Rainham ( ) is a town in the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

, in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the ITL 1 statistical regions of England, first level of International Territorial Level, ITL for Statistics, statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of england, ...

. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

Strood Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Gillingham and Rainham. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowes ...

and Gillingham. Historically, Rainham was a separate village until, in 1928, it was added to the

Municipal Borough of Gillingham Gillingham ( ) is a large town in the unitary authority area of Medway in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. It is also the largest town in th ...

, which was originally created in 1903 and was grouped into the latter's built-up area in analysis of the 2011 census by the Office for National Statistics. It became part of the Medway authority when Gillingham was incorporated with the other towns to form Medway Unitary Authority in 1998.

Geography

Rainham occupies a large stretch of land from the

dip slope A dip slope is a topographic (geomorphic) surface which slopes in the same direction, and often by the same amount, as the true dip or apparent dip of the underlying strata.Jackson, JA, J Mehl and K Neuendorf (2005) ''Glossary of Geology.'' Amer ...

of a moderate rise of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...

of about above sea level, descending to a frontage on the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

's natural harbour to the north. London is approximately to the west. Three roads cross the town. The

M2 motorway This is a list of roads designated M2: Europe * M2 motorway (Great Britain), a motorway in England * M2 expressway (Hungary), a motorway in Hungary * N2 road (Ireland)#M2 motorway, a motorway in the Republic of Ireland * M-2 highway (Monteneg ...

runs along its southern edge, from the town centre. The main road through the town, the A2, follows the ancient

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

, the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

between London and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. The most northerly road runs close to the southern bank of the river. The

Chatham Main Line The Chatham Main Line is a railway line in England that links London VictoriaQuail Map 5 – England South ages 2–13Sept 2002 (Retrieved 14 December 2011) and Dover Priory / Ramsgate, travelling via Medway (of which the town of Chatham is ...

has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

here and

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. S ...

runs through the town. The Park Wood estate to the south of Rainham was built mainly during the 1960s and 1970s. Building this estate required the destruction of one of the last large areas of relict woodland in North Kent. The area towards Gillingham is known as Rainham Mark, named after an old ecclesiastical boundary: and Macklands is an older part of the town to the north. The Macklands Arms public house was named after Macklands Manor House. The (now Grade II listed,) manor house was home to members of the Mackay family, who owned a printing company in

. The company building is now part of CPi Books. Lower Rainham, once a separate village, is now also a part of the town.

Demographics

Rainham was originally a linear settlement along the main road. The population in 1801 was 422; two centuries later it is well over six thousand. Part of the reason for this huge growth can be attributed to the railway. When the railway came in 1858 it brought an almost immediate increase in the size of the village; when the

was electrified in 1959, as with all the places served by it, town growth began again. One of the results was the building of Parkwood estate (see above).

Amenities

The parish church is dedicated to St Margaret; the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church to St Thomas of Canterbury.

Facilities

Rainham has a small shopping area, including the ''Rainham Shopping Centre'' precinct, with a few major shops. The precinct was built in the 1970s after the old church school building was demolished. The school originally opened in 1846 it was a community centre for the last few years of its life. The school (St Margaret's) had moved to the old senior school building in Orchard Street in 1967. Rainham is home to the first ever

oast house An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...

theatre, where the ''Rainham Theatrical Society'' (''RaTS'') puts on regular performances.

Local media

Newspapers

Local newspapers for Rainham include the ''Medway Messenger'', published by the

KM Group KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...

. The area also has free newspapers in the ''Medway Extra'' (KM Group) and ''yourmedway'' (

KOS Media KOS Media was a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England. The company operated local newspapers and internet sites throughout the county. History KOS Media's first newspaper, the '' Kent on Sunday'' was launched as a ...

).
In 2011 ''

Medway News The ''Medway News'' was a weekly newspaper covering the Medway Towns in Kent, England. Established in 1855 as the ''Military Chronicle'' and ''Naval Spectator'', it relaunched as the ''Chatham News and Rochester, Strood, Brompton & Gillingham Adv ...

'' and ''Medway Standard'', both published by Kent Regional News and Media were closed.

Radio

The local commercial radio station for Rainham is KMFM Medway, owned by the KM Group. Medway is also served by community radio station Radio Sunlight. The area can also receive the county wide stations

BBC Radio Kent BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at The Great Hall in Tunbridge Wells. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

and

Smooth Smooth may refer to: Mathematics * Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology * Smooth manifold, a differentiable manifold for which all the transition maps are smooth functions * Smooth algebrai ...

Education

Rainham has three secondary schools: * The Howard School: a selective and secondary school for boys *

Rainham Mark Grammar School Rainham Mark Grammar School (previously Known as Gillingham Technical High School) is the only co-educational selective grammar school in the Medway, Kent, England area. It has academy status, along with Twydall Primary School and Riverside Pri ...

: selective school for which the

Eleven-Plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

has to be taken, open to both boys and girls *

Rainham School for Girls Rainham School for Girls is an 11–18 girls, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Rainham, Gillingham, Kent, England. It is next to the all-boys school, The Howard School and is a Technology College. History It was previ ...

: a comprehensive school for girls For a full list of schools serving Rainham visit

List of schools in Medway This is a list of schools in Medway, in the English county of Kent. State-funded schools Primary schools *All Faiths' Children's Academy, Strood *All Saints CE Primary School, Chatham *Balfour Infant School, Rochester *Balfour Junior Scho ...

Open spaces

The

Riverside Country Park Riverside Country Park is a large coastal public park, situated alongside the River Medway estuary between Gillingham and Rainham. The park covers about 100 hectares - approximately . There are a variety of natural habitats within the park, inc ...

, which fronts on to the river Medway at Rainham Creek, includes the promontory of ''Horrid Hill''. Berengrave Local Nature Reserve (a disused chalk pit) is located on the Lower Rainham Road. There are also a number of parks and recreational grounds around Rainham.

References

External links

History of Rainham
{{Authority control Gillingham, Kent Populated places in Kent