| Gillingham | |
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  Gillingham shown within Kent |
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| Population | 99,773 (2001 census) |
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| OS grid reference | |
| - London | 35. KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. 6mi |
| Unitary authority | Medway |
| Ceremonial county | Kent |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | GILLINGHAM |
| Postcode district | ME7 |
| Dialling code | 01634 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Gillingham |
| List of places: UK • England • Kent | |
Gillingham (pronunciation ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government History The Medway area has a long and varied history dominated The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one South East England is one of the nine official Regions of England. Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The, also known as the Rochester postcode area, is a group of twenty postal districts around Medway in Kent, England. The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Kent Police, a Home Office police force polices Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway. The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the Statutory fire and rescue service for the County of Kent covering a geographical area south of London The South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb is the NHS Ambulance Services Trust for south-eastern England, covering Kent (including Medway South East England is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Gillingham is a Constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of places in Kent, England split by local government district and sorted alphabetically A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. See also Independent city A unitary authority is a type of Local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all Local government functions History The Medway area has a long and varied history dominated South East England is one of the nine official Regions of England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. The ceremonial counties are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as the Counties for the purposes of the Lieutenancies KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Rainham, Rainham Mark, Twydall and Lidsing. Hempstead is a town near Gillingham in Kent, part of the built-up area of the Medway Towns. The town of Rainham is part of the Medway Towns conurbation under the Unitary authority of Medway, in South East England, and part of the ceremonial
Gillingham means a homestead of Gylla's family, from Old English ham (village, homestead) and ingas (family, followers), and was first recorded in 10th century as Gyllingeham.
Also referred to in old texts as Jillyingham Water, hence the pronunciation being Gillingham (the G sounds as a "J" as in the girls' name Jill).
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Status
Gillingham became an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894, gaining municipal borough status in 1903. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of Local government district that covered an Urbanised area The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict c 73 created a system of Urban districts and Rural districts with elected councils in all areas of England Borough status in the United Kingdom is granted by Royal charter to Local government Districts in England, Wales and Northern In 1928 Rainham was added to the Gillingham Borough. The town of Rainham is part of the Medway Towns conurbation under the Unitary authority of Medway, in South East England, and part of the ceremonial Under the Local Government Act 1972 it became a non-metropolitan district. The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c 70 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in England and Wales Non-metropolitan districts, or colloquially ' shire districts', are a type of local government district in England. It merged with the other Medway towns (in the City of Rochester-upon-Medway district) in 1998 under the 1990s UK local government reform. The City of Rochester-upon-Medway was a local government district in north Kent, England from 1974 to 1998 The structure of Local government in the United Kingdom underwent large changes in the 1990s
History
The name Gillingham is recorded already in the Domesday book of 1086. The Domesday Book (ˈduːmzdeɪ bʊk also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester) was the record of the great survey It is said that it was named after a war lord, Gyllingas--from the old English "gyllan" meaning "to shout". He was a notable man in Kent history as he led his warriors into battle screaming and shouting. At the time of the Norman Conquest, Gillingham was a small hamlet; it was given by William the Conqueror to his half-brother Odo of Bayeux. A hamlet is (usually&mdashsee below a Rural community — that is a small settlement — which is too small to be considered a Village. William I of England ( 1027 His reign which brought Norman culture to England had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages Odo of Bayeux (c 1036 &ndash February 1097 Palermo) Norman Bishop and English earl was the half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was for The land was mainly farmland, and Odo rebuilt the parish church of St Mary Magdalene and constructed an archbishop's palace here.
In medieval times the part of Gillingham known as Grange was a limb of the Cinque Ports, and the maritime importance of the area continued until the late 1940s. Cinque Ports is also the name of a 1703 Galleon (ship The Confederation of Cinque Ports (sɪŋk pɔrts is a historic series of coastal Indeed, a large part of Chatham Dockyard lay within Gillingham: the dockyard started in Gillingham and, until the day it was closed in 1984, two thirds of the then modern-day dockyard lay within the boundaries of Gillingham. Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships These can be Yachts military The dockyard was founded by Queen Elizabeth I on the site of the present gun wharf, the establishment being transferred to the present site about 1622. In 1667 a Dutch fleet sailed up the River Medway and having landed at Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey, and laying siege to the fort at Sheerness, invaded Gillingham in what became known as the raid on the Medway. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands 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 Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. This article is about the Isle of Sheppey in northern Kent not to be confused with Shepway in south-eastern Kent Sheerness (ˈʃɪərnɪs is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England The Raid on the Medway, sometimes called the Battle of Medway or the Battle of Chatham, was a successful Dutch attack on the largest English The Dutch eventually retreated, but the incident caused great humiliation to the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service)
The Seven Years' War began in 1756. The Seven Years' War (1756&ndash1763 involved all of the major European powers of the period causing 900000 to 1400000 deaths The government immediately gave orders for the defence of the dockyard, and by 1758 the Chatham Lines of Defence were built. Over a mile long, they stretched across the neck of the dockyard peninsula, from Chatham Reach, south of the dockyard, across to Gillingham Reach on the opposite side. One of the redoubts on the Lines was at Amherst. Fort Amherst, in Kent, England, was constructed in 1756 at the southern end of the Brompton lines of defence to protect the southeastern approaches The batteries faced away from the dockyard itself to forestall an attack from the landward side; the ships and shore-mounted guns on the river were considered sufficient to protect from that side.
War with France began again in 1778, and once more it was necessary to strengthen the defences. Fort Amherst was the first to be improved; it was followed by work beginning in 1800 to add others at Fort Pitt, Chatham, plus Fort Delce and Fort Clarence (both in Rochester); later in the 19th century others were added, including one at Fort Darland in Gillingham. Fort Pitt was a Fort built between 1805 and 1819 on the high ground of the boundary between Chatham and Rochester, Kent. Fort Clarence is a now defunct fortification that is located in Rochester, Kent, England. Rochester is a town in Kent, England. It is located within the Unitary authority area of Medway and is at the lowest bridging point of the Within all these buildings a barracks was built to house the soldiers. All this work, and the expansion of the dockyard, meant that more homes were needed for the workers. The position of the Lines meant that this building could only happen beyond, and so New Brompton came into being. The population rose to 9,000 people by 1851.
Gillingham was still only a small village; eventually it, too, was swallowed up, and the name of the whole settlement changed to Gillingham. In the 1891 census its population was 27,809, and in 1901, 42,530. In 1919, after World War I, a naval war memorial in the shape of a white stone obelisk was set up on the Great Lines, from where it can be seen for many miles. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All A war memorial is a building monument statue or other edifice to celebrate a War or victory or (predominating in modern times to commemorate those who died or were injured By 1901 Gillingham had a population in excess of 40,000. [1] Additional structures were added in 1945 to commemorate the dead of World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Similar monuments stand in the dockyard towns of Portsmouth and Plymouth. History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London.
Disasters
Gillingham has been the scene of two notable disasters: on 11 July 1929 a public demonstration by Gillingham Fire Brigade went tragically wrong, resulting in 15 fatalities;[2] and in the 1951 Gillingham bus disaster, 24 Royal Marine cadets aged 10 to 13 were killed in a road accident. Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The 1951 Gillingham bus disaster occurred on the evening of 4 December 1951, when a Double-decker bus belonging to the Chatham & District
Economy
The main source of employment was at Chatham Dockyard, two-thirds of which lay within the boundaries of Gillingham. High Street, or the High Street, is a Metonym for the generic name (and frequently the official name of the primary Business street Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England When it ceased to be a naval base in 1984, there was significant unemployment. A naval dockyard is a Dockyard that primarily serves a Navy. See also Military base Royal Navy Dockyards A World Heritage Site application is today planned for the Dockyard and its defences[3]. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex Since the 80s, Gillingham has rebuilt its economic base and the Gillingham Business Park was set up 3 miles from the city center, in order to attract investments and diversify economic activity. The business park is one of the most popular business locations in North Kent and is located about two miles north of the M2 motorway. KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format The M2 is a Motorway in Kent, England. It is 257 Miles (414 Km) long and acts as a bypass of the section of the A2 Gillingham has a marina called Gillingham Marina. For other uses of this word see Marina (disambiguation. A marina is a sheltered Harbor where Boats and Yachts Gillingham is an important retail centre serving a substantial part of Medway. The town has a large street market in the High Street on Saturdays and Mondays, and is the busiest in the whole Medway. A Street market is an outdoor Market such as traditionally held in a Market square in a Market town, and are often held only on particular days of the week [4]
Transportation
Roads
The Roman road now known as Watling Street passed through Gillingham; and until the opening of the Medway Towns bypass (the M2 motorway) in the mid-1960s the same route was followed by the traffic on the A2 to Dover. The Roman Roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire, by enabling the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news Watling Street is the name given to an Ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern The M2 is a Motorway in Kent, England. It is 257 Miles (414 Km) long and acts as a bypass of the section of the A2 That road had been turnpiked in 1730, as part of the London–Canterbury coaching route. A toll road, (also known as a tollway, turnpike, pike, or toll highway, especially if it is constructed to Freeway standards Canterbury ( ˈkæntəbɹ̩i is a City in eastern Kent in the South East region of England.
In June 1996 the Medway Tunnel opened, linking Gillingham with the M2 and Strood.
Railways
The London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened its line between Chatham and Faversham on 25 January 1858; and a country station was opened here called New Brompton. Gillingham (Kent railway station on the Chatham Main Line, serves the town of Gillingham, north Kent, between Chatham and Rainham The London Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1859 until the 1923 grouping which united it with other companies The Chatham Main Line is the British railway line that runs from London Victoria to Dover Priory or Ramsgate via the Medway Towns Faversham (fævɜʃəm is a town in Kent, England, in the district of Swale, roughly halfway between Sittingbourne and Canterbury Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common This was to serve the dockyard labourers' homes that had sprung up during the Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions A branch line led into the dockyard. The station later became Gillingham Railway Station. Gillingham (Kent railway station on the Chatham Main Line, serves the town of Gillingham, north Kent, between Chatham and Rainham
Services improved significantly when in July 1939,[5] Gillingham became the terminus of the electrified system of the Southern Railway. Railway electrification in Great Britain describes the past and present electrification systems used to supply traction current to railways and tramways in Great Britain The Southern Railway (SR was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping.
Culture
Sport
Gillingham Football Club had played in the English Football League Championship for five seasons before being relegated to League One in May 2005, and now relegated to League Two in the last game of the 2007 - 2008 season. Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short or the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Coca-Cola Football League 1 for sponsorship reasons is the second-highest division of The Football Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Coca-Cola Football League 2 for Sponsorship reasons is the third-highest division of The towns top non-league team is Hollands & Blair F.C., who play in the Kent County League Premier Division. The Kent County League, currently known as the Vandanel Kent County League for sponsorship reasons is a football competition based in Kent, England.
The area boasts a sub-regional sports centre (the Black Lion Leisure Centre) with three indoor pools for swimming and SCUBA diving, gym, sports hall and squash courts and includes the Jumpers Rebound Centre for trampolining. Funding has been secured to extensively upgrade the Black Lion Leisure Centre as part of the Medway 2012 programme to secure local benefits from the London Olympics.
Gillingham Ice Bowl is the home ice rink for Kent's premier Ice Hockey Club the Invicta Dynamos. Invicta Dynamos are the senior Ice Hockey team based in Gillingham in Kent, in the 2001/02 season they were the champions of the EPIHL. The Ice Bowl was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1984. The Strand Leisure Park has an open-air swimming pool on the banks of the River Medway as well as other leisure attractions including tennis courts and a narrow-gauge railway.
Education
The Gillingham Boys Grammar School was opened in 1923. [6]. Another educational institute in the town is the Kent College of Business Computing. there are also two primary schools in the small residential area called Twydall. these are Twydall Infant's School and Twydall Junior School
Churches
Within Gillingham there are many churches from different denominations of Christianity. In 1896, Our Lady of Gillingham Roman Catholic Church was built close to the site of the Saint Mary Magdalene Church, which overlooks the River Medway. Saint Mary Magdalen or Mary Magdalene is described both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted 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
It followed after other Catholic churches in the area, the closest, St Michael's in Chatham (built 1863). Michael (מִיכָאֵל Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; Μιχαήλ Mikhaíl; Michael or Míchaël; ميخائيل Mikhā'īl) is an Our Lady of Gillingham was built on the town of New Brompton, as Gillingham was then called, to mainly cater for the new workforce - those employed at Chatham Dockyard. Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England The church itself was started in 1890, and was completed by 1896, being opened on 12 May 1896. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year
A local Catholic school was established on the site of the church in 1894. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". The schoolrooms were used until 1972, when the infant section of the school relocated to nearby Greenfield Road. in 1988, after more building work on the new site, the whole school was reunited on its new site at Greenfield Road.
The Church celebrated its centenary in May 1996, two years after the local school.
Military
Brompton Barracks have long been the home of the Royal Engineers. The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers ( RE) and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps Today the regiment also has a museum there. Kitchener Barracks was one of the main Ghurka Rifles barracks and was home to the 69th Ghurka Regiment.
Notable people associated with Gillingham
- Will Adams - Nautical Adventurer & advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu
- David Harvey - Eminent Human Geographer
- Jack Hues - Musician
- Brian Moore - Sport Commentator and Journalist
- Gary Rhodes - Chef and Restaurateur
- Rik Waller - Singer, rose to fame through reality TV show "Pop Idol. For other people called William Adams see William Adams. Early life Adams was born in Gillingham, Kent, England David Harvey (born 1935 is the Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Jack Hues (born Jeremy Allan Ryder on December 10, 1954) is an English musician who is best known for forming the popular 1980s British Brian Moore ( February 28 1932 - September 1 2001) was a British sports commentator Gary Rhodes OBE (born April 22, 1960) is an English restaurateur cookery writer, and Celebrity chef, known for his Rik Waller (b 1981 in Gillingham, Kent, England) is an English Singer. "
- David Frost - Television Presenter
Partner cities
Gillingham is twinned with two Japanese cities, Ito and Yokosuka, the latter being the burial place of Will Adams, Gillingham's most famous son. Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE (born 7 April 1939) is an English Satirist and Television presenter, famed as both a is a city located on the eastern shore of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka, Japan. is a city located in Kanagawa, Japan. It is located at the mouth of Tokyo Bay in the Miura Peninsula, and the city stretches across For other people called William Adams see William Adams. Early life Adams was born in Gillingham, Kent, England
See also
References
- ^ Nigel Yates, Kent in the Twentieth Century
- ^ Medway Council: "Fireman's wedding disaster"
- ^ See www. History The Medway area has a long and varied history dominated Rochester is a town in Kent, England. It is located within the Unitary authority area of Medway and is at the lowest bridging point of the The town of Rainham is part of the Medway Towns conurbation under the Unitary authority of Medway, in South East England, and part of the ceremonial This article is about the town in Kent England For the creek in Essex, see The Strood Strood is a town in the Unitary Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. chathamworldheritage. co. uk
- ^ Gillingham Town Centre Development Framework
- ^ Electric Railways. 'Stendec Systems' (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-16. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols
- ^ Nigel Yates, Kent in the Twentieth Century
External links
- St Mark's Church, New Brompton Includes notes about growth of New Brompton
- Riverside Country Park, New Rainham
- The Medway Portal
- History of Rainham and Gillingham
- A World Heritage Site application for Chatham Dockyard and its Defences
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