ViewsWatchers |
Contained Places
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is the administrative centre of the Borough of Gravesham. Its geographical situation has given Gravesend strategic importance throughout the maritime and communications history of South East England. A Thames Gateway commuter town, it retains strong links with the River Thames, not least through the Port of London Authority Pilot Station and has witnessed rejuvenation since the advent of High Speed 1 rail services via Gravesend railway station. The station was recently refurbished and now has a new bridge. [edit] Governance, History
Gravesend is part of and is the principal town of the Borough of Gravesham. 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 was 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. Gravesend absorbed Milton next Gravesend in 1914, Denton (Gravesend), Chalk and part of Northfleet, including Claphall, Singlewell and King's Farm in 1935. Gravesend was originally an ancient parish in the Toltingtrough Hundred of Kent. [edit] History
Stone Age implements have been found in the locality since the 1900s, as has evidence of an Iron Age settlement at nearby Springhead. Extensive Roman remains have been found at nearby Vagniacae; and Gravesend lies immediately to the north of the Roman road connecting London with the Kent coast – now called Watling Street. Domesday Book recorded mills, , and fisheries here. Milton Chantry is Gravesend's oldest surviving building and dates from the early 14th century. It was refounded as a chapel in 1320/21 on the original site of a former leper hospital founded in 1189. It is a Grade II* listed building. Gravesend has one of the oldest surviving markets in the country. Its earliest charter dates from 1268, with town status being granted to the two parishes of Gravesend and Milton by King Henry III in its Charter of Incorporation of that year. The first Mayor of Gravesend was elected in 1268 but the first town hall was not built until 1573. The current Gravesend Town Hall was completed in 1764: although it ceased to operate as a seat of government in 1968 when the new Gravesend Civic Centre was opened, it remained in use as a magistrates' court until 2000. It now operates as a venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies. In 1380, during the Hundred Years' War, Gravesend suffered being sacked and burned by the Castilian fleet. In 1401, a further Royal Charter was granted, 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 road travel (see below). On Gravesend's river front are the remains of a device fort built by command of King Henry VIII in 1543. On 21 March 1617, John Rolfe and his Native American wife Rebecca (Pocahontas), with their two-year-old son, Thomas, boarded a ship in London bound for the Commonwealth of Virginia; the ship had only sailed as far as Gravesend before Rebecca fell ill, and she died shortly after she was taken ashore. It is not known what caused her death. Her funeral and interment took place on 21 March 1617 at the parish church of St George, Gravesend. The site of her grave was underneath the church's chancel, though since the previous church was destroyed by fire in 1727 her exact resting place is unknown. Thomas Rolfe survived, but was placed under the supervision of Sir Lewis Stukley at Plymouth, before being sent to his uncle, Henry Rolfe whilst John Rolfe and his late wife's assistant Tomocomo reached America under the captaincy of Sir Samuel Argall's ship. Pocahontas (real name: Matoaka) is an important figure in both American and British history and was the inspiration for the popular Disney animated film of the same name.
Journeys by road to Gravesend were historically 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 on what is now Old Road East: the Prince of Orange and the Lord Nelson. Post coaches had been plying the route for at least two centuries: Samuel Pepys records having stopped off at Gravesend in 1650 en route to the Royal Dockyards at Chatham. A permanent military presence was established in the town when Milton Barracks opened in 1862. Although much of the town's economy continued to be connected with maritime trade, since the 19th century other major employers have been the cement and paper industries.
[edit] Research tips
|