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Higham, Kent
Higham is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. The village lies just north-west of Strood, in the Medway unitary authority, and south-east of Gravesend. The civil parish had a population of 3,938 at the 2001 Census, increasing slightly to 3,962 at the 2011 Census. History The priory dedicated to St. Mary was built on land granted to Mary, daughter of King Stephen. In 1148, the nuns of St Sulphice-la-Foret, Brittany, moved to Higham. Higham priory was also known as Lillechurch.(Medieval Religious Houses, p. 259). On 6 July 1227, King Henry III confirmed the royal grant to the abbey of St. Mary and St. Sulpice of Lillechurch. The original parish church, the Church of St Mary, stands to the north of the present village. Now redundant, it is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, and is open to visitors on a daily basis. It contains much medieval woodwork and its pulpit is one of the oldest in Kent, dating from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gravesham
Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. Its administrative centre and largest town is Gravesend, which was known as ''Gravesham'' in ancient times. Gravesham was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Gravesend with Northfleet Urban District and part of Strood Rural District, under the Local Government Act 1972. It borders the Borough of Dartford and Sevenoaks District to the west, the Borough of Tonbridge and Malling to the south, the Medway unitary authority to the east and the Thurrock unitary authority of Essex to the north, via the River Thames. Gravesham is twinned with Cambrai in Hauts-de-France, France. The present borders of Gravesham parliamentary constituency are almost the same as those of the borough. History Robert Heath Hiscock LL.B., F.S.A., Chairman of the Gravesend Historical Society, in the foreword to his book, 'A History of Gravesend' (Phillimore, 1976) wrote: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electoral system of England and Wales. It abolished tiny districts, gave representation to cities, gave the vote to small landowners, tenant farmers, shopkeepers, householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more, and some lodgers. Only qualifying men were able to vote; the Act introduced the first explicit statutory bar to women voting by defining a voter as a male person. It was designed to correct abuses – to "take effectual Measures for correcting divers Abuses that have long prevailed in the Choice of Members to serve in the Commons House of Parliament". Before the reform, most members nominally represented boroughs. The number of electors in a borough varied widely, from a dozen or so up to 12,000. Frequently the selection of Mem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Thames Crossing
The Lower Thames Crossing is a proposed road crossing of the Thames estuary downstream of the Dartford Crossing that links the counties of Kent and Essex, and its proposed approaches. If built it would pass through the districts of Thurrock and Gravesham, supplementing the Dartford route. The approximately route will be assessed by the Planning Inspectorate. First proposed in the late 2000s, the crossing is designed to relieve the pressure on the existing A282 Dartford Crossing. The proposed route would connect the M25 motorway and A13 north of the river to the M2 motorway south of the river. If built, the crossing would have the longest road tunnel in the UK at . The road number A122 has been identified for the proposed road. The crossing is estimated to cost between £6.4 billion and £8.2 billion and would take about six years to build following the granting of planning permission. A planning application was submitted in 2020, and withdrawn. In summer 2022, there was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Kent Line
The North Kent Line is a railway line which branches off the South East Main Line at St Johns junction west of Lewisham station in Greater London and runs to Rochester Bridge Junction near Strood, Medway where it links to the Chatham Main Line. The section from Charlton to Dartford is also referred to as the "Woolwich Line" in the context of Southeastern Metro services. History Construction The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway (SER) was able to connect its system to London at London Bridge. In 1846 the SER purchased the Thames and Medway Canal tunnel near Higham and laid railway tracks through it; in 1847 trains were working through from the Strood terminus, on the River Medway to Gravesend. From 30 July 1849 the line was extended, via Blackheath, to a junction with the London and Greenwich Railway at North Kent East Junction, near Deptford, and through trains were now able to operate. Electrification The line is electrified (750 V DC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Cycle Route 1
The cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom. Route Dover to Canterbury Dover , Deal , Sandwich , Canterbury Links with National Cycle Route 2, Regional route 16, and Regional route 17 in Dover. Leaves Dover passing Dover Castle. South Foreland Lighthouse is visible from the route. Mostly traffic-free along the east coast from Kingsdown to Deal, passing Walmer Castle and Deal Castle. Follows toll road (free to cyclists) through the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club to the town of Sandwich. In Sandwich the route links with Regional route 15. Shortly after leaving Sandwich the route passes Richborough Castle, then follows quiet country roads between some of Kent's orchards. The route passes through the villages of Westmarsh, Elmstone, Preston. The route then passes through the town of Fordwich, then traffic-free into the city of Canterbury. At Canterbury the route links with Regional route 16 again, and with National Cycle Route 18. Canterbury to Sittingbourne Cante ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames And Medway Canal
The Thames and Medway Canal is a disused canal in Kent, south east England, also known as the Gravesend and Rochester Canal. It was originally some long and cut across the neck of the Hoo peninsula, linking the River Thames at Gravesend with the River Medway at Strood. The canal was first mooted in 1778 as a shortcut for military craft from Deptford and Woolwich Dockyards on the Thames to Chatham Dockyard on the Medway, avoiding the journey round the peninsula and through the Thames estuary. The canal was also intended to take commercial traffic between the two rivers. Construction The first practical attempt to build the canal began in 1799, when an engineer named Ralph Dodd published a pamphlet and began to solicit investment for the scheme. Dodd's plan was for a six-mile canal with locks and basins, taking two years to build and costing £24,576, part of the cost to be defrayed by selling the excavated chalk as agricultural lime. Dodd was confident that the canal would be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dickens Fellowship
The Dickens Fellowship was founded in 1902, and is an international association of people from all walks of life who share an interest in the life and works of Victorian era novelist Charles Dickens. The Dickens Fellowship's head office is based at the Charles Dickens Museum in Doughty Street in London, England, the home of Charles Dickens from 1837 to 1839. In 1923 Dickens's former home at 48 Doughy Street was threatened with demolition, but it was saved by three members of the Dickens Fellowship, who raised a mortgage and bought the freehold in 1925. The membership of the Fellowship raised funds and put together a collection to exhibit in it. The Dickens House Trust was established to run the house as a museum and library. Membership is open to anybody, anywhere in the world, who shares the Fellowship's interests. The Fellowship has 47 branches, which are in the UK, the United States and nine other countries. Each branch is independent and arranges its own programme of events ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today. Born in Portsmouth, Dickens left school at the age of 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. After three years he returned to school, before he began his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed readings extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, for education, and for other social ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gad's Hill Place
Gads Hill Place in Higham, Kent, sometimes spelt Gadshill Place and Gad's Hill Place, was the country home of Charles Dickens, the most successful British author of the Victorian era. Today the building is the independent Gad's Hill School. The house was built in 1780 for a former Mayor of Rochester, Thomas Stephens, opposite the present Sir John Falstaff Public House. Gad's Hill is where Falstaff commits the robbery that begins Shakespeare's ''Henriad'' trilogy ('' Henry IV, Part 1'', '' Henry IV, Part 2'' and ''Henry V''). Dickens Charles Dickens first saw the mansion when he was 9 years old in 1821, when his father John Dickens told Charles that if he worked hard enough, one day he would own it or just such a house. Forster, John ''The Life of Charles Dickens'' Published by Cecil Palmer, London (1872-74) As a boy, Dickens would often walk from Chatham to Gads Hill Place as he wished to see it again and again as an image of his possible future.Ackroyd, Peter ''Dickens'' P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Hal
Prince Hal is the standard term used in literary criticism to refer to Shakespeare's portrayal of the young Henry V of England as a prince before his accession to the throne, taken from the diminutive form of his name used in the plays almost exclusively by Falstaff. Henry is called "Prince Hal" in critical commentary on his character in ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Henry IV, Part 2'', though also sometimes in ''Henry V'' when discussed in the context of the wider Henriad. Hal is portrayed as a wayward youth who enjoys the society of petty criminals and wastrels, a depiction which draws on exaggerations of the historical Prince Henry's supposed youthful behaviour. The question of whether Hal's character is cynical or sincere has been widely discussed by critics. Name In the two plays, the diminutive "Hal" is only ever used of the prince, not of any of the other characters named "Henry". It is only one of the several versions of "Henry" used. In fact the prince is variously ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', where he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V of England. Falstaff is also featured as the buffoonish suitor of two married women in '' The Merry Wives of Windsor''. Though primarily a comic figure, Falstaff embodies a depth common to Shakespeare's major characters. A fat, vain, and boastful knight, he spends most of his time drinking at the Boar's Head Inn with petty criminals, living on stolen or borrowed money. Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is ultimately repudiated after Hal becomes king. Falstaff has since appeared in other media, including operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Otto Nicolai, and in Orson Welles' 1966 film ''Chimes at Midnight''. The operas focus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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