Gravesend, Kent

Gravesend is a town in North-West Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Gravesend is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham.

Communications

The River Thames

Shipping on the river

The River 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 Gardens. Gravesend soon became one of the first English resort towns and thrived from an early tourist trade.

Related Topics:
River Thames - 14th century - 19th century - Rosherville Gardens

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Gravesend ‘watermen’ were often in a family trade; and the town is the headquarters of the Port of London Authority Thames Navigation Service, supplying both river and sea pilots. Today radar plays an important part in the movement of shipping on the river.

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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.

Related Topics:
Tilbury - London Docks - Tugboat

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Also on the river front is a fine example of a cast iron pier, a unique structure with the first known iron cylinders used for its foundation. From here the steamboat services had begun from London in 1815. The pier has recently been completely refurbished (2004), and awaits commercial use.

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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.

Related Topics:
Tilbury - Dartford Crossing

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Gravesend Regatta

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.

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Road communications

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 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.

Related Topics:
Dover - Blackheath - Highwaymen - Stagecoaches - Canterbury - Faversham - Tonbridge - 1840 - Samuel Pepys - 1650

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Today, the A226 road from Gravesend to Rochester runs beside the Thames and offers a fine view of the Hoo Peninsula. The A2 road passes two miles south of Gravesend town centre, while the A226 also provides a link westwards to Dartford and the Dartford Crossing.

Related Topics:
Rochester - Hoo Peninsula - A2 road - Dartford - Dartford Crossing

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Rail communications

The first railway connection came after the London & Greenwich Railway (sanctioned in 1833, opened in 1836) extended its line through Woolwich and Dartford to Gravesend railway station in the summer of 1849. In 1844 a railway to the east of the town had been opened using the Higham tunnel of the Thames and Medway Canal (see below); the erstwhile London & Greenwich, now the South Eastern Railway, bought this in 1847, opening through services between London and the Medway towns two years later.

Related Topics:
London & Greenwich Railway - 1833 - 1836 - Woolwich - Dartford - Gravesend railway station - 1849 - 1844 - 1847

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Gravesend now stands on the new Eurostar main line, and when the connection is opened to St Pancras station in London in 2006 there will be a railway station at Ebbsfleet, to the west of the town.

Related Topics:
Eurostar - St Pancras - 2006 - Ebbsfleet

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Thames and Medway Canal

The Thames and Medway Canal was opened for barge traffic in 1824, but after only 20 years it had proved too difficult a route for navigation between the Thames and Medway and was left to silt up. From 1844, the canal's tunnel was used to provide a route for the railway. This change of use arose due to the differing tides between the two rivers; a steam engine often had to be used to pump water into the Higham tunnel to compensate for low tides. A steam tug was also used to assist with the pulling of the barges through the tunnel.

Related Topics:
Thames and Medway Canal - 1824 - 1844 - Steam engine - Higham

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Today the canal basin at the Gravesend end of the Canal is used for pleasure craft: the lock is still in use. At the present time (December 2004) it is being dredged and restoration and strengthening works will be carried out to the basin walls as part of regeneration of the area.

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