Tilbury is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the borough of Thurrock in England, at the point where the river suddenly narrows to about 800 yards/740 metres in width.

Tilbury has a deep water port, a fort and was the site of an important ferry to Gravesend on the south bank of the river.

History

Queen Elizabeth I unwisely placed her main army at Tilbury (see Speech to the Troops at Tilbury) where they would have found it difficult to cross the river and prevent the attacking Spanish army from capturing London after it had been landed in Kent by the Armada.

Fort

Forts at Tibury were an important defence of London, particularly during the Spanish Armada and the Dutch Wars. The first permanent fort at Tilbury was built in 1539 by Henry VIII.

Work started on the current fort in 1670 by Sir Bernard de Gomme, the chief army engineer of Charles II. The fort was finished in 1680. It stopped being used for defensive purposes in 1950 and is now a national monument. The fort has several interesting features. The Water Gate is an ornate opening in the walls allowing access to the quay on the river. The defences consist of two moats, a ravelin and a redan.

Docks

The docks at Tilbury operated as London's passenger liner terminal until the 1960s.

Today the port handles a variety of cargo, containers and passenger liner traffic and remains, along with the Port of London and Felixstowe, one of Britain's three major ports.

Transport

Tilbury has two railway stations on the c2c rail route:

• Tilbury Town railway station
• Tilbury East railway station

Tilbury Riverside railway station was closed in 1990 and a bus service now connects Tilbury Town railway station and the ferry to Gravesend.

External links

• Port of Tilbury (http://www.forthports.co.uk/ports/tilbury/)