Medway
From Free net encyclopedia
- This article is about the Medway towns in England. For others, see Medway (disambiguation)
| Borough of Medway | |
|---|---|
| Image:EnglandMedway.png | |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Unitary, Borough |
| Region: | South East England |
| Ceremonial County: | Kent |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 192nd 192.03 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Strood |
| ONS code: | 00LC |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2004 est.) - Density | Ranked 36th 251,100 1,308 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 94.6% White 2.9% S.Asian |
| Politics | |
| Medway Council http://www.medway.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Conservative |
| MPs: | Paul Clark, Robert Marshall-Andrews, Jonathan Shaw |
The Medway Towns is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. The towns are on the River Medway, whence they get their name, and because of that location have made a wide and historically significant contribution to Kent, and to the United Kingdom.
The conurbation was formed by the gradual growth of Rochester, Chatham, Brompton, and Gillingham. 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).
Contents |
History
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 (2005) preserved afloat in Dundee, Scotland.
For a complete history of the Dockyard, including its closure in 1984, see Chatham Dockyard
The British Army also established barracks here; and the Royal Engineers headquarters is in Gillingham.
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 unitary authority
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
Demographics
- Population: the population of the Medway Towns is approximately 250,000 (2005)
- 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.
Settlements in the area
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
- Gillingham
- Hempstead
- Lordswood
- Luton
- Rochester
- Rainham
- Strood
- Twydall
- Wainscott
- Walderslade
- Wigmore
External links
