Riverside Country Park
Encyclopedia
Riverside Country Park is a large coastal public park, situated alongside the River Medway estuary between Gillingham
and Rainham. The park covers about 100 hectares (approx. 247 acres (999,574.4 m²) ).There are various habitats within the park, including mudflats and salt marsh, ponds and reed-beds, grassland and scrub, which provide a haven for wildlife.
The park which was established in the 1970s by Medway Council takes in the various areas; of Motney Hill, Rainham Dock, Bloors Wharf, Horrid Hill, Sharp's Green Bay and Eastcourt Meadows.
times according to archaeological evidence found around the Rainham Docks area. This was later used by the Roman
s as a burial site.
Like most of Medway, the fertile area was then a major site of hop
s, cherries, plums and apple orchards and wheat fields.
In 1819, Motney Hill appears on maps as an island. Because of its large sand deposits it was also known as 'Gritty Island'.
Then in 1901, the British Standard Cement Company started chalk extraction to London
. The chalk came from a large pit. (Now known as Berengrave Local Nature Reserve )
A cement works was then established on Motney Hill island in 1912.
During high tides, barges sailed into the river near the docks, then workers known as 'Muddies' collected mud from the riverbed and loaded it onto the barges. As the tide came back in, the barges would re-float and sail to Rainham Dock, where the mud would be mixed with chalk and fired at high temperatures to produce cement.
Barges then sailed from Rainham Dock East loaded with cement and flints. These where used in the construction of roads and buildings. The barges would return with coal dust, (for firing the cement work kiln
s ) and timber for the local industry and making staves (timber slats used for making barrel
s). The barrels where then used to transport the cement. Some of this cement was sent to San Francisco, in the USA, for the re-building of the city after the 1906 earthquake.
The cement factory closed in the 1930s, and soon after the buildings were dismantled. The dock side still remains.
The chalk pit also closed in 1931 after the cement factory.
Motney Hill has also been known as Motley Hill on some old maps.
In 1923, a pumping station and sewerage installations were built on Motney Hill. It began processessing waste from Rochester
and Chatham, and then later Gillingham
Over the years, the works have been modernised and now it handles over 10 million gallons of effluent each day.
It started as a fisherman's wharf, then had warehouses and was finally a scrap yard and ship breakers site,
In the 1990s, the Great Yarmouth
Trawler
Kopli becomes the last fishing boat to be scrapped at Bloors Wharf.
The wharf buildings have been cleared but now it is an empty abandoned space with a concrete seawall and steel fence.
, before heading across the water to his two cement works on Queenborough
on the Isle of Sheppey
. The chalk was carted to the barges from the quarry, then the barges would be loaded at low tide, as the draught (draft (hull)
of the vessel would require more water under the keel
to float off the mud. Due to tidal constraints, the barges were loaded by hand.
Castle later built a wooden jetty
further down the channel leading to a small peninsula in the river. This then allowed the barges to load at high and low tides.
Later, to improve the speed of loading, he built a narrow gauge
horse-drawn railway from the quarry to the new wooden jetty. Trucks on the railway had side-tippers, so could just tip their loads into the barges. The chalk was then transported to Queenborough via seven barges, owned by Alfred and his brother James. The works produced 400 tons of cement a week.
In 1890, Joseph Wilders and Franic Joseph Carey were searching for a coastal site of their own cement works. An agreement was made with Alfred Castle to use the eastern side of the peninsula. The new works required some land reclamation, by constructing an extension to the existing causeway
and extending the railway out to the works on the island. It was one of the smallest cement works on record. A wharf of timber and concrete was also built to enable barges to unload coke
and clay. When the works were fully operational, Carey and Wilders employed a minimum of men who were on a shift system. It was a very bleak place to work, especially during the winter months. It gained the nickname Horrid Hill
The cement works closed in 1910, but chalk was still quarried and supplied the cement works in Queenborough for many years.
The last vessel to berth there was a barge, the "Dick Turpin", which subsequently ran aground in the estuary off Horrid Hill in 1913. Some of its cargo of
Dundee
marmalade jars can still be recovered in the River Medway.
Sharp's Green Bay (left of Horrid Hill causeway) a small tidal marsh bay. A few houseboats are moored in the bay. A small car park is on the bay, from a narrow access road from Lower Rainham Road.
Also Copperhouse Marshes, these salt marshes were so named after the copperas works in nearby Gillingham. Copperas (or ferrous sulfate) was used as a dye for woollen cloth and for tanning. It was made by steeping
iron pyrites in wooden vats for about six years and then boiling off the liquid. After evaporation the crystals of the dye were formed. There were Copperas factories in Queenborough
in the 16th century and at Whitstable
.
This former farmland, was then used by the council to tip rubbish. This was stopped in the 1950s
and is now left as a wild meadow land.
In 1987, Expanded Riverside Country Park officially opened, (after the initial opening in the 1970s) followed by designation of the land
north of the B2004 as a country park under the 1968 Countryside Act.
In 1997, Medway Council began purchasing areas of land for inclusion inRiverside Country Park, including Eastcourt Wood, Marsh Field, Mariner’s Field, Bloors Wharf, Bloors Field, and Motney Field. Work was then started to remove buildings, scrap and pollution from Bloors Wharf for the new park.
It has a visitor centre (with cafe, toilets and information point) in the main car park, along Lower Rainham Road.
The Saxon Shore Way
(long distance path) leads along the coast through the park, between Upchurch
and Gillingham.
National Cycle Route 1 leads along the Saxon Shore Way through the park as well.
The park offers good and accessible viewpoints to look out over the North Kent Marshes beside the River Medway
.
Motney Hill (is now an RSPB reserve on a headland sticking out into the River Medway)
Berengrave Local Nature Reserve. This reserve covers an area of approximately 15 hectares (37 acres). Most of it covers the former site of the Cement Works of Rainham Docks.
The estuary has special protection as part of the Medway Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest
,(SSSI) as defined by English Nature
. and is internationally important for wintering birds that thrive on the invertebrate-rich mudflats. Including many species of waders, ducks and geeese. The salt marshes have a specialised ecology and act as high tide roost sites.
Eastcourt Meadows Country Park is mistakingly shown on page 119 of the AA Illustrated Guide to the Coast. Also Camer Park Country Park
is shown but no text on either park.
.
The country park has two car parks, one with the visitor centre near Sharp's Green Bay and Horrid Hill. The other is near Motney Hill and Bloors Wharf.
Gillingham, Kent
Gillingham is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Rainham, Rainham Mark and Twydall....
and Rainham. The park covers about 100 hectares (approx. 247 acres (999,574.4 m²) ).There are various habitats within the park, including mudflats and salt marsh, ponds and reed-beds, grassland and scrub, which provide a haven for wildlife.
History
The coastline of Gillingham has had a rich and varied past.The park which was established in the 1970s by Medway Council takes in the various areas; of Motney Hill, Rainham Dock, Bloors Wharf, Horrid Hill, Sharp's Green Bay and Eastcourt Meadows.
Rainham Docks and Motney Hill
The earliest know occupation of the area was in the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
times according to archaeological evidence found around the Rainham Docks area. This was later used by the Roman
Roman
Roman or Romans may refer to:* A thing or person of or from the city of Rome-History:* Ancient Rome ** Roman Kingdom ** Roman Republic ** Roman Empire...
s as a burial site.
Like most of Medway, the fertile area was then a major site of hop
Hop
Hop or hops may refer to:* Hop, a kind of small jump, usually using only one leg* Hop , a genus of climbing flowering plants* Hops, the female flower clusters of one species of hop, used primarily as a flavouring and stability agent in beer...
s, cherries, plums and apple orchards and wheat fields.
In 1819, Motney Hill appears on maps as an island. Because of its large sand deposits it was also known as 'Gritty Island'.
Then in 1901, the British Standard Cement Company started chalk extraction to 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...
. The chalk came from a large pit. (Now known as Berengrave Local Nature Reserve )
A cement works was then established on Motney Hill island in 1912.
During high tides, barges sailed into the river near the docks, then workers known as 'Muddies' collected mud from the riverbed and loaded it onto the barges. As the tide came back in, the barges would re-float and sail to Rainham Dock, where the mud would be mixed with chalk and fired at high temperatures to produce cement.
Barges then sailed from Rainham Dock East loaded with cement and flints. These where used in the construction of roads and buildings. The barges would return with coal dust, (for firing the cement work kiln
Kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...
s ) and timber for the local industry and making staves (timber slats used for making barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
s). The barrels where then used to transport the cement. Some of this cement was sent to San Francisco, in the USA, for the re-building of the city after the 1906 earthquake.
The cement factory closed in the 1930s, and soon after the buildings were dismantled. The dock side still remains.
The chalk pit also closed in 1931 after the cement factory.
Motney Hill has also been known as Motley Hill on some old maps.
In 1923, a pumping station and sewerage installations were built on Motney Hill. It began processessing waste from Rochester
Rochester
- United Kingdom :* Rochester, Kent* Rochester Castle, a medieval building in Rochester, Kent* Rochester , a Young Offenders Institution in Rochester, Kent* Rochester, Northumberland- United States :* Rochester, Illinois* Rochester, Indiana...
and Chatham, and then later Gillingham
Over the years, the works have been modernised and now it handles over 10 million gallons of effluent each day.
Bloors Wharf
Since 1869, maps began to show a small quay.It started as a fisherman's wharf, then had warehouses and was finally a scrap yard and ship breakers site,
In the 1990s, the Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
Trawler
Trawler
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater...
Kopli becomes the last fishing boat to be scrapped at Bloors Wharf.
The wharf buildings have been cleared but now it is an empty abandoned space with a concrete seawall and steel fence.
Horrid Hill
In the 1860s, Alfred Castle used to moor his vessels in Sharp's Green Bay (see more later), to collect chalk from a nearby quarry in TwydallTwydall
Twydall is the home of Oliver Newman in an area of Gillingham in Medway, in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. It is near junction 4 of the M2 motorway. The origin of the name Twydall is thought to mean “Two Parts” or “Double Portion” from the Old English twidǣl, but by 1240 it was written...
, before heading across the water to his two cement works on Queenborough
Queenborough
Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England.Queenborough is two miles south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to The Swale where it joins the River Medway...
on the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
. The chalk was carted to the barges from the quarry, then the barges would be loaded at low tide, as the draught (draft (hull)
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of the vessel would require more water under the keel
Keel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
to float off the mud. Due to tidal constraints, the barges were loaded by hand.
Castle later built a wooden jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
further down the channel leading to a small peninsula in the river. This then allowed the barges to load at high and low tides.
Later, to improve the speed of loading, he built a narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
horse-drawn railway from the quarry to the new wooden jetty. Trucks on the railway had side-tippers, so could just tip their loads into the barges. The chalk was then transported to Queenborough via seven barges, owned by Alfred and his brother James. The works produced 400 tons of cement a week.
In 1890, Joseph Wilders and Franic Joseph Carey were searching for a coastal site of their own cement works. An agreement was made with Alfred Castle to use the eastern side of the peninsula. The new works required some land reclamation, by constructing an extension to the existing causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
and extending the railway out to the works on the island. It was one of the smallest cement works on record. A wharf of timber and concrete was also built to enable barges to unload coke
Coke
Coke may refer to:* Coca-Cola, a soft drink originally based on coca leaf extract** The Coca-Cola Company, makers of this drink** Cola, any soft drink similar to Coca-Cola** Soft drink, any non-alcoholic carbonated beverage* Coca, a plant...
and clay. When the works were fully operational, Carey and Wilders employed a minimum of men who were on a shift system. It was a very bleak place to work, especially during the winter months. It gained the nickname Horrid Hill
The cement works closed in 1910, but chalk was still quarried and supplied the cement works in Queenborough for many years.
The last vessel to berth there was a barge, the "Dick Turpin", which subsequently ran aground in the estuary off Horrid Hill in 1913. Some of its cargo of
Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
marmalade jars can still be recovered in the River Medway.
Sharp's Green Bay
Closer, to the visitor centre, is Sharp's Green Pond, a small freshwater pond inside the clay sea wall. Used to promote a diverisity of wildlife within the park.Sharp's Green Bay (left of Horrid Hill causeway) a small tidal marsh bay. A few houseboats are moored in the bay. A small car park is on the bay, from a narrow access road from Lower Rainham Road.
Also Copperhouse Marshes, these salt marshes were so named after the copperas works in nearby Gillingham. Copperas (or ferrous sulfate) was used as a dye for woollen cloth and for tanning. It was made by steeping
Steeping
Steeping or weltering may mean:# Saturation in a liquid solvent to extract a soluble ingredient, where the solvent is the desired product. Tea is prepared for drinking by steeping the leaves in heated water to release the flavor and nutrients...
iron pyrites in wooden vats for about six years and then boiling off the liquid. After evaporation the crystals of the dye were formed. There were Copperas factories in Queenborough
Queenborough
Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England.Queenborough is two miles south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to The Swale where it joins the River Medway...
in the 16th century and at Whitstable
Whitstable
Whitstable is a seaside town in Northeast Kent, Southeast England. It is approximately north of the city of Canterbury and approximately west of the seaside town of Herne Bay. It is part of the City of Canterbury district and has a population of about 30,000.Whitstable is famous for its oysters,...
.
Eastcourt Meadows and Country Park creation
In 1928, Rainham became part of Gillingham Borough.This former farmland, was then used by the council to tip rubbish. This was stopped in the 1950s
and is now left as a wild meadow land.
In 1987, Expanded Riverside Country Park officially opened, (after the initial opening in the 1970s) followed by designation of the land
north of the B2004 as a country park under the 1968 Countryside Act.
In 1997, Medway Council began purchasing areas of land for inclusion inRiverside Country Park, including Eastcourt Wood, Marsh Field, Mariner’s Field, Bloors Wharf, Bloors Field, and Motney Field. Work was then started to remove buildings, scrap and pollution from Bloors Wharf for the new park.
Facilities
This park is maintained by Medway Council.It has a visitor centre (with cafe, toilets and information point) in the main car park, along Lower Rainham Road.
The Saxon Shore Way
Saxon 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:...
(long distance path) leads along the coast through the park, between Upchurch
Upchurch
Upchurch village is situated at the junction of numerous minor roads in the Swale district of Kent, England. It is a civil parish within Swale Borough Council, and the village centre is about 1 mile east of the boundary with the unitary authority of Medway.-History:Upchurch lay on a...
and Gillingham.
National Cycle Route 1 leads along the Saxon Shore Way through the park as well.
The park offers good and accessible viewpoints to look out over the North Kent Marshes beside the River Medway
River Medway
The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....
.
Motney Hill (is now an RSPB reserve on a headland sticking out into the River Medway)
Berengrave Local Nature Reserve. This reserve covers an area of approximately 15 hectares (37 acres). Most of it covers the former site of the Cement Works of Rainham Docks.
The estuary has special protection as part of the Medway Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
,(SSSI) as defined by English Nature
English Nature
English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...
. and is internationally important for wintering birds that thrive on the invertebrate-rich mudflats. Including many species of waders, ducks and geeese. The salt marshes have a specialised ecology and act as high tide roost sites.
Eastcourt Meadows Country Park is mistakingly shown on page 119 of the AA Illustrated Guide to the Coast. Also Camer Park Country Park
Camer Park Country Park
Camer Country Park is in Meopham, in Kent, England. A former estate landscape, with grassland and woodland.-History:This park was originally the country estate of the Smith-Masters family...
is shown but no text on either park.
Location
From the A2 London Road in Rainham. Follow the B2004 Lower Rainham Road towards GillinghamGillingham, Kent
Gillingham is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Rainham, Rainham Mark and Twydall....
.
The country park has two car parks, one with the visitor centre near Sharp's Green Bay and Horrid Hill. The other is near Motney Hill and Bloors Wharf.