GRAVESEND, a market-town and parish, having separate jurisdiction, locally
in the hundred of Toltingtrough, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT,
18 miles (N.W. by W.) from Maidstone, and 22 (E. by S.) from London,
containing, according to the census of 1821, 3814 inhabitants, which
number has increased nearly two-fold since that period. This place,
called in Domesday-book Graves-ham, and in the Textus Roffensis
Grceves-tfnde, appears to have derived those names from
the Saxon gerefa, a greve or reeve, implying either the
habitation of the portreeve, or the limit of his jurisdiction;
by some antiquaries the name is derived from
greef, a coppice, denoting its situation at the extremity
of a wood towards the sea. In the reign of Richard II.,
the French having made a descent upon this part of the
coast, laid waste many of the adjacent villages, plundered
and burnt the town, and carried off several of the
inhabitants prisoners. It was soon afterwards rebuilt,
and to indemnify the inhabitants for the loss they sustained
upon that occasion, Richard II. granted them the
exclusive privilege of conveying passengers to and from
London, which right is still exercised under regulations
adapted to the present times. In the reign of Henry VIII.
two platforms were raised for the protection of the town,
and a block-house was erected at Tilbury, for the defence
of the river. In 1727 the greater part of the
town was destroyed by a fire that broke out near the
church, which edifice, with more than a hundred houses,
was burnt down. George I. landed here on his first
arrival from Germany, and Gravesend has been frequently
distinguished by crowned heads landing and
embarking at the pier.
The town is pleasantly situated on an acclivity rising
from the south bank of the river Thames, and consists'
of several narrow streets, paved and lighted by acts of
parliament passed in the 13th and 56th of George III.,,
and is partly in the parish of Milton, which adjoins
that of Gravesend. Considerable improvements have
lately taken place; among which is the recent construction
of a stone pier, or quay, for the landing and
embarkation of passengers in the steam-packets, which
leave London in the morning, and return the same
evening. Under the authority of an act passed in the
9th of George IV., every person landing or embarking
at Gravesend to or from the passage boats, pays to
the corporation one penny, as pier dues. The salubrity
of the air, the beauty of the surrounding scenery,
and the short distance from the metropolis, have,
within the last few years, made Gravesend a favourite
place of resort, one hundred and twenty-two thousand
persons having visited it during the summer of 1829;
and in proportion to the increase of visitors, preparations
have been made for their accommodation. A convenient
bathing-house has been fitted up with waion,
cold, vapour, and shower baths; and bathing-machines
are in constant attendance, and may be used with safety
at any time of the tide, which here rises to the height
of twenty feet above low water mark every, twenty-four
hours.. Adjoining the bathing-house is a garden, well
laid out in walks,, and furnished with seats, commanding
an extensive view of the river and the numerous ships
which are constantly passing and repassing. There are a
public subscription library, concert-rooms, and a bowlinggreen;
the theatre is occasionally opened, and assemblies
are held at the town-hall. The terrace, which is
in the adjoining parish of Milton, forms an agreeable
promenade, commanding a view of Tilbury Fort on the
opposite shore; between it and the river are a battery
mounting sixteen pieces of cannon, the custom-house
and the excise office, with a commodious wharf, or quay,
near which is the landing-place for troops and military
stores, and at the eastern extremity is the fort, mounting
sixteen pieces of ordnance, with accommodations for a
commandant and some veterans of the artillery.
Gravesend being within the jurisdiction of the port
of London, all outward bound ships, until recently, were
here obliged to undergo a second clearing; but this practice
has long been disused. Outward bound vessels take
in their pilots here, and all vessels entering the port of
London take in pilots from this place for the navigation
of the river. A surgeon in the East India Company's
service is always resident, who examines the soldiers
entering that service, ascertaining also whether they
have entered of their own accord, or have been trepanned
into it; he also examines and registers the natives of
India brought to England by the Company's ships.
Theoutward bound Indiamen take in their supplies of
fresh provisions, vegetables, liquors, ammunition, and
stores at this place. A considerable number of vessels
is employed in the cod and turbot fisheries; fine shrimps
are also caught here in great abundance. Between
Gravesend and Tilbury Fort is a ferry, called Cross
Ferry, by means of which carriages, horses, and cattle
are conveyed over the river; and to persons travelling
from Norfolk, Suffolk, and the northern counties, into
Kent or Sussex, a distance of fifty miles is thus saved.
There are extensive lime and brick works, and a large
manufactory for ropes and twine: 'ship-building has
also been carried on to a considerable extent in a yard
to the north-west of the town, in which several men
of war and frigates, exclusively of smaller vessels,
have been built; among the former were LAchille
of eighty guns, the Colossus of seventy-four, and the
Director of sixty-four. The principal branch of trade
arises from the supply of the numerous ships which on
their passage outward stop to take in stores, &c., and
from the number of seamen who furnish themselves
with slops, for the sale of which there ere numerous
shops in the town. A considerable quantity of ground
in the neighbourhood is appropriated to the cultivation
of vegetables for the use of the shipping, and of
asparagus of superior quality for the London market,
for the conveyance of which, and for the promotion
of the general trade, great advantages are afforded
by the river Thames, and by the Thames and Medway
canal, which passes to the east of the town, and just
without the limits of the port of London, thereby affording
the inhabitants the advantage of obtaining coal
free from the orphan and other duties; on the basin of
this canal a floating-bath has recently been introduced.
The market days are Wednesday and Saturday, the former
for corn; the fairs are, May 4th and October 24th,
for horses, cloth, and various sorts of merchandise.
The inhabitants,.with those of the adjoining parish
of Milton, were first incorporated by charter of Queen
Elizabeth, by the title of the " Portreeve, Jurats, and
Inhabitants of Gravesend and Milton;" the charter was
ratified and extended by Charles I., by whom the government
is vested in a mayor, high steward, twelve jurats,
and twenty-four common covmcil-men, assisted by a recorder,
town clerk, chamberlain, Serjeant at mace, and
subordinate officers. Under this charter the mayor and
jurats are obliged formally to attend all foreign ambassadors,
and other illustrious visitors who land at this
place, and conduct them in their barges to London; or,
if they prefer proceeding by land, to escort them to
Blackheath. The corporation hold a court of record,
under the charter of Charles I., every third Tuesday, for
the recovery of debts to any amount, at which the mayor
and three of the jurats preside; and a court of requests,
for the recovery of debts not exceeding £ 5, is held on
the first Friday in every month, under commissioners
appointed by an act passed in the 47th of George III.,
the jurisdiction of which extends over the hundreds
of Toltingtrough, and Axton, Dartford, and Wilmington,
in the county of Kent. The corporation of London, as
conservators of the rivers Thames and Medway, hold
courts of conservancy for the county of Klent twice in
the year. The town-hall, erected by the corporation in
1764, is a neat and commodious edifice, supported on
six columns in the front, and having underneath it a
convenient area for the poultry market. The arms of the
corporation were those of James, Duke of Lennox, whose
descendants are hereditary high stewards of Gravesend,
that office being now filled by the Earl of Darnley.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Rochester, rated in the king's books at £15,
and in the alternate patronage of the Crown and the
Bishop of Rochester. The church, dedicated to St.
George, was erected on the site of a former edifice which
was destroyed by fire, under an act passed in the 4th of
George, II., by which the sum of £ 5000 was granted to
defray the expense: it is a neat and spacious edifice of
brick, with quoins and cornices of stone. There are places
of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists.
The free school was anciently founded by the corporation,
and in 1703 Mr. David Varchell, then one of its
members, endowed it with tenements producing at present
about £70 per annum, for the clothing and instruction
in reading, writing, arithmetic, and Latin, of twenty
boys of the parishes of Gravesend and Milton: the endowment,
in 1710, was augmented by Mr. James Fry,
with a rent-charge of £14. 10., for the instruction of
ten additional scholars, of which number, four are to be
of the parish of Gravesend, four from Milton, and two
from Chalk; there are thirty-six boys at present on
the foundation of this school, which is under the management
of the corporation, who, on the enlargement of the
market-place, have made provision for the erection of
a larger and more commodious school-house. There are
various charitable bequests for the relief of the poor.