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.

History

Origin of the name 'Gravesend'

The town is recorded as Gravesham in the Domesday Book in 1086 as belonging to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and called 'Gravesham': a name probably derived from "graaf-ham": the home of the Reeve, or Bailiff, of the Lord of the Manor. Another theory suggests that the name Gravesham may be a corruption of the words grafs-ham - a place 'at the end of the grove'. Myth has it that Gravesend got its name because, during the outbreak of Bubonic Plague in the 1600s, the town was the place where victims were no longer buried on land - they were buried at sea (the town sits next to the Thames Estuary).

Related Topics:
Gravesham - Domesday Book - Odo - Bishop of Bayeux - Lord of the Manor - Bubonic Plague - 1600s - Thames Estuary

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Extensive Roman remains have been found nearby, at Vagniacae (today’s Springhead). Gravesend lies immediately to the north of their Watling Street.

Related Topics:
Roman - Watling Street

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Gravesend has one of the oldest surviving markets in the country, its earliest charter dating from 1268. Town status was granted to the two parishes of Gravesend and Milton, the Charter of Incorporation being received in that year. The first Mayor of Gravesend was elected in that year, although the first Town Hall was in place by 1573: it was replaced in 1764. A new frontage was built in 1836. Although its use as a Town Hall came to an end in 1968, when the new Civic Centre was opened, it continued in use as the Magistrates' Courts. At present (2004) it is disused, and discussions are being held with a view to its future.

Related Topics:
Milton - Town Hall

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On the river front is recorded the archaeological remains of a riverside fort built at the command of Henry VIII in 1543.

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General Gordon

Gravesend is associated with General Gordon (1833-1885), who lived in the town during the construction of the Thames forts. For six years he devoted himself to the welfare of the towns 'poor boys', establishing a Sunday school and providing food and clothes for them from his Army wage. In command of the Royal Engineers from 1865-71, he was responsible for the forts that guard the Thames downstream from Gravesend, New Tavern Fort in the town, Shornemead Fort on the south bank, and Coalhouse Fort on the north. His links with Gravesend are commemorated: the embankment of the Riverside Leisure Area is known as the Gordon Promenade, while Khartoum Place lies just to the south.

Related Topics:
General Gordon - New Tavern Fort - Shornemead Fort - Coalhouse Fort

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Gravesend clock tower, Harmer Street

The town’s clock tower was built at the top of Harmer street. The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1887. The memorial stone states that the clock tower was erected by public subscription (£700 was raised toward its construction) and it was dedicated to Queen Victoria, to commemorate the 50th year of her long reign. Built with Portland and Dumfries stone, backed with hard stock brickwork, the design of the structure was based on the Westminster tower that houses Big Ben. The centre of the clock itself is measured at 50 foot above the ground and the face is 5ft 6ins in diameter.

Related Topics:
6 September - 1887 - Queen Victoria - Big Ben

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St George's church

St George's church, just opposite the pier, was restored in 1731 in the Georgian style of the period, after having previously burnt down in August 1727 when a great fire consumed much of Gravesend destroying about 110 houses and the parish church, services being transferred to the town hall until the church was rebuilt. The parish records were lost in the fire so that the site of the burial of the native American princess Pocahontas has also been lost.

Related Topics:
1731 - 1727 - Pocahontas

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Pocahontas

Pocahontas was to become the first Native American to visit England, and so Europe. The daughter of Powhatan, chief of the Powhatan confederacy of Indian tribes, she came into contact in 1607 with a group of English settlers at Jamestown, in Virginia. A legend was born when she famously saved the pioneer Captain John Smith from the immediate threat of death from an Indian raiding party which descended upon the hapless settlers, by shielding the Captain from the tomahawk blows of his captors by throwing herself upon him.

Related Topics:
Pocahontas - Native American - Europe - Jamestown - Virginia

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What is certainly true is that, after John Smith had returned to England she was made a hostage by the English settlers to attempt a procurement of good behaviour from the Powhatan tribes, and that his daughter was falsely informed that Smith had died. She later sailed with Rolfe to England, with their infant son, Thomas, where she was received at the court in London by Queen Anne, and, something of a celebrity, was 'taken up by society'.

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It is reported she met up with John Smith in London and that the shock broke her heart. She later died on board a vessel at Gravesend in March 1617, before her homeward journey, and is buried in the parish churchyard of St Georges, although the exact location of her grave is unknown.

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Gravesend Hospital

Gravesend Hospital was opened in 1854, following the donation of a site by the Earl of Darnley in 1853; it had its origin on 2 December 1850, as a dispensary on the Milton road 'to assist the really destitute poor of Gravesend and Milton and vicinities ... unable to pay for medical aid'. By 1893, 4699 such people had benefited by its presence.

Related Topics:
1854 - Earl of Darnley - 1853 - 2 December - 1850 - 1893

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In 2004 the original building was demolished to make way for a new local health centre. Details are here

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Windmill Hill

Windmill Hill named for its erstwhile windmills, offers extensive views across the Thames, and was a popular spot for Victorian visitors to the town, because of the Camera obscura installed in the old mill and for its tea gardens and other amusements. The hill was the site of a beacon in 1377, which was instituted by Richard II, and still in use 200 years later at the time of the Spanish Armada, although the hill was then known as 'Rouge Hill'. A modern beacon was erected and lit during 1988, the 300th anniversary.

Related Topics:
Windmills - Camera obscura - Richard II - Spanish Armada

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It was during the reign of Elizabeth I that the first windmill was placed on top the highest point in Gravesend, 179 ft above the high water mark of the river. One mill burnt down in 1763, but was replaced the following year and that too demolished in 1894. The last surviving windmill was destroyed by fire during Mafeking Night celebrations in 1900.

Related Topics:
Elizabeth I - Windmill - Mafeking

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