GRAVESEND, (Kent) 20 cm. 22 mm. from London, is opposite to Tilbury-Fort in Essex. It was anciently the manor of the Lds.
Cobham, till one of them having by treason forfeited it to the crown, it was given to the D. of Lenox. Its Mts. which are
on W. and S. and its Fair, of a week from Oct. 13, were granted by K. Edward III. In the R. of Rich. II. the French and
Spaniards came up the Thames, burnt and plundered it, and carried away most of the people. To compensate the T. for this
loss, the abbot of St. Mary le Grace on Towerhill, to whom Rich. II. had granted a manor bel. to Gravesend, called
Parrocks, obtained, that the inh. of this place and Milton should have the sole privilege of carrying passengers by water,
from hence to London at 4 s. the whole fare, or 2 d. a head; which was confirmed by Hen. VIII. who also raised 2 platforms
here, and at Milton; but now the fare is 6 d. a head in the tilt-boat, and 1 s. in the wherry. The former must not take in
above 40 passengers, the latter no more than 10. Coaches ply here at the landing of people from London, &c. to carry them
to Rochester. This T. and Milton were incorporated by Q. Eliz. by the name of the portreeve (now the mayor) jurats, and
inhs. of Gravesend and Milton: And, as Gravesend is the place where most passengers through Kent from foreign parts take
boat for London, that Q. in order to shew the grandeur of the metropolis of her Km. ordered the lord-mayor, ald. and city
companies to receive all ambassadors and eminent strangers here, in their formalities, and to attend them to London in
barges, if by water; and if they chose to come by land, they were to meet them on horseback at Blackheath in their livery-
gowns. In the E. part of the T. there remains the body of an old chapel, supposed to have bel. to some mon. The Ts. for
several ms. round, are supplied from hence with garden stuff; of which great quantities are also sent to London, where the
asparagus of Gravesend is preferred to that of Battersea. All outward-bound ships are obliged to anchor in this road, till
they have been visited by the custom-house officers; and for this purpose, a centinel at the block-house fires a musket;
but the homeward-bound all pass by without notice, unless it be to put waiters on board, if they are not supplied before.
As the outwardbound generally take in provisions here, the place is full of seamen who are all in a hurry. The whole T.
being burnt down in 1727, 5000 l. was granted by the Pt. in 1731, for rebuilding its Ch. as one of the 50 new ones. In
1624, one Mr. Pinnock gave 21 dwelling-houses here, besides one for a master weaver to employ the poor; and here is a ch.
sc. for 24 boys, who are both taught and cloathed. Befides the above-mentioned Fair, here are two others, viz, Jan. 25 and
April 23; and here is a fish Mt. on Sunday morning.