Gillingham
Coordinates: 51.3792° N 0.5498° E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...
Population	99,773 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	TQ775675
Unitary authority	Medway
Ceremonial county	Kent
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	GILLINGHAM
Postcode district	ME7
Dial code	01634
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Gillingham
European Parliament	South East England

Gillingham is a town in Kent, England, 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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 11 KB) Summary Description: A blank map of the United Kingdom, with country outline and coastline; contact the author for help with modifications or add-ons Source: Reference map provided by Demis Mapper 6 Date: 2006-21-06 Author: User... Image File history File links Red_pog. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. ... This article is about the county in England. ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ... South East England is one of the nine official regions of England. ... This is an alphabetical list of countries of the world, including independent states (both those that are internationally recognised and generally unrecognised), inhabited dependent territories and areas of special sovereignty. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The ME postcode area, also known as the Rochester postcode area[1], is a group of twenty postal districts around Medway in Kent, England. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... Kent Police is the police force covering Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway. ... A Fire Appliance belonging to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service The fire service in the United Kingdom has undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational... Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Kent covering a geographical area south of London, to the coast and including major shipping routes via the Thames and Medway rivers. ... Crest of NHS ambulance services in England Crest of the Scottish Ambulance Service In the UK, the majority of ambulance services are provided under the National Health Service through local ambulance trusts. Each trust is specific to a county or area, and so the country is divided across a number... As of 1st July the NHS Ambulance Services Trusts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex are being joined together to form a new South East Coast Ambulance Service . ... The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). ... Gillingham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom in the 2004 to 2009 session, ordered by name. ... South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... This article is about the county in England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities, towns and villages which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. ... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ... Hempstead is a village near Gillingham in Kent, part of the built-up area of the Medway Towns. ... Rainham is a town in the Medway unitary authority in South East England. ...

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. Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language that was spoken in parts of what is now England and southern Scotland between the mid-fifth century and the mid-twelfth century. ...

Also referred to in old texts as Jillyingham Water, hence the pronunciation being Gillingham (the G sounds as a 'J' as in the girls's name Jill).

Status

Gillingham was created an urban district under the Local Government Act 1894, gaining municipal borough status in 1903. Under the Local Government Act 1972 it became a non-metropolitan district. It merged with the other Medway towns (in the City of Rochester-upon-Medway district) in 1998 under the 1990s UK local government reform. In the British Isles an urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area. ... The Local Government Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. ... A borough is a political division originally used in England. ... The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. ... Non-metropolitan districts or commonly Shire districts are a type of local government district in England. ... The Arms of the City of Rochester-upon-Medway The City of Rochester-upon-Medway was a non-metropolitan district of Kent, England from 1974 to 1998. ... The structure of local government in the United Kingdom underwent large changes in the 1990s. ...

History

Early history

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. The land was mainly farmland, and Odo rebuilt the parish church of St Mary Magdalene and constructed an archbishop's palace here. Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ... A hamlet is (usually — see below) a small settlement, too small or unimportant to be considered a village. ... William I ( 1027 – September 9, 1087), was King of England from 1066 to 1087. ... Odo of Bayeux (c. ...

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 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 Dutch eventually retreated, 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 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, 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. 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.

Flag of the Cinque Ports Formally, in Kent and Sussex there are five Head Ports making up the Confederation of the Cinque Ports, often pronounced as the anglicised sink ports, and meaning five ports (cinque in French means five and ports is to be connected to the Italian word porto... Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway in Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, and thus requiring added defences. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... // Events January 20 - Poland cedes Kyiv, Smolensk, and eastern Ukraine to Russia in the Treaty of Andrusovo that put a final end to the Deluge, and Poland lost its status as a Central European power. ... The River Medway in England flows for 112 km from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it is the latters last tributary. ... Map sources for Queenborough at grid reference TQ908724 Queenborough is a small town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. ... View towards Minster from Elmley Marshes The Isle of Sheppey is a small (36 square miles, 94 km²) island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some 38 miles (62km) to the east of central London. ... Map sources for Sheerness at grid reference TQ919749 Sheerness is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. ... Dutch Attack on the Medway, June 1667 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest, painted c. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Combatants Kingdom of Prussia Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland Electorate of Hanover Kingdom of Portugal Brunswick Hesse-Kassel Holy Roman/Austrian Empire Kingdom of France Russian Empire Kingdom of Sweden Kingdom of Spain Electorate of Saxony Kingdom of Naples and Sicily Kingdom of Sardinia The Seven Years War (1754... Fort Amherst was started in 1756 at the Southern end of the Brompton lines protecting Chatham Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, with the last works about 1820, the lower part is now opened to the public by the Fort Amherst and Lines Trust. ... Fort Pitt is a fort built between 1805 and 1819 on the high ground of the boundary between Chatham and Rochester, Kent. ... Fort Clarence is sited across St Margarets Street in Rochester, Kent. ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nikolay II Aleksey Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Robert Nivelle Herbert H. Asquith D. Lloyd George Sir Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna... This memorial in England lists the names of soldiers who died in the First World War. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... Plymouth is a city of 243,795 inhabitants (2001 census) in the south-west of England, or alternatively the West Country, and is situated within the traditional county of Devon at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar and at the head of one of the worlds largest... Modern Naval Tactics It is tempting to regard modern naval combat as the purest expression of tactics. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State...

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. That road had been turnpiked in 1730, as part of the London–Canterbury coaching route. A Roman road in Pompeii Road Construction on Trajans Column The Roman roads were essential for the growth of their empire, by enabling them to move armies. ... The modern Watling Street crossing the Medway at Rochester near the Roman and Celt crossings Watling Street is the name given to a British ancient trackway which was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. ... There are also M2 motorways in Northern Ireland and Australia The M2 motorway is a motorway in England. ... A toll road, tollway, turnpike, pike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a toll (i. ... Canterbury is a cathedral city in east Kent in South East England and is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England, head of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

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 Railway Station. Crest of the LCDR on the first Blackfriars Railway Bridge The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was a railway company that operated in south-eastern England between 1859 and 1923 before grouping with three other companies to form the Southern Railway. ... Faversham is a town in Kent, England, in the district of Swale, roughly halfway between Sittingbourne and Canterbury. ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Combatants Allies: Austrian Empire[1] Kingdom of Portugal Kingdom of Prussia[1] Russian Empire[2] Kingdom of Spain[3] Kingdom of Sweden United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland[4] French Empire - Kingdom of Holland - Kingdom of Italy - Kingdom of Naples - Duchy of Warsaw - Kingdom of Bavaria[5] - Kingdom of... Gillingham (Kent) railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in Medway, north Kent, between Chatham and Rainham. ...

Services improved significantly when in July 1939,^[1] Gillingham became the terminus of the electrified system of the Southern Railway. 40% (3,062 miles / 4,928 km) of the British rail network is electrified and 60% of all rail journeys are by electric traction (both by locomotives and Multiple Units). ... The Southern Railway in the United Kingdom was the smallest of the four railway systems created in the Grouping ordered by the Railways Act 1921. ...

Military

Brompton Barracks have long been the home of the Royal Engineers. Today the regiment also has a museum there. Kitchener Barracks was one of the main Ghurka Rifles barracks & was home to the 69th Ghurka Regiment. The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ...

Leisure

• Gillingham Football Club had played in the English Football League Championship for five seasons before being relegated to League One in May 2005.
• Gillingham Ice Bowl is the home ice rink for Kent's premier Ice Hockey Club the Invicta Dynamos. The Ice Bowl was officially opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1984.
• The marshland between the town and the River Medway's estuary is an important habitat protected as the Riverside Country Park.
• 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.
• 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.
• The 97-roomed King Charles Hotel has conference and banqueting facilities. It used to be the local NAAFI.

Gillingham F.C. is a football team based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. ... The Football League Championship (often referred to as The Championship for short, the Coca-Cola Football League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the FA Premier League. ... 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 League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system. ... This article is about marsh, a type of wetland. ... The River Medway in England flows for 112 km from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it is the latters last tributary. ...

Notable people associated with Gillingham

• Will Adams - Tudor Nautical Adventurer & Japanese Shogun
• Brian Moore - sport commentator and journalist
• David Harvey - eminent Human Geographer
• Brian Adams - musician

William Adams (September 24, 1564–May 16, 1620), also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama (按針様: anjin, pilot; sama, a Japanese social title) and Miura Anjin (三浦按針: the pilot of Miura), was an English navigator who went to Japan and is believed to be the first Briton ever to reach Japan. ... Brian Moore (1932/1933 - September 1, 2001 was a British sports commentator. ... David Harvey, 1990s David Harvey (b. ...

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. William Adams (September 24, 1564–May 16, 1620), also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama (按針様: anjin, pilot; sama, a Japanese social title) and Miura Anjin (三浦按針: the pilot of Miura), was an English navigator who went to Japan and is believed to be the first Briton ever to reach Japan. ...

See also

• Medway
• Chatham
• Rochester
• Rainham
• Strood
• Gillingham Football Club

Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ... Chatham is an English town that developed around an important naval dockyard on the east bank of the River Medway to the east of London in the county of Kent. ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... Rainham is a town in the Medway unitary authority in South East England. ... Statistics Population: 33182 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ725695 Administration District: Medway Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South East Coast Post office and telephone Post town: ROCHESTER... For the team based in Dorset, see Gillingham Town F.C. Gillingham Football Club is a football team based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. ...

References

1. ^ Electric Railways. 'Stendec Systems' (2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-16.

2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

External links

• The King Charles Hotel, Gillingham
• Invicta SCUBA Divers at the Black Lion Leisure Centre Next to the King Charles Hotel
• St Mark's Church, New Brompton Includes notes about growth of New Brompton
• Riverside Country Park, New Rainham
• The Medway Portal