Kemsley today is a suburb of Sittingbourne

Sittingbourne

Sittingbourne is an industrial town about eight miles east of Gillingham in England, beside the Roman Watling Street off a creek in the Swale, a channel separating the Isle of Sheppey from mainland Kent...

 in Kent

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

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. At the end of the 19th century it was simply a row of cottages beside a brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

works http://www.old-maps.co.uk/IndexMapPage2.aspx until, in 1924 when Frank Lloyd built the new Paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

 mill. The site was served by the creek

Creek (tidal)

A tidal creek, tidal channel, or estuary is the portion of a stream that is affected by ebb and flow of ocean tides, in the case that the subject stream discharges to an ocean, sea or strait. Thus this portion of the stream has variable salinity and electrical conductivity over the tidal cycle...

 which allowed the transport of raw materials to the site. At the same time he built a "garden village" (cp Garden city movement

Garden city movement

The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...

) to house his employees; that village comprises much of Kemsley today.

The once narrow gauge industrial railway which served the factory by carrying raw materials has now become the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway

Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway

The Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway in Kent is a gauge heritage railway that operates from Sittingbourne to the banks of The Swale. The line was formerly owned by Bowater, the paper making firm, and was used to carry raw materials and finished products between Ridham Dock and the company's...

, a tourist attraction. Nearby are the remains of a medieval fortified manor house: Castle Rough http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/1640.html.

Kemsley railway station

Kemsley railway station

Kemsley railway station is on the Sheerness Line in north Kent, and serves the village of Kemsley. Train services are provided by Southeastern. There are 2 platforms but no station building at this unstaffed location. Access between the two platforms is via the road bridge to the north of the station...

 is on the Sheerness Line

Sheerness Line

The Sheerness Line connects Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent with Sittingbourne on the mainland, and with the Chatham Main Line for trains to London and elsewhere in Kent. It opened on 19 July 1860....

.