121-800: The River Medway is a river in South East England . It rises in the High Weald , West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge , Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent , before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness , a total distance of 70 miles (113 km). About 13 miles (21 km) of the river lies in East Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent. The Medway has
242-612: A catchment area of 930 square miles (2,409 km), the second largest in southern England after the Thames . The map opposite shows only the major tributaries : a more detailed map shows the extensive network of smaller streams feeding into the main river. Those tributaries rise from points along the North Downs , the Weald and Ashdown Forest . The major tributaries are: Minor tributaries include: Former minor tributaries include
363-461: A chapel-of-ease . Old St Peter's was demolished in 1974, while St Nicholas' Church has been converted into the diocesan offices but remains consecrated. Continued expansion south has led to the creation of an additional more recent parish of St Justus (1956) covering The Tideway estate and surrounding area. A church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin at Eastgate , which was of Anglo-Saxon foundation,
484-482: A draft of 4 feet (1.2 m) can navigate the river. The shallowest point is just below Sluice Weir Lock, which is prone to silting after heavy rain. Small craft such as canoes can sometimes travel as far as Penshurst . The stretch from Leigh to Allington is known as the Medway Navigation , and is 19 miles (31 km) in length. The Environment Agency is the navigation authority . Downstream of
605-462: A flood barrier was constructed downstream from Leigh to protect Tonbridge, which had been severely affected by the flooding of 1968. During periods of high flow, the flow is controlled by impounding the water and allowing up to 1 square mile (2.6 km) of farmland upstream of the barrier to flood. However, this did not prevent significant flooding in Tonbridge in winter 2013–14. In recent years
726-579: A 400kV electricity circuit. There is no public access. The middle section of the Medway above Tonbridge, partly because of the various tributaries entering the river in this stretch – in particular the River Eden – has always been subject to extensive flooding . Tonbridge has suffered frequent flooding over the centuries, so much so that the higher part of the town to the north is called "Dryhill". Flood protection measures have therefore been taken. In 1981,
847-701: A Mayor, instead having the office of Admiral of the River Medway, whose incumbent acted as de facto civic leader. Since Norman times Rochester had always governed land on the other side of the Medway in Strood , which was known as Strood Intra ; before 1835 it was about 100 yards (91 m) wide and stretched to Gun Lane. In the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 the boundaries were extended to include more of Strood and Frindsbury, and part of Chatham known as Chatham Intra . Like many of
968-505: A bridge since Roman times. In the 14th century the Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge were instituted by Sir John de Cobham to pay for the rebuilding and upkeep of the bridge. Until 1963 the nearest crossing to Rochester Bridge was the 14th-century bridge at Aylesford, 12 miles (19 km) upstream. Since then the following additional crossings have come into use: Three other major crossings are at Tonbridge, where bridges carry
1089-757: A constructor of flying boats with aircraft such as the Singapore , Empire 'C'-Class and Sunderland . During the Second World War , Shorts also designed and manufactured the first four-engined bomber , the Stirling . The UK 's decline in naval power and shipbuilding competitiveness led to the government decommissioning the RN Shipyard at Chatham in 1984, which led to the subsequent demise of much local maritime industry. Rochester and its neighbouring communities were hit hard by this and have experienced
1210-619: A grammar school: 12%; the next highest is the South-West with 6%. The most-educated people ( NQF level 4 or above) in the region live in Elmbridge (51%), then Waverley, and Epsom and Ewell; 33% of people are at this level for the South-East, only second to London at 40%. Rochester, Kent Rochester ( / ˈ r ɒ tʃ ɪ s t ər / ROTCH -iss-tər ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway , in Kent , England. It
1331-430: A painful adjustment to a post-industrial economy , with much social deprivation and unemployment resulting. On the closure of Chatham Dockyard the area experienced an unprecedented surge in unemployment to 24%; this had dropped to 2.4% of the local population by 2014. Rochester was recognised as a City from 1211 to 1998. The City of Rochester's ancient status was unique, as it had no formal council or Charter Trustees nor
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#17327650949361452-571: A prosperous economic hub with the largest economy of any region in the UK, after London . The region is home to Gatwick Airport , the UK's second-busiest airport, and Heathrow Airport (the UK's busiest airport) is located adjacent to the region's boundary with Greater London . The coastline along the English Channel provides numerous ferry crossings to mainland Europe . The region is known for its countryside, which includes two national parks:
1573-613: A thriving youth company and a children's workshop for younger people. Every summer the Duncan Rand One-Act Play Festival (named after one of Medway Little Theatre's founders) attracts groups from far and wide. Local newspapers for Rochester include the Medway Messenger , published by the KM Group , and free papers. The local commercial radio station for Rochester is KMFM Medway , owned by
1694-701: Is a 144-ft beech at Devil's Dyke in Newtimber Woods in West Sussex. Until 1999, there was a south east Standard Statistical Region , which also included the counties of Bedfordshire , Greater London , Essex and Hertfordshire . The former south east Civil Defence Region covered the same area as the current official region. In unofficial usage, the South East can refer to a varying area – sometimes only to London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, and Surrey; but sometimes to an area corresponding to
1815-527: Is a level-1 NUTS region, coded "UKJ", which is subdivided as follows: Buckinghamshire, Medway and Kent, and Slough have an almost completely selective education system – not just a few grammar schools as other English areas may have – with secondary modern schools as the alternative. Kent has 33 grammar schools, Buckinghamshire 13, Medway 6 and Slough 4. The other areas are comprehensive . The top thirty schools at A level are almost exclusively selective schools; one or two are sixth form colleges . However,
1936-530: Is a song by local man George Gilbert; it was written in the mid-1960s and is often played in local folk clubs and at festivals in Kent. The River Medway is featured at Maidstone in the studio backdrop of the ITV1 regional news programme Meridian Tonight . At 7.15 p.m. on 1 May each year, local Morris dancers Kettle Bridge Clogs dance across Barming Bridge (otherwise known as the Kettle Bridge) to mark
2057-551: Is an official region for statistical and strategic planning purposes, but is not served by any directly elected regional government. From 1998 to 2010 local councils sent to the voluntary South East England Regional Assembly , based in Guildford . Delegates met six times a year and it was responsible for the South East England Development Agency , a project which oversaw investment projects in
2178-603: Is associated with Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School . Cricket is played in the town, with teams entered in the Kent Cricket League . Holcombe Hockey Club enter teams in both the Men's and Women's England Hockey Leagues . Speedway was staged on a track adjacent to City Way that opened in 1932. Proposals for a revival in the early 1970s did not materialise and the Rochester Bombers became
2299-575: Is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway , about 30 miles (50 km) from London . The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham , Rainham , Strood and Gillingham . Rochester was a city until losing its status as one in 1998 following the forming of Medway and failing to protect its status as a city, the first city to do so in the history of the United Kingdom. There have been ongoing campaigns to reinstate
2420-616: Is at the junction of the Varsity Line (between Oxford and Cambridge) and the West Coast Main Line . The Harwell computer (Dekatron), now at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley, was built in 1949 and is believed to be the oldest working digital computer in the world. John Wallis of Kent introduced the symbol for infinity and the standard notation for powers of numbers in 1656. Thomas Bayes
2541-421: Is more accurately reflected by these officially recorded figures than by readings taken at Rochester Airport. North and North West Kent continue to record higher temperatures in summer , sometimes being the hottest area of the country, eg. on the warmest day of 2011, when temperatures reached 33.1 degrees. Additionally, it holds at least two records for the year 2010, of 30.9 °C and 31.7 °C. Another record
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#17327650949362662-524: Is recognised as the second oldest continuously running school in the world . Rochester Castle , built by Bishop Gundulf of Rochester , has one of the best-preserved keeps in either England or France. During the First Barons' War (1215–1217) in King John's reign, baronial forces captured the castle from Archbishop Stephen Langton and held it against the king, who then besieged it. As well as
2783-669: Is responsible for the conservancy of the River as enshrined in current legislation. The City Freedom can be obtained by residents after serving a period of "servitude", i.e. apprenticeship (traditionally seven years), before admission as a Freeman. The annual ceremonial Beating of the Bounds by the River Medway takes place after the Admiralty Court, usually on the first Saturday of July. There were three medieval parishes : St Nicholas', St Margaret's and St Clement's. St Clement's
2904-649: Is strong support for other parties, for example, Oxford , Slough and Southampton Test for Labour and Brighton Pavilion which is held by the Green Party . Out of 84 parliamentary seats, the Conservatives hold 72. In the 2017 general election, the Conservatives won 54.8% of votes, Labour 28.6%, Liberal Democrats 10.6%, Greens 3.1%, and UKIP 2.2%. In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), South East England
3025-667: Is the Rochester Literature Festival, the brainchild of three local writers. A new public library was built alongside the Adult Education Centre, Eastgate. This enabled the registry office to move from Maidstone Road, Chatham into the Corn Exchange on Rochester High Street (where the library was formerly housed). As mentioned in a report presented to Medway Council's Community Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 28 March 2006,
3146-442: Is the third-largest region of England, with a land area of 19,072 square kilometres (7,364 sq mi), and is also the most populous with a total population of 9,379,833 in 2022. The region contains eight legally chartered cities : Brighton and Hove , Canterbury , Chichester , Milton Keynes , Oxford , Portsmouth , Southampton and Winchester . The region's close proximity to London has led to South East England becoming
3267-742: Is understood to have constituted a parish until the Middle Ages, but few records survive. On 1 April 1974, the City Council was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 , and the territory was merged with the District of Medway, Borough of Chatham and most of Strood Rural District , including the parishes of Cuxton , Halling and Cliffe , and the Hoo Peninsula , to form a new a local government district called
3388-462: Is working for a commercial trade. See Medway watermills , and Medway watermills on the upper tributaries , the middle tributaries and the lower tributaries for more details. Medway scenes: South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England in the United Kingdom at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of
3509-669: The A227 road and a rail link over the river; there is also a two-span viaduct which takes the A21 over the Medway Valley near Haysden. The lowest crossing of the Medway are two cable tunnels between the Isle of Grain and Chetney marshes. These were built between 1973 and 1976 in anticipation of the commissioning of Grain power station . The tunnels are 1700 m long, 2.54 m in diameter and between 34 and 47 m below ordnance datum; each carries
3630-663: The A32 , is an example of a site where the Romano-British grew Roman grapes . Much of the Battle of Britain was fought in this region, especially in Kent. RAF Bomber Command was based at High Wycombe . RAF Medmenham at Danesfield House , west of Marlow in Buckinghamshire, was important for aerial reconnaissance . Operation Corona , based at RAF Kingsdown (at West Kingsdown next to Brands Hatch in Kent, between
3751-520: The Borough of Medway , within the county of Kent. Medway Borough Council applied to inherit Rochester's city status , but this was refused; instead letters patent were granted constituting the area of the former Rochester local government district to be the City of Rochester, to "perpetuate the ancient name" and to recall "the long history and proud heritage of the said City". The Home Office said that
River Medway - Misplaced Pages Continue
3872-1011: The New Forest and the South Downs , as well as the North Downs , the Chiltern Hills and part of the Cotswolds . The River Thames flows through the region and its basin is known as the Thames Valley . It is also the location of a number of internationally known places of interest, such as HMS Victory in Portsmouth, Cliveden in Buckinghamshire, Thorpe Park and RHS Wisley in Surrey, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, Windsor Castle in Berkshire, Leeds Castle ,
3993-636: The Romford Bombers . Sailing and rowing are also popular on the River Medway with respective clubs being based in Rochester. The 1959 James Bond novel Goldfinger describes Bond driving along the A2 through the Medway Towns from Strood to Chatham. Of interest is the mention of "inevitable traffic jams" on the Strood side of Rochester Bridge , the novel being written some years prior to
4114-589: The Second Anglo-Dutch War . The Dutch, commanded by Admiral de Ruijter , broke through the chain at Upnor and sailed to Rochester Bridge capturing part of the English fleet and burning it. The Royal Navy Dockyard 's establishment at Chatham witnessed the beginning of the Royal Navy 's long period of supremacy. The town, as part of Medway, is surrounded by two circles of fortresses ;
4235-546: The Thames is given extensive treatment by Edmund Spenser 's The Faerie Queene in the 16th century (Book IV, Canto xi). Joseph Conrad describes the view up the Medway from the Thames Estuary in The Mirror of the Sea (1906). For the 1999 film The Mummy the river was filmed at Chatham Dockyard , in an imitation of a "port at Cairo ". The scene is brief but involves the main protagonists departing on their mission to
4356-705: The White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, Brighton Palace Pier , and Hammerwood Park in East Sussex, and Wakehurst Place in West Sussex. The region has many universities; the University of Oxford is the oldest in the English-speaking world, and ranked among the best in the world. South East England is host to various sporting events, including the annual Henley Royal Regatta , Royal Ascot and The Derby , and sporting venues include Wentworth Golf Club and Brands Hatch . Some of
4477-468: The circulation of blood . The Lilly Research Centre in Windlesham, Berkshire, part of Eli Lilly , developed Olanzapine in 1996 (for bipolar disorder , selling around $ 5bn worldwide annually). Beecham Research Laboratories at Brockham Park in 1959 discovered meticillin (or methicillin), the first semi-synthetic penicillin ( beta-lactamase stable), deriving from their discovery in 1958 of 6-APA ,
4598-773: The flying tail or all-moving tail also known as a stabilator ; this would solve the problem of stability and aircraft control at supersonic speeds , and its design was taken wholesale into the American Bell X-1 , the first supersonic aircraft . The first Harrier aircraft XV738 flew on 28 December 1967; this was the first aircraft of the RAF to have a head-up display avionics system. The first two-seat Harrier XW174 flew on 24 April 1969, later crashing at Larkhill in June 1969. The British Aerospace Sea Harrier XZ450 first flew on 20 August 1978; on 4 May 1982 this aircraft
4719-535: The plan position indicator method of radar display as most commonly known ever since; the site became Plessey Radar in 1965, and currently is run by BAE Systems. Sperry Gyroscope in Bracknell produced the guidance systems for Britain's 1960s space rockets. The Wealden iron industry in the Weald was the site of the first blast furnace in Britain in 1491, and produced much of Britain's cast iron until
4840-429: The "Awakening of Jack-in-the-Green" ceremony, and continues in Rochester High Street over the May Bank Holiday weekend. There are numerous other festivals in Rochester apart from the Sweeps Festival. The association with Dickens is the theme for Rochester's two Dickens Festivals held annually in June and December. The Medway Fuse Festival usually arranges performances in Rochester and the latest festival to take shape
4961-407: The 14th century up to the 18th century. The chapel of St Bartholomew's Hospital dates from the ancient priory hospital's foundation in 1078. In the 21st century the Riverside area north of the railway line has been redeveloped to provide new housing and a primary school. Thomas Aveling started a small business in 1850 producing and repairing agricultural plant equipment . In 1861 this became
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5082-533: The 1770s. Portsmouth Block Mills were the site of the world's first metal machine tools , built for the manufacture of wooden pulleys , invented by Henry Maudslay , and the site of the world's first industrial assembly line in 1803. South Foreland Lighthouse on 8 December 1858 was the world's first lighthouse with electric light, with the first type of industrial electrical generator made by Frederick Hale Holmes , from work he had carried out with Floris Nollet of Belgium, and 36 permanent magnets. By 1880, of
5203-472: The 19th century the parish of St Peter's was created to serve the burgeoning city with the new church being consecrated in 1859. Following demographic shifts, St Peter's and St Margaret's were recombined as a joint benefice in 1953 with the parish of St Nicholas with St Clement being absorbed in 1971. The combined parish is now the "Parish of St Peter with St Margaret", centred at the new (1973) Parish Centre in The Delce (St Peter's) with St Margaret's remaining as
5324-428: The A20 and M20), was implemented to confuse German night fighters with native German-speakers, and coordinated by the RAF Y service . Bletchley Park in north Buckinghamshire was the principal Allied centre for codebreaking. The Colossus computer , arguably the world's first, began working on Lorentz codes on 5 February 1944, with Colossus 2 working from June 1944. The site was chosen, among other reasons, because it
5445-513: The British word Dourbruf meaning "swiftstream". Durobrivis was pronounced 'Robrivis. Later, the word cæster (=castle, from Latin castrum ) was added to the name, and the city was called Robrivis Cæster . Bede mentions the city in c. 730 and calls it Hrofes cæster , mistaking its meaning as Hrofi's fortified camp. From this came c. 730 Hrofæscæstre, 811 Hrofescester, 1086 Rovescester, 1610 Rochester. The Latinised adjective 'Roffensis' refers to Rochester. Neolithic remains have been found in
5566-425: The KM Group. Medway is also served by community radio station Radio Sunlight which is now an online service. The area also receives broadcasts from county-wide stations BBC Radio Kent , Heart , Gold and Smooth , as well as from various Essex and Greater London radio stations. Rochester is part of the ITV Meridian and BBC South East area, receiving television signals from the Bluebell Hill transmitter on
5687-414: The M40); on 13 March 1962, the first in-flight rocket-powered ejection took place by Peter Howard , an RAF doctor based at Farnborough's Institute of Aviation Medicine in Meteor WA364 at 250 ft over Chalgrove, with the rocket giving a maximum force of 16G. The Miles M.52 , designed at Woodley Aerodrome in Berkshire by Miles Aircraft , was an advanced design of aircraft which had the innovation of
5808-419: The Mayor of Medway when that unitary authority was created, along with the Admiralty Court for the River which constitutes a committee of the Council. On 1 April 1998, the existing local government districts of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were abolished and became the new unitary authority of Medway . The Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions informed the city council that since it
5929-502: The Medway , in 1667 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War . In the 18th century Samuel Ireland published an illustrated book about a journey up the river, to the River Bewl at Bayham Abbey. The book's map shows some of the tributaries (unnamed). The illustrations include the castles at Queenborough , Upnor , Leybourne , Tonbridge and Hever ; Penshurst Place ; and the bridges at Teston , Maidstone , Aylesford, East Farleigh , Barming , Branbridges and Tonbridge. The hop fields in
6050-399: The Medway bridges (M2, HS1) the river comprises a sequence of tidal reaches: One of the channels on the southern side of the estuary, Stangate Creek, is the subject of a painting by William Turner . In a location described as "opposite the Isle of Grain , Sharpfleet Creek, and the lower-end of the Hope", a quarantine site for ships was proclaimed on 16 September 1709, during an outbreak of
6171-401: The Medway, namely Fort Hoo and Fort Darnet . During the First World War the Short Brothers ' aircraft manufacturing company developed the first plane to launch a torpedo, the Short Admiralty Type 184 , at its seaplane factory on the River Medway not far from Rochester Castle. In the intervening period between the 20th century World Wars the company established a world-wide reputation as
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#17327650949366292-509: The North Downs at the Medway Gap , a steep and narrow valley near Rochester , before its final section to the sea. Until 1746, the river was not navigable above Maidstone. Below that point each village on the river had its wharf or wharves: at Halling , Snodland , New Hythe and Aylesford . Cargoes included corn, fodder, fruit, stone and timber. In 1746, improvements to the channel meant that barges of 40 long tons (41 t) could reach East Farleigh , Yalding and even Tonbridge. In 1828,
6413-416: The Old Bourne River, which flowed through the Brook, Chatham (not to be confused with the main tributary River Bourne). The river and its tributaries flow through largely rural areas, Tonbridge , Maidstone and Medway being the exceptions. The Medway itself initially flows in a west–east direction south of the North Downs ; at the confluence of the River Beult, however, it turns north and breaks through
6534-401: The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Year of 2012. Any future bid to regain formal City status has been recommended to be made under the aegis of Rochester-upon-Medway . The 2011 definition of Rochester includes Strood to the northwest and is defined as an urban subdivision with a 2011 population of 62,982. Strood makes up the majority of Rochester's population on the west bank of the river, making
6655-445: The UK was at Epsom telephone exchange from 18 May 1912. It was introduced as standard across the UK's 6,700 telephone exchanges in 1922, lasting for around 70 years; it could handle up to 500 lines. It used the Strowger design and was made by Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Company of Liverpool. The world's first automatic telephone exchange had opened in La Porte, Indiana in November 1892. UK-Belgium 5 , laid in 1986 from Kent,
6776-427: The UK, at Farnborough; on 14 May 1909 he flew it for more than a mile. On 13 August 1909, his wife was the first woman in the UK to fly in a plane, also at Farnborough. The first human airborne ejection seat firing took place on 24 July 1946 over Chalgrove Airfield , Oxfordshire, in a Meteor , piloted by Bernard Lynch ; the first dummy ejection had been 10 May 1945 over RAF Oakley in west Buckinghamshire (today near
6897-421: The administrative capital of England some time in the 13th century as its influence waned while the City of London dominated commerce. The last monarch to be crowned at Winchester was Richard II in 1377, although the last monarch to be crowned by the Bishop of Winchester was Queen Mary I in 1553. The Meonhill Vineyard, near Old Winchester Hill in east Hampshire on the South Downs south of West Meon on
7018-459: The arrival of the Romans. It is a focal point between two routes, being part of the main route connecting London with the Continent and the north-south routes following the course of the Medway connecting Maidstone and the Weald of Kent with the Thames and the North Sea. The Thames Marshes were an important source of salt . Rochester's roads follow north Kent's valleys and ridges of steep-sided chalk bournes . There are four ways out of town to
7139-412: The astronomer, from Kent, invented the term photography in 1839, meaning light writing . and discovered the first photographic fixer , sodium thiosulphate , known as hypo , also in 1839. GLEEP was Britain's first nuclear reactor, in August 1947 at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) at Harwell, it would stay operational until 1990. William Harvey of Folkestone, in Kent, discovered
7260-430: The building of the current cathedral (1080–1130, 1227 and 1343), the building of two castles and the establishment of a significant town. Rochester Castle saw action in the sieges of 1215 and 1264. Rochester's basic street plan was set out, constrained by the river, Watling Street, Rochester Priory and Rochester Castle. Rochester has produced two martyrs: St John Fisher , executed by Henry VIII for refusing to sanction
7381-444: The channel was further improved up to Leigh . There are eleven locks on the river. The lowest, opened in 1792, is at Allington , and is the tidal limit . The others are at East Farleigh , Teston , Hampstead Lane , Stoneham Old Lock (disused), Sluice Weir Lock , Oak Weir Lock , East Lock, Porter's, Eldridge's and Town Lock in Tonbridge . The locks will take craft up to 80 feet (24 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m), and vessels with
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#17327650949367502-483: The city of the dead. The Maidstone River Festival, to celebrate the River Medway, running annually since 1980, is held on the last Saturday of July. It features events on and around the river and attracts thousands to Kent's county town. The festival was cancelled in 2012 due to the London Olympics, but returned in 2013. However, the 2013 event did not include a funfair or a fireworks display as in previous years, and lasted just one day instead of two. Medway Flows Softly
7623-406: The city status for Rochester. In 2011 it had a population of 62,982. Rochester was for many years a favourite of Charles Dickens , who owned nearby Gads Hill Place , Higham , basing many of his novels on the area. The Diocese of Rochester , the second oldest in England , is centred on Rochester Cathedral and was responsible for founding a school, now The King's School , in 604 AD, which
7744-449: The city status may be extended to the entire borough if it had "Rochester" in its name, so in 1979, Medway Borough Council renamed the borough to the Borough of Rochester-upon-Medway, and in 1982, Rochester's city status was transferred to the entire borough by letters patent, with the district being called the City of Rochester-upon-Medway . The Admiral of the River Medway was ex-officio Mayor of Rochester and this dignity transferred to
7865-409: The construction of the M2 motorway Medway bypass. Rochester is the setting of the controversial 1965 Peter Watkins television film The War Game , which depicts the town's destruction by a nuclear missile. The opening sequence was shot in Chatham Town Hall , but the credits particularly thank the people of Dover , Gravesend and Tonbridge . The 2011 adventure film Ironclad is based upon
7986-414: The conurbation known as the Greater London Urban Area . The South East has the highest percentage of people born outside of Britain other than London . According to the 2021 census, 78.8% of residents were White British , 7.1% Other White (inc. 0.8% Irish ), 7.0% British Asian , 2.8% Mixed Race , 2.4% Black British , and 1.4% of other groups . There was no census in 1941. South East England
8107-430: The core constituent; the team, led by Prof George Rolinson, won the Mullard Award in 1971. Bipyridine compounds (Paraquat-Gramoxone and Diquat) were discovered for herbicide use in 1954 by William Boon at ICI's Plant Protection division at Jealott's Hill, being released onto the market in 1958. AZT/Retrovir ( zidovudine ) was first manufactured by Wellcome in 1987 in Kent; they also introduced Zovirax ( aciclovir ), and
8228-417: The crest of the North Downs to the SE, supplemented by a low power relay transmitter in central Chatham. Football is played with many teams competing in Saturday and Sunday leagues. The local football club is Rochester United F.C . Rochester F.C. was its old football club but has been defunct for many decades. Rugby is also played; Medway RFC play their matches at Priestfields and Old Williamsonians
8349-400: The divorce of Catherine of Aragon ; and Bishop Nicholas Ridley , executed by Queen Mary for being an English Reformation protestant . Rochester has for centuries been of great strategic importance through its position near the confluence of the Thames and the Medway . Rochester Castle was built to guard the river crossing. In 1667, the city was raided by the Dutch fleet as part of
8470-415: The early 1900s. Though not unique to Rochester (similar sweeps' gatherings were held across southern England, including in Bristol, Deptford, Whitstable and Hastings), its revival was directly inspired by Dickens' description of the celebration in Sketches by Boz . The festival has since grown from a small gathering of local Morris dance sides to one of the largest in the world. The festival begins with
8591-434: The early 1960s. Donald Watts Davies invented packet switching in the late 1960s at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington . Packet-switching was taken up by the Americans to form the ARPANET , the precursor to the Internet. Surrey's Alec Reeves invented pulse-code modulation (PCM) in 1937 (at ITT 's research laboratories in Paris), the standard for digital audio recordings. Sir John Herschel , son of
8712-583: The events of the 2012 Summer Olympics were held in the south east, including the rowing at Eton Dorney and part of the cycling road race in the Surrey Hills . In medieval times , South East England included much of the Kingdom of Wessex , which was the precursor to the modern state of England . Winchester was the capital of England after unification of the various states, including the kingdoms of Kent , Sussex and Mercia . Winchester stopped being
8833-413: The firm of Aveling and Porter , which was to become the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery and steam rollers in the country. Aveling was elected Admiral of the River Medway (i.e. Mayor of Rochester) for 1869-70. Tourism is now a sector. Since 1980 the city has seen the revival of the historic Rochester Jack-in-the-Green May Day dancing chimney sweeps tradition, which had died out in
8954-802: The first point of sale terminal in Europe - the NCR 280 in 1973. The National Fruit Collection is the largest collection of fruit trees in the world, at Brogdale , and is next to the M2 at the A251 junction in Ospringe . Scalextric was invented by Fred Francis in 1956, who founded Minimodels in Havant; initially the model cars had been clockwork ; it was made from 1967 at Triang in Margate. The world's first Mars Bar
9075-579: The first to assign the correct atomic number to elements in periodic table ; he did not receive any Nobel Prize as it is not awarded posthumously (he was killed in 1915 at Gallipoli with the Royal Engineers). Carbon fibre was invented in 1963 at the RAE in Farnborough by a team led by William Watt. The Apollo LCG space-suit cooling system originated mostly from work done at RAE Farnborough in
9196-531: The flood-swollen river. In 1914 HMS Bulwark exploded while moored at Kethole Reach near Sheerness, killing 741 men with only 12 survivors. The following year HMS Princess Irene exploded in Saltpan Reach with the loss of 352 lives. In 1942 the world's first test of a submarine oil pipeline was conducted with one laid across the Medway in Operation Pluto . The Medway's 'marriage' to
9317-414: The former Standard Statistical Region. The South East is also occasionally used as a synonym for the home counties . The population of the region at the 2011 census was 8,634,750 making it the most populous English region. The major conurbations of the region include South Hampshire (855,000), Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton (474,000) and Reading (318,000). Settlements closer to London are part of
9438-454: The former railway station. Converted from a building which in its almost 200-year history had been, amongst other things, a wine merchants, warehouse and printing works the theatre's first season was in 1958. Since then hundreds of plays have been presented ranging from Shakespeare to Ayckbourn, modern classics to timeless farces along with many plays presented for the first time in the Medway Towns and, indeed, Kent. Medway Little Theatre also has
9559-543: The highest temperatures since meteorological records began in the United Kingdom , with a reading of 38.1 degrees Celsius (100.6 degrees Fahrenheit), only beaten by Brogdale , near Faversham , 22 miles (35 km) to the ESE. The weather station at Brogdale is run by a volunteer, only reporting its data once a month, whereas Gravesend , which has an official Met Office site at the PLA pilot station, reports data hourly. Being near
9680-466: The historic centre, the suburbs of Borstal and The Delce are also part of Rochester, forming part of the Medway Towns urban area with a population of about 250,000. The Romano-British name for Rochester was Durobrivae , later Durobrivis c. 730 and Dorobrevis in 844. The two commonly cited origins of this name are that it either came from "stronghold by the bridge(s)" or is the latinisation of
9801-547: The historic medieval city. However, Rochester historically also included the ancient wards of Strood Intra on the river's west bank, and Chatham Intra as well as the three old parishes on the Medway's east bank. The diocese of Rochester is another geographical entity which can be referred to as Rochester. Rochester has an oceanic climate similar to much of southern England, being accorded Köppen Climate Classification-subtype of " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate). On 10 August 2003, neighbouring Gravesend recorded one of
9922-657: The inner line built during the Napoleonic wars consists of Fort Clarence , Fort Pitt , Fort Amherst and Fort Gillingham . The outer line of Palmerston Forts was built during the 1860s in light of the report by the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom and consists of Fort Borstal , Fort Bridgewood , Fort Luton , and the Twydall Redoubts , with two additional forts on islands in
10043-474: The later Roman period, the settlement was walled in stone. King Æthelberht of Kent (560–616) established a legal system which has been preserved in the 12th-century Textus Roffensis . In AD 604, the bishopric and cathedral were founded. During this period, from the recall of the legions until the Norman conquest , Rochester was sacked at least twice and besieged on another occasion. The medieval period saw
10164-657: The local parishes. Rochester's pre-1537 diocese, under the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome, covered a vast area extending into East Anglia and included all of Essex. As a result of the restructuring of the Church during the Reformation the cathedral was reconsecrated as the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary without parochial responsibilities, being a diocesan church. In
10285-511: The lower Medway Valley; later Jutish burial sites have also been found. The Domesday Book records many manors in the Medway valley. Castles became a feature of the landscape, including Rochester , Allington , Leeds (near Maidstone), and West Malling . Two military actions are named after the river: the Battle of the Medway (43 CE , during the Roman invasion of Britain ); and the Raid on
10406-545: The medieval towns of England, Rochester had civic Freemen whose historic duties and rights were abolished by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. However, the Guild of Free Fishers and Dredgers continues to the present day and retains rights, duties and responsibilities on the Medway, between Sheerness and Hawkwood Stone. This ancient corporate body convenes at the Admiralty Court whose Jury of Freemen
10527-562: The mouth of the Thames Estuary with the North Sea, Rochester is relatively close to continental Europe and enjoys a somewhat less temperate climate than other parts of Kent and most of East Anglia. It is therefore less cloudy, drier and less prone to Atlantic depressions with their associated wind and rain than western regions of Britain, as well as being hotter in summer and colder in winter. Rochester city centre's micro-climate
10648-530: The naturally occurring digoxin , a cardiac glycoside . After a plane crashed near his house in Oxford in 1940, Sir Peter Medawar helped the injured pilot, and in the process discovered homograft rejection , leading to organ transplantation using azathioprine . Viagra ( Sildenafil ) was synthesized at Pfizer in Sandwich, Kent. Sir Francis Pettit Smith of Kent invented the screw propeller . On 3 May 1830
10769-646: The new library opened in late summer (2006). A new Huguenot Museum, which includes items from the collections of the French Hospital , was opened in Rochester on 13 May 2015, with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and individual donations. There is a small amateur theatre, Medway Little Theatre, on St Margaret's Banks, Rochester High Street (the part of the High Street that continues from Star Hill towards Chatham) and just opposite
10890-593: The nine counties of Berkshire , Buckinghamshire , East Sussex , Hampshire , the Isle of Wight , Kent , Oxfordshire , Surrey and West Sussex . Cities and towns in the region include Aldershot , Ashford , Aylesbury , Basingstoke , Bracknell , Brighton and Hove , Canterbury , Chichester , Crawley , Eastbourne , Farnborough , Gosport , Guildford , Hastings , High Wycombe , Margate , Maidstone , Medway , Milton Keynes , Newport , Oxford , Portsmouth , Ramsgate , Reading , Slough , Southampton , Winchester , Woking and Worthing . South East England
11011-471: The plague . The area had been leased to oyster fisherman, so compensation was paid to them. Nearly 150 ships quarantined there in the first six months of 1712, and the site was again used between 1721 and 1743. In 1918 to 1920, damages were sought for damage done to an oyster fishery in Stangate Creek. Until recently the lowest public crossing of the Medway was at Rochester , where there has been
11132-640: The region are at state secondary schools (the highest in England) with 101,000 in Kent (the highest in England for a county and completely selective) then 70,000 in Hampshire, 60,000 in Surrey, 45,000 in West Sussex, 36,000 in Oxfordshire, 35,000 in Buckinghamsire. The lowest is 6,000 at Bracknell Forest, then Reading with about 6,000. Of all regions, the South-East has the greatest percentage that attend
11253-689: The region is the chimney of Grain Power Station at 801 ft; it is the second-tallest chimney in the UK after Drax power station . George Albert Smith developed the first colour film process, known as Kinemacolor , in 1906 at Southwick, West Sussex . George E. Davis from Slough, is the founding father of chemical engineering. Wiggins Teape, later ARJO Wiggins Fine Papers , had the largest paper research centre in Europe at Butlers Court in Beaconsfield; built in 1891 and vacated in 2009. Bentalls in Bracknell (now Fenwick since 2017) had
11374-507: The region. It was abolished on 31 March 2009 and replaced with South East England Councils in Kingston upon Thames . The region is divided into several local council areas, most composed of two-tiered councils (the tiers are county councils and district councils) and unitary authorities : The South East of England is the most Conservative voting region of Britain in terms of both seats and votes. The area also has some seats where there
11495-546: The results for each county as a whole are not always directly related to the number of grammar schools, as Kent and Medway perform below average at A-level. The King's School, Canterbury claims to be oldest in England: 597 AD. Herschel Grammar School in Slough is the most oversubscribed school in England, with 14 people per place, Langley Grammar School in Slough is next with 13 per place, then Burnham Grammar School. 508,000 in
11616-597: The river at Yalding . At West Peckham , it is joined by the Wealdway which continues through Tonbridge, thus linking with the Eden Valley Walk. Maidstone Millennium River Park is a 10 kilometres (6 mi) walk from Teston Country Park to the Museum of Kent Life at Sandling . The park, built between 1998 and 2001, has transformed 18 acres (7.3 ha) of wasteland and three new footbridges have been built over
11737-500: The river. Ancient sites abound throughout the length of the River Medway. The area around Aylesford is a notable Stone Age site where the Medway megaliths are a group of Neolithic chamber tombs including the Coldrum Stones and Kit's Coty House . Bronze Age ornaments and beakers have been found along the river; other burial sites and finds come from the pre-Roman Iron Age . The Romans left evidence of many villas in
11858-527: The south: up Star Hill, via The Delce , along the Maidstone Road or through Borstal . The town is inextricably linked with the neighbouring Medway Towns but separated from Maidstone by a protective ridge known as the Downs , a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . At its most limited geographical size, Rochester is defined as the market town within the city walls , now associated with
11979-412: The start of their Morris dancing season. Recreationally the river is used by many. For example, individuals and many clubs have paddling trips along many different parts of the Medway (e.g. Bewl Canoe Club). Individuals and club members paddling on the Medway and most other rivers should be members of British Canoeing . The Medway is said to divide the county of Kent into two parts: this may allude to
12100-525: The ten lighthouses with electric light, five were in the UK. From the lighthouse in 1899, the first international radio broadcast to France was made. Zénobe Gramme of Belgium made a much better design in 1870 with self-excitation of magnets, and the first modern dynamo . North Foreland Lighthouse was the UK's last-staffed lighthouse until 1998. Portland cement was developed in Northfleet, Kent, by William Aspdin, son of Joseph Aspdin . The development
12221-491: The town consists of London Clay , and the alluvium brought down by the two rivers—the Thames and the Medway —whose confluence is in this area. The land rises from the river, and being on the dip slope of the North Downs , this consists of chalk surmounted by the Blackheath Beds of sand and gravel. As a human settlement , Rochester became established as the lowest river crossing of the River Medway, well before
12342-468: The town of Rochester itself on the east bank actually smaller and less populated than its neighbouring town; should the two towns ever separate Strood would be the larger of the two. Lauren Edwards MP is the current Labour parliamentary representative for the constituency . Rochester lies within the area, known to geologists , as the London Basin . The low-lying Hoo peninsula to the north of
12463-407: The traditional county absorbed into London since the 1880s. The power of the Medway has been harnessed for a millennium or more. Waterwheels and turbines powered by the waters of the Medway and its tributaries have been used to mill corn , make paper, make cloth , smelt iron, pump water and generate electricity. There are over 200 sites on the Medway where such usage is known. Today, only one mill
12584-625: The two dioceses into which Kent has been divided since the year 604: Canterbury and Rochester. The tradition has grown up, and is kept alive by the "Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men", that those born in West Kent – the area north of the river, but including Maidstone, Gillingham (other than Rainham), Rochester and Chatham – are labelled Kentish Men (or Maids ); while those born in East Kent are Men (or Maids ) of Kent . This labelling applies equally to those born in those parts of
12705-562: The vicinity of Rochester; over time, it has been variously occupied by Celts , Romans , Jutes and/or Saxons . During the Celtic period, it was one of the two administrative centres of the Cantiaci tribe. During the Roman conquest of Britain , a decisive battle was fought at the Medway somewhere near Rochester. The first bridge was subsequently constructed early in the Roman period. During
12826-427: The vicinity of the latter are also described; and the easterly River Len , which then supplied Maidstone with its piped water. The book states that Within about two miles of Tunbridge the Medway branches out into several small streams, five of which unite at the town ... having each its stone bridge . The Thames and Medway Canal , duplicatively linking the estuary at Strood to Gravesend for adverse tides and weather
12947-619: The village of Yalding , about 12 km downstream at the confluence with the River Beult, has been more prone to flooding than Tonbridge. The Medway Valley Walk follows the river from Rochester to Tonbridge along the bank most of the way above Allington . It starts on the Saxon Shore Way at Rochester. The North Downs Way crosses the river using the Medway Viaduct or motorway bridge. The Greensand Way crosses
13068-602: The world's first bus service was by Eastbourne Buses from Eastbourne railway station to Meads . The world's first submarine telephone cable was laid between England and France in 1891 by HMTS Monarch, enabling London-Paris calls from April 1891. On 3 December 1992, Neil Papworth of Reading, an engineer from Sema Group Telecoms at Vodafone in Newbury, sent the world's first text message from his computer to an Orbitel 901 handset of Richard Jarvis, Vodafone's technical director. The first public automatic telephone exchange in
13189-488: The world's first multi-channel flight data recorders in 1965. Although the Comet is generally accepted as the world's first production-run jet airliner, the first jet airliner ever built (individual) was a Nene -powered Vickers VC.1 Viking on 6 April 1948 from Wisley Airfield ; the world's first turboprop airliner would fly from there on 16 July 1948 by Mutt Summers . In 1939 at Cowes ( Northwood ) John Godeck invented
13310-583: The world's first passenger train service, the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (6 miles or 10 km) began. It was built by George Stephenson and hauled by the locomotive Invicta . It introduced the world's first railway season ticket in 1834. Maidenhead Railway Bridge , known for its flat arch, was built in 1839 with 39-metre spans. The Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment , in Chertsey, developed Chobham armour . On 12 April 1903,
13431-619: Was advised that Rochester was not on the Lord Chancellor's Office 's list of cities. In 2010, Medway Council started to refer to the "City of Medway" in promotional material, but it was rebuked and instructed not to do so in future by the Advertising Standards Authority . Subsequently, Medway Council has applied for City status for Medway as a whole, rather than merely for Rochester. Medway applied unsuccessfully for City status in 2000 and 2002 and again in
13552-553: Was an important statistician from Tunbridge Wells; his theorem (of probability theory ) is used for spam filters and Google's search . Sir David N. Payne at the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Centre invented the erbium-doped fibre amplifier , a type of optical amplifier , in the mid-1980s, which became essential for the internet. Henry Moseley at Oxford in 1913 discovered his Moseley's law of X-ray spectra of chemical elements that enabled him to be
13673-722: Was built in 1986. This is the world's highest-capacity submarine HVDC cable; it goes from France and lands near Folkestone, with the large transformer station (built by GEC) squeezed between the CTRL and the M20 in Aldington and Smeeth , made of eight 270 kV cables. On 16 October 1908 the British Army Aeroplane No 1 , flown by the American Samuel Franklin Cody , was the first aircraft flown in
13794-474: Was completed in 1824 but was not a commercial success; by 1849 the South Eastern Railway had taken over its tunnel through a hillside. The western part of the canal remained in use until 1934. The Hartlake disaster of 1853 saw the deaths of 30 hop-pickers when a wagon carrying them crashed through the side of a rotten wooden bridge at Golden Green near Hadlow , throwing its passengers into
13915-656: Was hit by anti-aircraft fire at Goose Green , killing the pilot with 800 Naval Air Squadron from HMS Hermes ; the aircraft had no radar warning receiver (RWR), due to testing the Sea Eagle , so could not detect the Skyguard radar had locked on to it. It was destroyed with the Oerlikon GDF (35mm) of GADA 601 ; it was the first Sea Harrier lost in the Falklands campaign. Royston Instruments of Byfleet developed
14036-568: Was in Horsewash Lane until the last vicar died in 1538 when it was joined with St Nicholas' parish; the church's last remaining foundations were finally removed when the railway was being constructed in the 1850s. St Nicholas' Church was built in 1421 beside the cathedral to serve as a parish church for the citizens of Rochester. The ancient cathedral included the Benedictine monastic priory of St Andrew with greater status than
14157-747: Was made in Slough in 1932; it was modelled on the Milky Way , popular at the time in the USA. Twix was introduced at Slough in 1967, with production moving to eastern France (Mars Chocolat France at Haguenau in Alsace ) in 2005. The Ford GT40 was developed by Ford Advanced Vehicles at Slough in the mid-1960s. The highest point is Walbury Hill in Berkshire at 297 m (974 ft). Britain's tallest native tree, according to The Tree Register in April 2015,
14278-526: Was set during England's Indian summer of 2011 with 29.9 °C, the highest temperature ever recorded in the UK for October. Rochester comprises numerous important historic buildings, the most prominent of which are the Guildhall , the Corn Exchange , Restoration House , Eastgate House, as well as Rochester Castle and Rochester Cathedral . Many of the town centre's old buildings date from as early as
14399-417: Was the local government district that officially held City status under the 1982 Letters Patent, the council would need to appoint charter trustees to preserve its city status. However, no trustees were appointed and the city status was therefore lost when Rochester-upon-Medway was abolished as a local government district. The incoming Medway Council apparently only became aware of this when, in 2002, it
14520-589: Was the world's first optical fibre submarine cable, and is 36 miles long. ThrustSSC , the fastest car in the world in 1997, was built in Aldingbourne , West Sussex, by G-Force Engineering, designed by Ron Ayers , with further work done by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency at Farnborough. The BritNed 1000MW power-supply submarine cable from Isle of Grain to Rotterdam, was built in 2009. The HVDC Cross-Channel (2000MW) submarine cable
14641-497: Was to heat the ingredients to around 1450 °C, producing clinker . Previously, temperatures were taken to only 800 °C, which was not enough. The first ever cement kiln is still in Northfleet today in a cardboard factory. In the late 1800s, the rotary kiln made the process much more efficient. Concrete, effectively human-made stone, is the most widespread human-made material. 5% of all carbon emissions worldwide are from concrete production. The tallest freestanding structure in
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