton Chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
, Gravesend's earliest existing building of the late 13th century. It was refounded about 1321 on the site of a hospital founded in 1189. At the time it was supported by lands in Essex.
Gravesend has one of the oldest surviving markets in the country, its earliest charter dating from 1268. Town status was granted to the two parishes of Gravesend and Milton
Milton-next-Gravesend
Milton-next-Gravesend was, and still is, one of the ancient ecclesiastical parishes in the NW of the county of Kent, England. When Gravesend became a town under Royal Charter in the 13th century, Milton was included within it. Much of the parish was, until c. 1840, rural...
, the Charter of Incorporation being received in that year. The first Mayor of Gravesend was elected in that year, although the first Town Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
was in place by 1573: it was replaced in 1764. A new frontage was built in 1836. Although its use as a Town Hall came to an end in 1968, when the new Civic Centre was opened, it continued in use as the Magistrates' Courts. At present (2004) it is disused, and discussions are being held with a view to its future.
In 1380, during the One Hundred Years' War, Gravesend was sacked and burned.
In 1401, a Royal Grant was issued, allowing the men of the town to operate boats between London and the town; these became known as the ‘’Long Ferry’’. It became the preferred form of passage, because of the perils of the road journey (see below).
On the river front is recorded the archaeological remains of a riverside fort built at the command of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in 1543. At Fort Gardens is the New Tavern Fort built during the 1780s and later extensively rebuilt by General Gordon between 1865 and 1879: it is now a museum, partly open-air under the care of the Gravesend Local History Society.
Journeys by road to Gravesend were once quite hazardous, since the main London-Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
road crossed Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
, notorious for its highwaymen. Stagecoaches from London to Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
, Dover and Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
used Gravesend as one of their "stages" as did those coming north from Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
. In 1840 there were 17 coaches picking up and setting down passengers and changing horses each way per day. There were two coaching inns in the New Road: the New Prince of Orange and the Lord Nelson. Stagecoaches had been plying the route for at least two centuries: Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
records having stopped off at Gravesend in 1650.
Although a great deal of the economy of the town continued to lie with the shipping trades, the other big employees were the cement and paper industries.
During the period 1932-1956 there was an airport
Gravesend Airport
Gravesend Airport, located to the east of the town of Gravesend, Kent, England operated from 1932 until 1956. It was initially a civil airfield, and became a Royal Air Force station shortly after opening.-Civil operation:...
located to the east of the town. It began life as a civilian field, but during the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it became a Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
fighter station, RAF Gravesend
RAF Gravesend
RAF Gravesend was a Fighter Airfield during the Battle of Britain, and was home to the following Squadrons during the Battle:*No. 610 Squadron RAF from 26 May 1940*No. 604 Squadron RAF from 3 July 1940*No. 501 Squadron RAF from 25 July 1940...
and the city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. In 1956 the site was taken over by the town council; the large estate known as Riverview Park was built on its site.*
At 03:35 GMT on Sunday 5th February 1939, Alex Henshaw took off from Gravesend Airfield at the start of his epic record breaking flight to Cape Town and back. He completed the flight in 39 hours 36 minutes over the next four days. His record still stands.
Governance
Gravesend is part of, and is the principal town of, the borough of GraveshamGravesham
Gravesham is a local government district and borough in North West Kent, England. It has borders with the River Thames to the north; the City of Rochester and Medway to the east; the borough of Tonbridge and Malling ; and the boroughs of Sevenoaks and Dartford to the west.Its council is based at...
. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Gravesend and Northfleet Urban District. Gravesend had been incorporated as a municipal borough in 1835 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...
and Northfleet was constituted an urban district in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
.
Geography
The site of Gravesend is at a point where the high land - the lowest point of the dip slopeDip slope
A dip slope is a geological formation often created by erosion of tilted strata. Dip slopes are found on homoclinal ridges with one side that is steep and irregular and another side, the dip slope, that is generally planar with a dip parallel to the bedding...
of the North Downs
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...
- reaches the river bank. To the east are the low-lying marshy areas of the Shorne Marshes; to the west, beyond Northfleet, the Swanscombe Marshes. The settlement which grew up was therefore the only good landing place; it was also sheltered by the prominent height of what is now called Windmill Hill
Windmill Hill, Kent
Windmill Hill, located in Gravesend, Kent, named for its erstwhile windmills, offers extensive views across the Thames, and was a popular spot for Victorian visitors to the town, because of the Camera obscura installed in the old mill and for its tea gardens and other amusements...
(see Landmarks below). Although Windmill Hill dominates the town, Gravesend's highest point is actually Marling Cross to the south adjacent to the A2.
From its origins as a landing place and first port of call for shipping Gravesend gradually extended. southwards and eastwards. The well-off people from London were coming to the town during the summer months; at first by boat, and then by railway. More extensive building began after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
; this increased after World War II, when many of the estates around the town were built.
Those built-up areas include Painters Ash, adjacent to the A2 main road; King's Farm (most of King's Farm estate was built in the 1930s); and Christianfields housing estates. The latter is in process of being completely rebuilt. part of the southern built-up area of the town, was originally two separate rural parishes.
Climate
On 10 August 2003, Gravesend recorded one of the highest temperatures since records began in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, with a reading of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit), only beaten by Brogdale
Brogdale
Brogdale is a hamlet in Kent, England, located beside the M2 motorway south of Faversham. It is one of several hamlets making up the civil parish of Ospringe and is in the Borough of Swale....
, near Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
, 26 miles (42 km) to the ESE. Brogdale, which is run by a volunteer, only reports its data once a month; Gravesend which is a Met Office site reports its data each hour.
One explanation for the phenomenon was the large amount of earthworks in connection with High Speed 1, which had exposed a great deal of the local sandy soil, which absorbed more sunshine.
Gravesend as a rule inherits a more continental climate like the rest of Kent, Essex and East Anglia rather than the usual maritime oceanic climate the West of the UK experiences. It is therefore less cloudy, drier, and less prone to Atlantic depressions with their associated wind and rain than more westerly locations of the UK.
Gravesend and the surrounding area is relatively dry, especially in comparison to much of the UK, due to rainfall being light and patchy by the time it reaches the region. Heavy rain usually comes up from France.
In the winter, snow is not uncommon and like much of the area, it will inherit more of the continental winters, tempered slightly by the Jet Stream and the coastal location.
Gravesend continues to record high temperatures in summer, sometimes reaching country-wide records, recently including the warmest day of 2011, when temperatures reached 33.1 degrees. Additionally, the town holds at least two records for the year in 2010 of 30.9 degrees and 31.7 degrees. Another record was set during the Autumn 2011 United Kingdom heat wave
Autumn 2011 United Kingdom heat wave
The Autumn 2011 United Kingdom heat wave was a period of unseasonably hot weather which arrived towards the end of September 2011 and continued into October. As a result, record high temperatures for the country were broken for the autumn months...
with 29.9 degrees, the highest temperature ever recorded in October in the country.
The Kent Downs
Kent Downs
Kent Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Kent, England . They are the eastern half of the North Downs and stretch from the London/Surrey borders to the White Cliffs of Dover...
lie to the south of Gravesend, although it is not known if this causes Gravesend to experience the effects of Foehn Winds that occur as a result of adiabatic warming
Adiabatic process
In thermodynamics, an adiabatic process or an isocaloric process is a thermodynamic process in which the net heat transfer to or from the working fluid is zero. Such a process can occur if the container of the system has thermally-insulated walls or the process happens in an extremely short time,...
. This foehn effect seems most likely to occur during a southerly wind flow because of the location of the hills in relation to the town, and indeed it is during times of southerly winds that high temperatures would normally occur anyhow.
The weather station, coded 03784, is on the Broadness Salt Marsh at TQ 60657 76470 51.46440°N 0.31140°W. It is at the foot of a triangulation mast, on the river bank at St Clement's Reach, 3m above mean sea level but actually not on the Gravesham District Council area but in that of Dartford.
Demography
NB Statistics here are for the Borough of Gravesham, not simply GravesendIn the past twenty years the economy of Gravesham has changed from being based on heavy industry to being more service-based. The population in 2001 was 95,717, an increase of 2.6% since 1991; it has a high population density (almost 10 people per hectare) compared nationally; it has a relatively young population (40% of the population are below 30); and 60% of the population are of working age.
The second largest religious group in the Borough are Sikhs, who make up 6.7% of the population.
Economy
Gravesend today is a busy commercial town. It serves a large area as a shopping centre: there are several of the multiples here, and a good range of local shops. It has a market hall open six days a week; and a newly-established farmers’ market. There are still those employed on the river as crews on the tugboatTugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
s. Gravesend "watermen" were often in a family trade; and the town is the headquarters of the Port of London Authority
Port of London Authority
The Port of London Authority is a self-funding public trust established in 1908 by the Port of London Act to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and the authority is responsible for the public right of navigation and for conservancy of the...
Port Control Centre (formerly known as "Thames Navigation Service"), supplying both river and sea pilots. Today radar plays an important part in the movement of shipping on the river.
Its position in the Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from inner east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. The area, which includes much brownfield land, has been designated a national priority for urban regeneration, taking advantage of the development opportunities...
is an important asset: there are many commuters away from the town, but local enterprises employ as many people.
Gravesend Town Pier
The Pier is the world's oldest surviving cast iron pier, built in 1834it is a unique structure with the first known iron cylinders used for its foundation. The pier was completely refurbished in 2004 and now has upon it a bar and restaurant. There is access for the public to the pier head when the premises are open.
A pontoon is to be placed from the Pier into the Thames this year so that craft can make a landing at the town.
Gravesend clock tower, Harmer Street
The town’s clock tower was built at the top of Harmer street. The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1887. The memorial stone states that the clock tower was erected by public subscription (£700 was raised toward its construction) and it was dedicated to Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, to commemorate the 50th year of her long reign. Built with Portland and Dumfries stone, backed with hard stock brickwork, the design of the structure was based on St Stephens tower, the Westminster tower that houses Big Ben
Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster
Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and is generally extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well. It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world...
. The centre of the clock itself is measured at 50 feet (15 m) above the ground and the face is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) in diameter.
Pocahontas statue
William Ordway Partridge
William Ordway Partridge was an American sculptor whose public commissions can be found in New York City and other locations....
, had created a life-size statue of Pocahontas
Pocahontas
Pocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
, which was unveiled in Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
in 1922. Queen Elizabeth II viewed this statue in 1957 and again on 4 May 2007, while visiting Jamestown on the 400th anniversary of the founding of the first successful English colonial settlement in America. On 5 October 1958 an exact replica of the Pocahontas statue by Partridge was dedicated as a memorial to the princess at St George's Church here. The Governor of Virginia presented the statue as a gift to the British people; this gesture was prompted by The Queen's visit to America the previous year. The actual resting place of Pocahontas in the town is unknown.
Windmill Hill
Windmill HillWindmill Hill, Kent
Windmill Hill, located in Gravesend, Kent, named for its erstwhile windmills, offers extensive views across the Thames, and was a popular spot for Victorian visitors to the town, because of the Camera obscura installed in the old mill and for its tea gardens and other amusements...
named for its erstwhile windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
s, offers extensive views across the Thames, and was a popular spot for Victorian visitors to the town, because of the Camera obscura
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side...
installed in the old mill and for its tea gardens and other amusements. The hill was the site of a beacon in 1377, which was instituted by Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
, and still in use 200 years later at the time of the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
, although the hill was then known as "Rouge Hill". A modern beacon was erected and lit during 1988, the 300th anniversary.
It was during the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
that the first windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
was placed on top the highest point in Gravesend, 179 ft (55 m) above the high water mark of the river. One mill burnt down in 1763, but was replaced the following year and that too demolished in 1894. The last surviving windmill was destroyed by fire during Mafeking Night celebrations in 1900.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
A German airship passed over Windmill Hill and dropped bombs on it. Today there are three markers indicating where these bombs struck.
Gravesend and the Thames
The Thames has long been an important feature in Gravesend life and may well have been the deciding factor for the first settlement here. One of the town's first distinctions was in being given the sole right to transport passengers to and from London by water in the late 14th century. The "Tilt Boat" was a familiar sight on the river. The first steamboat plied its trade between Gravesend and London in the early 19th century, bringing with it a steadily increasing number of visitors to The Terrace Pier Gardens, Windmill Hill, Springhead Gardens and Rosherville GardensRosherville Gardens
-The Gardens:The gardens were laid out in 1837 by George Jones in one of the disused chalk pits in Northfleet, covering an area of 17 acres...
. Gravesend soon became one of the first English resort towns and thrived from an early tourist trade.
Gravesend "watermen" were often in a family trade; and the town is the headquarters of the Port of London Authority
Port of London Authority
The Port of London Authority is a self-funding public trust established in 1908 by the Port of London Act to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and the authority is responsible for the public right of navigation and for conservancy of the...
Port Control Centre (formerly known as Thames Navigation Service), supplying both river and sea pilots. Today radar plays an important part in the movement of shipping on the river.
A dingy and unmodernised Gravesend was the backdrop to the 1952 thriller The Long Memory
The Long Memory
The Long Memory is a 1952 film directed by Robert Hamer and based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Howard Clewes. A crime thriller filmed on the North Kent Marshes on the Thames Estuary and the dingy backstreets of Gravesend its bleak setting and grim atmosphere have led to its acclaim as a...
starring Sir John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
. In the film, Mills lives in poverty on a derelict fishing boat stranded in the mud.
Gravesend also has one of the oldest regattas in England again showing its strong links to the river. Although the origins of the regatta are shrouded in mystery it dates back to at least Tudor times. The races are traditionally done with Gravesend Skiffs, 21 feet (6.4 m) oak-built clinker-built boats.
The Thames Navigation Service was first thought up between 1950 and 1952 by Captain Peter de Neumann, GM
Peter de Neumann
Commander Bernard Peter de Neumann GM RN was a British sailor, convicted pirate, and dockmaster....
, when he was Commander of HMRC Vigilant (HM Customs & Excise), whose base was in Gravesend Reach. [It is possible that "Vigilant Way" in Gravesend is named for her.] This idea followed on from considering such incidents as the accidental ramming of HMS Truculent by the Divina in 1950, the collision with the Nore Forts by Baalbek, and the disastrous flooding of Canvey, Foulness and the East Coast in 1953. In these and other situations, rescue and intelligence gathering were severely hampered by a lack of centralised command and control, and lack of detailed "picture". de Neumann resigned his command after returning Vigilant from the Spithead Review and joined the PLA, immediately suggesting in a report to them, submitted in 1953, that a feasibility study of such a system be commenced. He then oversaw its development and ultimate installation at Gravesend.
Port of Tilbury
The Port of Tilbury is located on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It is the principal port for London; as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facilities for containers, grain, and other bulk cargoes. There are also...
on the opposite side of the river, between 1882-6, Gravesend was the first port of entry. Thousands of emigrants, as well as large numbers of troops, embarked from here. Tilbury Docks have expanded considerably since with the closure of all the London Docks
London Docks
The London Docks were one of several sets of docks in the historic Port of London. They were constructed in Wapping downstream from the City of London between 1799 and 1815, at a cost exceeding £5½ million. Traditionally ships had docked at wharves on the River Thames, but by this time, more...
. The entrance to the Docks is somewhat awkward, situated as it is on the sharp bend of the river, and often need tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
assistance, as do the larger ships moored at Tilbury landing stages. There have been many tug companies based at Gravesend: among them the Sun Company, the Alexandra Towing Company and, today, the Smith Howard Towing Company. East Indiaman traditionally stopped here at a point known as Long Reach to lighten their loads before sailing up the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
to moorings at Blackwall
Blackwall, London
Blackwall is an area of the East End of London, situated in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames.The district around Blackwall Stairs was known as Blackwall by at least the 14th century. This presumably derives from the colour of the river wall, constructed in...
.
Tilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
provides a long-established route to and from the neighbouring County of Essex. Before the Dartford Crossing
Dartford Crossing
The Dartford - Thurrock River Crossing, Dartford River Crossing is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, connecting Dartford in the south to Thurrock in the north, via two road tunnels and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge. It opened in stages, the west tunnel in 1963, the east tunnel...
came into being there was a vehicle ferry here as well.
There is an RNLI lifeboat station at Gravesend established at Royal Terrace Pier which has become one of the busiest in the country. See: www.rnli.org.uk
Thames and Medway Canal
Thames and Medway Canal
The Thames and Medway Canal is a disused canal in Kent, south east England, also known as the Gravesend and Rochester Canal. It was originally some long and cut across the neck of the Hoo peninsula, linking the River Thames at Gravesend with the River Medway at Strood...
was opened for barge traffic in 1824. It ran from Gravesend on the Thames to Frindsbury near Strood on the Medway. Although seven miles long it had only two locks, each 94 ft by 22 ft in size, one at each end. Its most notable feature was the tunnel near Strood which was 3,946 yds long, the second longest canal tunnel ever built in the UK. The great cost of the tunnel meant that the canal was not a commercial success. After only 20 years most of the canal was closed and the canal's tunnel was converted to railway use. Initially canal and railway shared the tunnel, with the single track built on timber supports, but by 1847 canal use was abandoned and a double track laid. Today the canal basin at the Gravesend end of the Canal is used for pleasure craft. Gravesend Sailing Club is based here. The lock has been dredged and restoration and strengthening works have been carried out to the basin walls as part of regeneration of the area.
Roads
The main roads through the town are the west-east A226 roadA226 road
The A226 road travels in a west-east direction, from Crayford in the London Borough of Bexley, along north Kent through Gravesend to the Medway Towns. It is about 11 miles in length. Before road numbering began in the United Kingdom, the road was part of the major route between London and Dover,...
from Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
and beyond to Rochester; and the A227 road
A227 road
The A227 road in England runs from Gravesend in Kent in a generally south-south-westerly direction to Tonbridge. It is about in length.-Overview:...
to Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
. The A2 road
A2 road (Great Britain)
The A2 is a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between the British capital of London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe...
passes two miles (3 km) south of Gravesend town centre; a mile stretch of it was rerouted in the early 2000s to take the traffic away from the south end of the town.
In March 2006 the first of the area’s new Fastrack
Fastrack
Fastrack is a bus rapid transit scheme operating in the Thames Gateway area of Kent. It currently consists of two routes operated by Arriva Southern Counties on behalf of Kent County Council...
bus services, which use a combination of ordinary roads and dedicated 'bus tracks', opened. The service links to Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International...
, Greenhithe
Greenhithe
Greenhithe is a town in Dartford District of Kent, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transshipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk and...
, Bluewater Shopping Centre and Dartford
Dartford
Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent, England, east south-east of central London....
.
Rail
Gravesend railway station
Gravesend railway station serves the town of Gravesend in north Kent; train services are operated by Southeastern. The station is 24 miles from London Charing Cross...
lies on the North Kent Line
North Kent Line
The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway.-Construction:The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway were able to connect its system to London at London Bridge...
, and was opened in 1849. The Gravesend West Line
Gravesend West Line
The Gravesend West Line was a short railway line in Kent that branched off the Swanley to Chatham line at Fawkham Junction and continued for a distance of 5 miles to Gravesend where the railway company constructed a pier to connect trains with steamers...
, terminating by the river and for some time operating as a Continental ferry connection, closed in 1968.
Gravesend is the closest major town to the new Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station
Ebbsfleet International railway station is a railway station in Ebbsfleet Valley, in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, 10 miles outside the eastern boundary of Greater London, England. It is near Dartford and the Bluewater shopping centre to the west and Gravesend to the east. Ebbsfleet International...
(although the closest town to the station is actually a smaller one named Northfleet
Northfleet
Northfleet is a town in the Borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. Its name is derived from North creek , and the settlement on the shore of the River Thames adjacent to Gravesend was known as Norfluet in the Domesday Book, and Northflet in 1201...
). Since December 2007, Eurostar
Eurostar
Eurostar is a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains traverse the Channel Tunnel between England and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
services have run to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
from the station and their London St Pancras International station. In December 2009, the full high-speed timetable between London and Kent came into force. High-speed services are offered to the Medway towns, Sittingbourne and Faversham via High Speed 1, the North Kent Line
North Kent Line
The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway.-Construction:The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway were able to connect its system to London at London Bridge...
(on which Gravesend lies) and the Chatham Main Line
Chatham Main Line
The Chatham Main Line is a British railway line that runs from either London Victoria to Dover Priory / Ramsgate or London St Pancras to Faversham, with both services travelling via Medway...
.
Footpaths
The Saxon Shore WaySaxon Shore Way
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England, starting at Gravesend, Kent and traces the coast as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, in total.-History:...
, a long distance footpath, starts at Gravesend and traces the coast as it was in Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
times as far as Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
; 163 miles (262 km) in total. The Wealdway
Wealdway
The Wealdway, Kent and East Sussex, is a public footpath that runs from Gravesend, Kent on the Thames estuary, to the A259 at Eastbourne, 3 km north of Beachy Head....
also starts at the Town Pier, and proceeds almost due south over the Weald
Weald
The Weald is the name given to an area in South East England situated between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It should be regarded as three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre; the clay "Low Weald" periphery; and the Greensand Ridge which...
to Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
in East Sussex where it links with South Downs Way
South Downs Way
The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England, and is one of 15 National Trails in England and Wales...
, a distance of 80 miles (128 km).
Religious buildings
The main Anglican parish church is the Georgian St George's. It is a tourist site as well as being the parish church, because of its connection with Pocahontas. There are also three other Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
churches, Roman Catholic, Methodist,(www.gravesendmethodistchurch.org.uk), United Reformed and Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
churches, and other smaller chapels.
The 1st Gurdwara
Gurdwara
A Gurdwara , meaning the Gateway to the Guru, is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib ....
was set up in 1956 by Bhat Sikh Hersharan Singh-Takk (of 10 Pelham Road South ) in Edwin Street. The second in Clarence Place (1966) closed in November 2010. The new Gurdwara was opened in November 2010 and cost £12 million. It is one of the largest Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
temples in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Gravesend Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
community welcome all to their Gurdwara regardless of their beliefs, colour, caste or class.
Education
In secondary education, Gravesend has the following schools: Gravesend Grammar SchoolGravesend Grammar School
Gravesend Grammar School is a selective secondary school located in Gravesend, Kent, England. The school accepts boys at age 11 by examination and boys and girls at 16, based on their GCSE results.-The school:...
; Northfleet School for Girls, Northfleet Technology College (Northfleet School for Boys); Mayfield Grammar School (formly Gravesend Grammar School for Girls
Gravesend Grammar School for Girls
Mayfield Grammar School is a selective secondary school located off the B261 in Gravesend, Kent, England. The school accepts girls at age 11 by examination and both girls and boys at age 16, based on their GCSE results...
); St Johns Catholic Comprehensive School; Thamesview School and St George's Church of England School. There are also primary age schools such as Wrotham Road Primary School, special schools and several independent schools.
Health
Gravesend Hospital was opened in 1854, following the donation of a site by the Earl of DarnleyEarl of Darnley
Earl of Darnley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. He was created Duke of Lennox at the same time. See the latter...
in 1853; it had its origin on 2 December 1850, as a dispensary on the Milton road "to assist the really destitute poor of Gravesend and Milton and vicinities ... unable to pay for medical aid". By 1893, 4,699 such people had benefited by its presence. In 2004 the original building, and parts of the newer buildings were demolished to make way for a new local health centre. This hosts several remote wards for Darent Valley Hospital
Darent Valley Hospital
Darent Valley Hospital is a 478 bed, acute district general hospital in Dartford, Kent, England.The hospital has an Emergency Department alongside an Urgent Care Centre....
, the Gravesend emergency doctor's out of hours service as well as podiatry and other services.
The town also hosts a large doctor's clinic in Swan Yard, next to the Market car park and several other doctor's surgeries throughout the town
Sport
The Stonebridge RoadStonebridge Road
Stonebridge Road is a multi-purpose stadium in Northfleet, Gravesend, Kent, England, which is primarily used for football matches. Stonebridge Road was constructed in 1905, and was initially the home of Northfleet F.C., which merged with Gravesend F.C. in 1946. It is currently the home ground of...
football ground in neighbouring Northfleet
Northfleet
Northfleet is a town in the Borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. Its name is derived from North creek , and the settlement on the shore of the River Thames adjacent to Gravesend was known as Norfluet in the Domesday Book, and Northflet in 1201...
is home to Ebbsfleet United F.C., who controversially changed their name from Gravesend and Northfleet F.C. in June 2007. Ebbsfleet currently play in the Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
and are managed by ex-Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
defender Liam Daish
Liam Daish
Liam Sean Daish is a former football player who played as a centre-half. Since 2005 he has been head coach of Conference National team Ebbsfleet United . Despite being born in England, Daish played internationally for the Republic of Ireland due to his Irish ancestry...
; the club won the FA Trophy in May 2008
FA Trophy 2007-08
The 2007–08 FA Trophy was the 38th season of the FA's cup competition for teams at levels 5-8 of the English football league system. 258 teams were entered for the competition.-Calendar:-First round:...
. An agreement was reached for the MyFootballClub
MyFootballClub
MyFootballClub is an English Industrial and Provident Society that sought, starting in August 2007, to recruit at least 50,000 football enthusiasts from across the world to purchase an English association football club. MyFootballClub's premise is to allow its paid members to control the club...
online community to purchase a 75% stake in the club in November 2007, and the takeover was completed early in 2008.
Gravesend also has two rugby teams, Gravesend RFC and Old Gravesendians, both situated next to each other and opposite Gravesend Grammar School. Established in the 1870s, Gravesend RFC have been the towns senior club since league rugby was established in the 1980s.
In the 2009/10 season Gravesend RFC secured a league and cup double by winning the London 1 South
London 1 South
London 1 South is a regional Rugby Union league in south east England. It is the second highest regional league in the area and promoted sides usually enter R.F.U.'s National League 3 South East.In the league hierarchy it is level 6.- Teams :...
title in emphatic style and the Kent Cup for just the second time.
The 2010/11 season saw the club make their debut in National League 3 London & SE finishing a respectable 6th. This is the highest level attained, in their 130 year history, and only four leagues below The Aviva Premiership.They were also successful in retaining the Kent Cup, beating Tonbridge Juddians in a close fought final.
Old Gravesendians were initially the Old Boys Club for former Grammar School pupils although many Grammar School pupils move onto to Gravesnd RFC now. Old G's have had some of their best success in recent seasons achieving two Kent Plate Titles and promotion to London League rugby in 2009. Unfortunately this proved a step too far with relegation in 2009/10.
Rowing matches have been taking place on the river Thames at Gravesend since from at least the year of 1698 , and the first organized Regatta was in 1715. The first Borough Regatta began in 1882, setting the pattern for an annual event on the Thames that is carried on to this day. The popularity of the early events have recently begun to return, thanks to much Borough Council publicity and the presence of a boathouse owned by Dartford's Cambria Sea Scouts.
To the south of Gravesend, on 43ha of land adjacent to the A2, Cyclopark
Cyclopark
Cyclopark is a purpose-built facility for cycling and other outdoor activities, located on the south side of Gravesend, north Kent in south-east England, adjacent to the A2 dual carriageway.-History:...
is being developed as a venue for cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
events and other activities. The site features mountain bike trails, a road circuit, a BMX racetrack and family cycling paths, and is due to open officially in early 2012.
Culture
The Gravesend Historical Society meets regularly and produces a biannual magazine on its activities.Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
lived in Gadshill Place, not far from Gravesend. Gravesend and its environs are mentioned in at least two of his novels. In David Copperfield
David Copperfield (novel)
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...
Mr. Peggotty, Ham and the Micawbers say their goodbyes and sail away from Gravesend to begin a new life in Australia. In Great Expectations
Great Expectations
Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....
, Pip, with accomplices, rows Magwitch from London downriver in expectation of waylaying a regular steamer (whilst under way in the Lower Hope, off Gravesend) bound for Hamburg. Gravesend is briefly mentioned in two other novels: Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
by Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
during Victor's travels through the United Kingdom with Clerval; ultimately culminating in Victor's residence in the Orkney Islands
Orkney Islands
Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...
; and also in the novel Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon.The story centres on Charles...
by Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
.
The 1952 film "The Long Memory
The Long Memory
The Long Memory is a 1952 film directed by Robert Hamer and based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Howard Clewes. A crime thriller filmed on the North Kent Marshes on the Thames Estuary and the dingy backstreets of Gravesend its bleak setting and grim atmosphere have led to its acclaim as a...
" starring John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
was filmed in and around Gravesend. It features many squalid streets running down towards the river that even then were being progressively cleared for redevelopment. It is also possible to hear in the background steam engines working out of the Gravesend West Line
Gravesend West Line
The Gravesend West Line was a short railway line in Kent that branched off the Swanley to Chatham line at Fawkham Junction and continued for a distance of 5 miles to Gravesend where the railway company constructed a pier to connect trains with steamers...
West Street terminus. Except for the skeletal remains of the pier all evidence of this station has now disappeared.
Gravesend is mentioned in Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's 2010 film Robin Hood
Robin Hood (2010 film)
Robin Hood is a 2010 British/American adventure film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett...
. Robin
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
(Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
) and his companions intend to return to England from France by boat to Gravesend, after they flee the army of King Richard I
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
, at whose death in battle they were present as archers.
Notable people
- PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
(c1595-1617), the daughter of a Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
chief, was to become the first such American to visit England. After marrying a colonist in America, John RolfeJohn RolfeJohn Rolfe was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy.In 1961, the Jamestown...
, she later sailed with him to England, with their infant son, ThomasThomas RolfeThomas Rolfe was the only child of Pocahontas by her English husband, John Rolfe. His maternal grandfather was Wahunsunacock, the chief of Powhatan tribe in Virginia.-Early Life:Thomas Rolfe was born in Virginia...
, where she was received at the court in London by Queen AnneAnne of Great BritainAnne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...
and was feted as a celebrity. On their return voyage, seven months later, she was taken ill and died ashore in Gravesend at age 21. She was then buried in the parish churchyard of St George's; the exact location of her grave is unknown, due to a church fire and subsequent reconstruction in the early 18th century.
The Borough is twinned with Chesterfield County in Virginia where the Henricus Settlement was in the 17th Century where Pocahontas was married.
- Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
is associated with Gravesend and villages around the borough. Although he died over 100 years ago, many of the links between him and Gravesham are still in evidence - Gravesend he visited, at Chalk he spent his honeymoon, at Higham he lived and died, and at Cobham he found inspiration for the Pickwick Papers.
- The composer Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
(1844–1908) was an officer in the Russian Navy and was posted to Gravesend in 1862, where he wrote part of his first symphony, said to be the first such style of composition attempted by a RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n composer.
- Gravesend is associated with General Charles George GordonCharles George GordonMajor-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
(1833–1885), who lived in the town during the construction of the Thames forts. For six years he devoted himself to the welfare of the town's "poor boys", establishing a Sunday school and providing food and clothes for them from his Army wage. In command of the Royal Engineers from 1865 to 1871, he was responsible for the forts that guard the Thames downstream from Gravesend, New Tavern FortNew Tavern FortNew Tavern Fort was built at Gravesend, Kent, England in the 1780s against the threat of invasion from France. It was one of the Palmerston Forts, also known as Royal Commission forts. The fort was extensively rebuilt by General Gordon about 1870. It was regunned in 1904...
in the town, Shornemead FortShornemead FortShornemead Fort is a gun battery dating from the 1790s, built to support New Tavern Fort at Gravesend, Kent. It was redeveloped in the1850s to a pentagonal plan, one of the first "polygonal" works in Britain...
on the south bank, and Coalhouse FortCoalhouse FortCoalhouse Fort is a large casemated fort in East Tilbury, near the modern town of Tilbury, in Thurrock, Essex, downstream from Tilbury Fort. It contains a museum of memorabilia from World War I and II.-History of the fort:...
on the north. His links with Gravesend are commemorated locally by the embankment of the Riverside Leisure Area, which is known as the Gordon Promenade, and Khartoum Place that lies just to the south.
- Thom GunnThom GunnThom Gunn, born Thomson William Gunn , was an Anglo-American poet who was praised both for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement and his later poetry in America, even after moving toward a looser, free-verse style...
(1929–2004), poet, was born in Gravesend.
- Gemma ArtertonGemma ArtertonGemma Arterton is an English actress. She played the eponymous protagonist in the BBC adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and starred in the feature films St Trinian's, the James Bond film Quantum of Solace, Clash of the Titans, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tamara...
(born 1986), actress, was born in Gravesend and grew up in Northfleet. She attended Gravesend Grammar School for Girls. She played MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in the James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Quantum of Solace.
- Frank PatonFrank PatonFrank Paton was an English artist of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, best known for his paintings of animals and scenes of rural life. He was a successful artist during his lifetime and could even count Queen Victoria as an admirer of his work...
(1855–1909), artist, grew up in and around the Gravesend area.
- Katherine Hamnett (Born 1947) Born in Gravesend - Fashion designer best known for her political teeshirts and her ethical business philosophy.
- Edwin ArnoldEdwin ArnoldSir Edwin Arnold CSI CIE was an English poet and journalist, who is most known for his work, The Light of Asia.-Biography:...
(Born 1832. Died 1904)- English poet and journalist whose most prominent work as a poet was The Light of Asia (1879)
- John MacGregorJohn MacGregorJohn Roddick Russell MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market, OBE PC FKC , is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was educated at Merchiston Castle School, then at the University of St Andrews and at King's College London...
Born 1825. Died 1892 - English writer.
- David RutleyDavid RutleyDavid Henry Rutley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Macclesfield, and was first elected at the 2010 general election....
Born here in 1961. ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP for MacclesfieldMacclesfieldMacclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
and Private Parliamentary Secretary. First MormonMormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
Member of Parliament.
- Derek Barton (Born 1918. Died 1998) English chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
- Robert Pocock (1760 1830) Printer, author and local historian.
- Paul GreengrassPaul GreengrassPaul Greengrass is an English film director, screenwriter and former journalist. He specialises in dramatisations of real-life events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras.-Life and career:...
(Born 1955) – British film director. Attended Westcourt Primary School and Gravesend Grammar School.
- Christopher Bowes (Born 1986) - Singer and keytarist in the pirate metal band AlestormAlestormAlestorm is a folk metal band from Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterized by a pirate theme, and as a result have been dubbed a "Pirate metal" band at a popular heavy metal related website....
, was born in Gravesend.
- Andrew Cave-BrownAndrew Cave-BrownAndrew Robert Cave-Brown is a Scottish professional footballer, currently playing for Lowestoft Town after being released by Leyton Orient. Cave-Brown is predominantly a right sided full-back, who has been capped for Scotland at under-20 Level, for whom he played in the World Cup in 2007...
Former Leyton Orient F.C. & Norwich F.C player, attended Whitehill Junior School & Gravesend Grammar School.
- Sir Peter BlakePeter Blake (artist)Sir Peter Thomas Blake, KBE, CBE, RDI, RA is an English pop artist, best known for his design of the sleeve for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He lives in Chiswick, London, UK.-Career:...
Artist who trained at Gravesend School of Art. The Blake Gallery has recently been opened at the Woodville Halls in the town.
- Ashley Shuttlewood (Born 1968) (Racing Driver) lives in nearby Northfleet and attended Dover Road Junior School and Northfleet School For Boys (Now Northfleet Technical College)
Gravesend Tourist Information Centre -- known as TOWNCENTRIC -- has recently introduced new audio trail guides for people walking the riverside. These refer to the heritage buildings and the famous people associated with them. http\\www.gogravesham.co.uk 01474 337600
Twin towns
NeumünsterNeumünster
Neumünster is an independent town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, which has a total of four independent towns.-Current Situation:Neumünster station is major railway junction with lines running in six directions, including the important Hamburg-Altona–Kiel and Neumünster–Flensburg lines.Near...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Chesterfield, Virginia, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...