Medway
This article is about the Medway towns in England. For others, see Medway (disambiguation)Medway is the name given to a
conurbation in the north of
Kent,
England. It was previously known as "The Medway Towns" as the region consists of five towns on the
River Medway that have gradually merged together. Because of its strategic location by the major crossing of the River Medway by
Watling Street it has made a wide and historically significant contribution to Kent, and to the
United Kingdom.
The five main towns involved in the conurbation are (from west to east in terms of geographical position):
Strood,
Rochester,
Chatham,
Gillingham, and
Rainham. Many smaller towns and villages such as Frindsbury, Brompton,
Walderslade, Luton, Wigmore etc, lie within the conurbation with a few villages outside the main urban area such as
Hoo St Werburgh,
Cliffe and Grain around the area of the
Hoo Peninsula to the north of the main towns and villages such as Cuxton,
Halling and
Wouldham in the
Medway Gap area to the south of
Rochester. The towns now form a single Borough of Medway, a unitary authority governed by Medway Council in
Strood. This administrative area covers several neighbouring towns, some now absorbed into the conurbation, and rural villages (see lists below). It also includes parts of the
North Kent Marshes, an environmentally significant
wetlands region with several
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Other similar areas of conservation include Ranscombe Farm between
Strood and Cuxton with environmentally important rare woodland flowers and orchids.
The Medway area has a long and varied history dominated originally by the city of
Rochester and later by the naval and military establishments principally in
Chatham and
Gilllingham.
Rochester was established by the
Romans, who called it Durobrivae (meaning "stronghold by the bridge"), on an
Iron Age site to control the point where
Watling Street (now the A2) crossed the
River Medway. The first cathedral was buillt by
Bishop Justus in
604 and was rebuilt under the
Normans by
Bishop Gundulf, who also built the
castle which stands opposite the cathedral. Rochester became Medway's first walled town. Under later Saxon influence a mint was established here.
The
Royal Navy opened a
dockyard during the reign of
Henry VIII; it shut in 1984. It was protected by a series of forts including the Great Lines of Defence,
Fort Amherst,
Fort Pitt and
Fort Borstal. The majority of surviving buildings in the
Historic Dockyard are Georgian. It was here that Britain's most famous wooden warship
HMS Victory,
Admiral Nelson's flagship at
Trafalgar, was built and launched in
1765.
Sir Francis Drake learned his seamanship on the Medway;
Sir John Hawkins founded a hospital in Chatham for seamen, and Nelson began his Navy service at Chatham at the age of 12.
William Adams, the first Englishman to reach Japan, was born in
Gillingham. The river was further protected by such fortifications as
Upnor Castle which, in
1667 in varying accounts says it was in part successful in thwarting the Dutch
raid on the dockyard, or the commanding officer fled without firing on the Dutch. Another warship built at Chatham that still exists is
HMS Unicorn (a 46-gun "Leda" class frigate) laid down in February
1822, and launched
30 March 1824. She never saw active service and has been restored and is (as of 2005) preserved afloat in
Dundee, Scotland.
For a complete history of the dockyard, including its closure in 1984, see Chatham DockyardThe
British Army also established barracks here; and the
Royal Engineers headquarters is in Gillingham.
The
Royal Marines also have a long association with
Chatham. The
Chatham Division was based in Chatham until the closure of the
Dockyard.
Succeeding centuries saw the erection of many fine buildings such as the Guildhall (today a museum) in
1687, among the finest 17th century civic buildings in Kent; the Corn Exchange in
1698, originally the Butcher's Market; the small Tudor house of Watts Charity endowed by Sir Richard Watts to house 'six poor travelers' for one night each; Satis House and Old Hall, both visited by
Queen Elizabeth I in
1573. In Medway there are 82
scheduled ancient monuments, 832
Listed buildings and 22
conservation areas. Parts of the city wall are still in evidence.
One of the most famous people with a Medway connection is
Charles Dickens, whose museum was located in Eastgate House in Rochester until its closure in
2004.
Louis Brennan the inventor, also lived in Gillingham.
Medway Waterfront
The Medway Waterfront Renaissance Strategy is a 20 year plan for the redevelopment of up to 7 miles (11km) of waterfront along the
River Medway. This project will create between 6-8,000 new homes and 8,500 new jobs. There are 5 key areas designated for development:
Rochester Riverside
A 74 acre (30 hectare) brownfield site located between the
river and the railway line is being developed with new high quality high density housing. Up to 50 units per hectare will be built. The site has accommodated a wide variety of industrial, commercial and maritime activities since the beginning of the 19th century but has become largely disused in recent years.
Chatham Centre and Waterfront
Chatham Town Centre is the main centre of Medway but has notorius traffic problems and much of the local transport system will be the subject of redevelopment. The waterfront has in recent years been the subject of development with the opening the the Chatham Dockside Outlet Centre and the Medway Tunnel as key examples with more set to follow.
Gillingham Town Centre
Gillingham will see a major redevelopment of the Town Centre. In the plan 150 new parking spaces will be created, along with: creating a new Town Square within a new retail zone, a new cultural and leisure venue, improved connections and use of the Great Lines and Black Lion open spaces, improved pedestrian facilities.
Strood Riverside
A redevelopment of the area including new homes and a landscapeds play area were completed in the 1990s but now there are plans to extend this further along the river past
Strood Railway Station. Under these new plans is to provide between 500-600 new homes, develop the waterfront with new recreational and leisure facilities, improve open public space, provide better access to the train station, the town centre and the
Medway City Estate industrial area.
Temple Waterfront
This 70 hectare area of land is found between the river and Morgans Timeber yard in
Strood. This area is commonly known as "Morgans" or "Morgans field" and is often used by illegal off-road motorcyclists. Under the plans 600 new homes will be built along with 15,000 sq metres of commercial space and a new two hectare site for Morgans Timber. The site also has great potential for consevation.
Medway Gate*
This is not under the Medway waterfront scheme however it is a major development currently underway in
Strrod between
Medway Valley Park and the
M2 junction 2. Much of the development is inside a large unused chalk pit and requires massive landscaping efforts to make it possible to build homes inside the pit. A small field which was hidden well from the main road has also been landscaped significantly as a part of the project. Many problems such as new schools and amenities to accomodate the new homes seem to be still unresolved.
Formation
Throughout the 19th century there had been proposals to join the Medway towns under a single authority. By
1903 moves began to take place: that date saw the creation of the
Borough of
Gillingham to which, in
1928, the adjacent parish of
Rainham was added. Under the
Local Government Act 1972, the City of
Rochester, the
Borough of
Chatham and part of
Strood Rural District were amalgamated to form the
Borough of Medway, with Gillingham remaining separate. In
1982 the district was renamed the Rochester-upon-Medway, and Rochester's city status transferred to the district. In
1998, Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway were merged under the
local government review, to form the Borough of Medway Towns (soon renamed the Borough of Medway), which became a
unitary authority, administratively independent from Kent. Medway applied for
city status in the
2000 and
2002 competitions, but was unsuccessful.
Because of the abolition of Rochester-upon-Medway in 1998, and the decision not to appoint
Charter Trustees, it therefore was removed from the list of
official cities.
The authority
The Council is made up of 55 councillors representing different
wards; there are also eleven
parish representatives from the more rural parts of the Council area:
*
Allhallows*
Cliffe and Cliffe Woods
*
Cooling*
Cuxton*
Frindsbury Extra
*
Halling*
High Halstow*
Hoo St Werburgh* St James
Isle of Grain*
St Mary Hoo*
Stoke* Population: the population of Medway as measured in the 2001 Census was 249,488, of which 49% are male and 59% female. The majority of the population live in the Chatham and Gillingham area. The population of
Chatham being 70540 and the population of
Gillingham being 99773. This is in no small part due to a greater population and housing density in these areas.
* Unemployment: Following the closure of
HM Dockyard Chatham, and the resultant loss of some 20,000 jobs, great attention was paid to unemployment figures. In June 2005 local unemployment stood at 2.3% of the workforce, a total of 3678 people. Many of the currently employed population of 160,000 people work outside the district - especially in
London, which has many transport links from Medway.
Apart from the parishes named above, the following settlements are within the borough. Around the perimeter (especially to the south) there are also many large estates built mainly after WWII.
*
Borstal*
Brompton*
Chatham*
Chattenden*
Frindsbury*
Gillingham*
Hempstead*
Lordswood*
Luton*
Rochester*
Rainham*
St Mary's Island*
Strood*
Twydall*
Wainscott*
Walderslade*
WigmoreThis is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Medway at current basic prices
published (pp.240-253) by
Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Agriculture | Industry | Services |
|---|
| 1995 | 1,823 | 21 | 560 | 1,243 |
| 2000 | 2,348 | 8 | 745 | 1,595 |
| 2003 | 2,671 | 10 | 802 | 1,859 |
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
*
Medway Council*
Detailed history of the Medway Towns*
The Medway Portal
