Revision 46962359 of "Gillingham, Medway" on enwiki

{{infobox England place with map UA|
  |Map=               Gillingham - Kent dot.png
  |Population=        
  |Place=             Gillingham
  |District=          [[Medway]]
  |Region=            [[South East England]]
  |Ceremonial=        [[Kent]]
  |Traditional=       [[Kent]]
  |Constituency=      [[Gillingham (UK Parliament constituency)]]
  |Euro=              [[South East England (European Parliament constituency)|South East England]]
  |PostalTown=        GILLINGHAM
  |PostCode=          ME7
  |DiallingCode=      01634
  |Police=            [[Kent Police]]
  |GridReference=     TQ775675
}}
'''Gillingham''' is a town in [[Kent]] in the [[United Kingdom]],  forming part of the Medway [[conurbation]]; it is a constituent of [[Medway]] [[unitary authority]]. The town includes the settlements of Brompton, Hempstead, Rainham, Rainham Mark, Twydall and Lidsing.

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''.


==Status==

Each of the Medway Towns formerly had a different status: [[Strood]] was a rural district council; [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] a [[city]]; while both [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]] and Gillingham were  boroughs.  When in 1974 the other three became one as Rochester-upon-Medway, Gillingham remained as a borough on its own. It was only when the conurbation was given [[unitary authority]] status that Gillingham lost its independence.

==History==

===Early history===

At the time of the [[Norman Conquest]], Gillingham was a small [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]]; it was given by [[William the Conqueror]] to his half-brother [[Odo of Bayeux]]. The land was mainly farmland, and Odo rebuilt the parish church of St Mark's and constructed an archbishop's palace here.

===Maritime history=== 

*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. Indeed, a large part of [[Chatham Dockyard]] lay within Gillingham. The dockyard was founded by Queen [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] on the site of the present gun wharf, the establishment being transferred to the present site about 1622. 
   
*In [[1667]] a [[Netherlands|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 Dutch, after some consternation and panic from royalty, were eventually driven out, but the incident caused great humiliation to the [[Royal Navy]]. 

*The [[Seven Years War]] began in 1756. 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 [[Fort Amherst|Amherst]]. 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, Kent|Fort Pitt]], Chatham, plus [[Fort Delce]] and [[Fort Clarence]] (both in [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]]); later in the 19th century others were added, including one at [[Fort Darland]] in Gillingham. 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 [[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; additional structures were added in [[1945]] to commemorate the dead of [[World War II]]. Similar monuments stand in the dockyard towns of [[Portsmouth]] and [[Plymouth]].

*The main source of employment was at the dockyard, and when it ceased to be a [[naval base]] in [[1984]], there was huge unemployment. Today much of the area is a [[World Heritage Site]].

==Communications==

===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. That road had been [[toll road|turnpiked]] in 1730, as part of the London–[[Canterbury, Kent|Canterbury]] coaching route.

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. This was to serve the dockyard labourers' homes that had sprung up during the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. A branch line led into the dockyard. The station later became Gillingham.

Train services became part of the suburban network when, in 1933, Gillingham became the terminus of the electrified system of the [[Southern Railway (UK)|Southern Railway]].

==Military==

Brompton Barracks have long been the home of the [[Royal Engineers]]. Today the regiment also has a [[museum]] there. 

==Leisure==
*[[Gillingham FC|Gillingham Football Club]] had played in the English [[Football League Championship]] for five seasons before being relegated to [[League One]] in May 2005.

*The [[marshland]] between the town and the [[River Medway]]'s [[estuary]] is an important [[Habitat_(ecology)|habitat]] protected as the Riverside Country Park.

*The area boasts a sub-regional sports centre (the Black Lion Leisure Centre) which includes the Jumpers Rebound Centre for trampolining.  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.

* Rainham has a leisure pool (The Splashes) with a flume and a wave machine.

* Gillingham has a 97-roomed, family-owned hotel ([http://www.kingcharleshotel.co.uk King Charles Hotel]), with a comfortable restaurant, bar, conference and banqueting facilities, which hosts numerous live tribute cabarets over the Christmas period.

==Sister 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.

==External links==

*[http://www.kingcharleshotel.co.uk/ The King Charles Hotel, Gillingham]
*[http://www.stmarkschurchgillingham.co.uk/historylong.htm St Mark's Church, New Brompton] Includes notes about growth of New Brompton 
*[http://www..medway.gov.uk/index/leisure/countryside/countryparks/2170.html Riverside Country Park, New Rainham]
* [http://www.medwaytowns.net/portal/ The Medway Portal]

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