Northfleet
Encyclopedia
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...
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. Its name is derived from North creek (or inlet), and the settlement on the shore of the River 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,...
adjacent to Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
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...
was known as Norfluet 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...
, and Northflet in 1201. By 1610 the name of Northfleet had become established.
Rosherville Gardens
In 1815 the first steamboat started plying between Gravesend and London: an event which was to bring much prosperity to the area. The number of visitors steadily increased, and in the course of the next ten years several new and rival steam packets were started.. With the regular service given by the steam packets, amenities for the entertainment of visitors began to spring up. One of those amenities was Rosherville Gardens.The gardens were laid out in 1837 by George Jones in one of the disused chalk pits, covering an area of 17 acres (69,000 m²). Their full title was the 'Kent Zoological and Botanical Gardens Institution’. They occupied an area in what was to become Rosherville New Town (see below).
Robert Hiscock, in his A History of Gravesend (Phillimore, 1976) describes them thus:
They were a place of surpassing beauty and a favourite resort of Londoners. Adorned with small Greek templeGreek templeGreek temples were structures built to house deity statues within Greek sanctuaries in Greek paganism. The temples themselves did usually not directly serve a cult purpose, since the sacrifices and rituals dedicated to the respective deity took place outside them...
s and statuary set in the cliffs, there were terraces, and archery lawn, Bijou theatre, and Baronial Hall for refreshments, and at one time a lake. At night the gardens were illuminated with thousands of coloured lights and there were fireworks displays and dancing. Famous bands such as the American SousaJohn Philip SousaJohn Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
were engaged during the season. Blondin, the trapeze artist, performed … In 1857 as many as 20,000 visitors passed through the turnstiles in one week. By 1880 the gardens had reached the peak of their popularity … in 1901 they were closed.
During a brief revival 1903-1911, they were used in the making of early films.
A pier was built to carry these crowds ashore, and a railway station opened on the Gravesend West branch railway
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...
. It was one of the steamboats from Rosherville Gardens that was involved in a horrific accident in 1878. The passenger steamer, after leaving Rosherville pier, was in a collision with the collier Bywell Castle, from Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
. 640 people died from the collision, 240 being children. An inquest was held at Woolwich, but no conclusive reason was ever established as to the cause of the disaster at the Devils Elbow on the Thames.
Rosherville New Town
St Leonards-on-Sea
St Leonards-on-Sea is part of Hastings, East Sussex, England, lying immediately to the west of the centre. The original part of the settlement was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a...
is to 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....
and Broadstairs
Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
to Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
’. That grandiose scheme did not materialise in quite that way, but the area of Northfleet still bears that name.
Northfleet during the Second World War
On Friday, 16 August 1941 150 German aircraft flew through the Kent skies, to deal the worst blow to civilian life the county had experienced to that point in the war. With the formation splitting into groups to be variously challenged from Manston, Kenley, Hornchurch, Biggin Hill and Hawkinge airfields, a group of DornierDornier
Dornier may refer to:* Claudius Dornier , German aircraft designer and builder** Dornier Flugzeugwerke, German aircraft manufacturer founded in 1914 by Claudius Dornier* Dornier Consulting, international consulting and project management company...
s made it to Northfleet a little after midday.
It was reported that about 106 high explosive bombs ranging from 50-250 kilos were dropped over the town and its industrial complex. A total of 29 people were killed, and 27 injured with two schools badly damaged.
Governance
Northfleet Urban DistrictUrban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
Council was set up under the Local Government Act of 1894. Within its boundaries were the hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Northfleet Green and Nash Street, as well as the now built-up Perry Street; and the later estates at Shears Green, Istead Rise and Downs Road. Northfleet was merged, inter alia, with Gravesend to become 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...
District Council on 1 April 1974.
Industry and commerce
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,...
, at a point where higher land came close to the river, it was an obvious place for industry to be located. The river provided water supplies and the means whereby raw materials and products could be transported. The forests of the area provided timber for various aspects of most industries.
Cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
came later. The industry requires plentiful water supplies, and chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
as its main ingredient, both of which were to hand. When in 1796, James Parker
James Parker (cement maker)
James Parker was a British clergyman and cement manufacturer who invented one of the pioneering new cements of the late eighteenth century.In 1791, he was granted a patent "Method of Burning bricks, Tiles, Chalk"...
set up kilns on Northfleet creek to make his Roman cement
Roman cement
For the architectural material actually used by the ancient Romans, see Roman concrete."Roman cement" is a substance developed by James Parker in the 1780s, and finally patented in 1796...
, it was the beginning of a large complex of cement works along this stretch of the river. The manufacture of Portland cement
Portland cement
Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general use around the world because it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar, stucco and most non-specialty grout...
began in April 1846 when William Aspdin
William Aspdin
William Aspdin was an English cement manufacturer, and a pioneer of the Portland cement industry.He was born in Leeds, second son of Joseph Aspdin. His father obtained a patent for "Portland cement" in 1824 and William joined his father's cement manufacturing firm in 1829. His father's product...
, son of Joseph Aspdin
Joseph Aspdin
Joseph Aspdin was a British cement manufacturer who obtained the patent for Portland cement on 21 October 1824....
, its inventor, acquired Parker's works and built new kilns.
Aspdin's works became Robins & Co in 1853, sold on to the Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers (APCM
Blue Circle Industries
Blue Circle Industries was a British public company manufacturing cement. It was founded in 1900, and was bought out by the French company Lafarge in 2001.-History:...
) in 1900, which was taken over by the Lafarge
Lafarge
Lafarge is a French industrial company specialising in four major products: cement, construction aggregates, concrete and gypsum wallboard. In 2010 the company was the world's second-largest cement manufacturer by mass shipped behind Holcim.-History:...
Group in 2001. By 1900, there were nine cement works operating on the Thames between Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...
and Gravesend. The last remaining cement plant in Northfleet will cease operation by end of 2008.
Paper
Northfleet is the location of a large BowatersWilliam Vansittart Bowater
William Vansittart Bowater was the founder of Bowater Scott which was to emerge as Rexam, one of the United Kingdom's largest packaging businesses.-Family:...
(later Bowater-Scott and Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. Kimberly-Clark brand name products include "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle", Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, "KimWipes"...
) paper mill built in 1923 and makes all of the main - line Andrex toilet tissue.
Northfleet Dockyard
Northfleet was by 1800 the home of numerous shipyards which had produced many fine vessels, but the docks were in decline by 1843. One such yard was owned by Thomas Pitcher, a shipwrightShipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
, laid out in 1788. A list of merchant vessels built at his yard included at least 25 ships for the East Indies
Indies
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor, Malaysia and...
and West Indies
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
services, and about the same number for the Navy. In 1839 the company was in the hands of Pitcher's sons William and Henry. The yard finally closed in 1860. There is a fine model of such a ship in St. Botolph's Church
Cable works
William Thomas Henley
William Thomas Henley was a pioneer in the manufacture of telegraph cables. He designed and built a wire covering machine which is now in the London Science Museum....
, now AEI, they occupied the land originally once used by the Rosherville Gardens
Rosherville 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...
.
AEI Cables closed in 2005 and Henley moved in 2006. The Henley works as of 2010 is completely demolished, and currently an entirely empty site.
Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) construction
With the opening in 2003 of the first section of the CTRL which, in part, utilised a long-closed branch railway between LongfieldLongfield Halt railway station
Longfield Halt was a railway station on the Gravesend West Line which served the settlement of Grubb Street in Kent, England.- History :...
and Gravesend West
Gravesend West railway station
Gravesend West was a railway station on the Gravesend West Line which served Gravesend in Kent. It opened in 1886 and was, for some time, a regular destination for boat trains from London which linked with steamers on the station's pier to ferry passengers to a variety of coastal towns and resorts....
stations, Section Two was begun. It leaves the first section at Pepper Hill and immediately turns north-westwards; passing under the River Thames downstream of the existing Dartford crossings & heading towards St Pancras station in north London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where a new terminus has been built. There is an intermediate station at Stratford
Stratford station
Stratford station is a large multilevel railway station in Stratford, east London. The station is served by the National Rail services National Express East Anglia, London Overground and c2c, by London Underground's Central and Jubilee lines, and by the Docklands Light Railway . Stratford is in...
, east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Another new station, 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...
, in the Ebbsfleet Valley
Ebbsfleet Valley
Ebbsfleet Valley is a new town and redevelopment area in Kent, South East England; and part of the Thames Gateway. It is located south west of Gravesend.It is named after the valley of the Ebbsfleet River, which it straddles...
near Northfleet, has been built. This also is being served by domestic trains running to or from Gravesend, Ashford or towns in east Kent. 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....
began running over the more direct line in 2007, from which date they ceased to serve Waterloo Station
Waterloo station
Waterloo station, also known as London Waterloo, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. The station is owned and operated by Network Rail and is close to the South Bank of the River Thames, and in Travelcard Zone 1....
.
However, a design flaw that exists in Ebbsfleet International Station is its lack of pedestrian connections to Northfleet, with both of the shortest routes being inordinately long and less than optimal. Northfleet's local station and Ebbsfleet International Station's domestic passenger entrance are only 250m or so apart, but the walk is disproportionately long, hindering the advantage of living in Northfleet over say nearby Gravesend, which is served by the high-speed service http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/app/webroot/files/cache/Timetable%20HS%20December%202009%20%203.pdfhttp://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Northfleet+Rail+Station&daddr=Ebbsfleet+International+railway+station&hl=en&geocode=FVoAEQMd9PIEACF9Ukfa7SxJuA%3BFV_1EAMdc-UEACm1qW0aj7bYRzEq4CGB4Bj19Q&mra=cc&sll=51.444914,0.325277&sspn=0.007115,0.021136&ie=UTF8&ll=51.444914,0.325277&spn=0.01423,0.042272&z=15.
Northfleet churches
Saint Botolph
Botwulf of Thorney was an English abbot and saint. He is the patron saint of travellers and the various aspects of farming...
. Its tower was built in 1717, after the original had fallen. The church contains a C14th carved oak screen, which is thought to be the oldest in Kent. Rosherville St Mark's Church is now part of the Team ministry with St. Botolph's church. The other active church in Northfleet is All Saints, Perry Street which is Anglo Catholic. All Saints Perry Street is the largest Anglican parish in Gravesham Borough with a quarter of the Gravesham population living within its boundaries.
Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA was an English architect known for his work on such buildings as Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station and designing the iconic red telephone box....
and with its tower foreshadowing his Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
Cathedral, is built entirely of brown brick. It was constructed in 1914.
There a United Reformed Church
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
(URC) on Dover Road in Northfleet. The Dover Road Chapel was opened on Wednesday the 20th of June 1850 as a Congregational Church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
. Northfleet URC is grouped with three other churches in the North Kent URC group. These are St Paul's URC, Singlewell Road, Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
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...
; Hartley
Hartley, Kent
This article is about the village in North Kent, England. For the South Kent village of the same name see Hartley, Cranbrook. For other uses, see Hartley ....
URC and Southfleet
Southfleet
Southfleet is a small compact village five miles SW of Gravesend in Kent; it is a civil parish within the borough of Dartford, and includes within its boundaries the hamlet of Betsham, and the even smaller settlement of Northfleet Green. The main village is grouped around a crossroads and many of...
URC.
Rotary Club in Northfleet
The Rotary Club of Northfleet was founded in 1954 and chartered as the Rotary Club of Northfleet - Club No 793 in R.I.B.I. District 1120. The club originally had members from many local industries (cement, engineering, paper making etc.), but as these industries declined along the river front, so membership changed. The club used to meet at lunchtime for many years, but this changed to evening meetings a few years ago. Northfleet Rotary Club, like most Rotary clubs also voted to accept women into Rotary membership, which is by invitation.The club's name was changed in 2005 to Northfleet with Ebbsfleet Rotary Club, to reflect the emerging growth of nearby Ebbsfleet area, with its developing infrastructure of Bluewater shopping complex, new High Speed Rail terminal at Ebbsfleet Station, and commercial and residential properties being developed as part of the wider development the Thames Gateway project.
Ebbsfleet United Football Club
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...
under manager 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...
and his assistant, Paul McCarthy
Paul McCarthy
Paul McCarthy , is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Los Angeles, California.-Life:McCarthy was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and studied art at the University of Utah in 1969. He went on to study at the San Francisco Art Institute receiving a BFA in painting...
. Star players are Calum Willock
Calum Willock
Calum Daniel Willock is an English-born Saint Kittitian and Nevisian international footballer who plays as a forward for Ebbsfleet United in the Conference National....
and Paul Lorraine
Northfleet Football Academy
Northfleet Football Academy was started in 2009 by local school Northfleet Technology CollegeNorthfleet technology college
Northfleet Technology College is located in Northfleet, Kent. It is an all boys school that offers secondary education for students aged 11+.-New School:...
. Northfleet Football Academy was designed to recruit the elite of Graveshams football players and give them the best possible coaching in order to help them develop as players. The Northfleet Football Academy also offers its participants the opportunity to take a BTEC in Sports and one other additional subject like Science in order to help the players gain nationally recognised qualifications at key stage 4 whilst the players develop their playing skills. The academy is run by Northfleet Technology College
Northfleet technology college
Northfleet Technology College is located in Northfleet, Kent. It is an all boys school that offers secondary education for students aged 11+.-New School:...
teachers Brian Meaney (manager) and Lisa Donaldson (chairman) and also boasts the professional coaching of former Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
International and current Ashford Town
Ashford Town F.C. (Kent)
Ashford United F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Kent. The 'new' United was formed in 2011 . Between 1930 and 2010 the town was represented by Ashford Town FC, before it ultimately went into administration...
manager Steve Lovell (Welsh footballer)
Steve Lovell (Welsh footballer)
Stephen "Steve" Lovell is a Welsh former professional footballer. He played professionally for Crystal Palace, Stockport County, Millwall, Swansea City, Gillingham and AFC Bournemouth and made over 450 Football League appearances....
The Academy is based in Northfleet Technology College
Northfleet technology college
Northfleet Technology College is located in Northfleet, Kent. It is an all boys school that offers secondary education for students aged 11+.-New School:...
,Colyer Road, Northfleet. To find out more see Northfleet Football Academy.
Northfleet Urban Country Park
The park sits on the eastern side of Northfleet, on Thames Way opposite the new police station, bounded by Springhead Road & Vale Road. The site is 10.5 hectares and provides a variety of wildlife habitats.External links
- Details of the Northfleet cement works
- Dartford Archive - includes details of William Aspdin’s work
- Gravesend, Northfleet and Swanscombe Cage Bird Society (Local bird club)
- Rosherville gardens
- All Saints' Church Perry Street
- Shears Green Community Infant School web site
- Northfleet Technology College High school website
- Northfleet with Ebbsfleet Rotary Club (chartered 1954)
- Dover Road Chapel Northfleet URC