Higham is a village,

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the borough of Gravesham in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. The village lies south-east of

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

and just north-west of

Strood Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. Strood forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Kent, Chatham, Rochester, Kent, Rochester, Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham and Rainham, Kent, Rainham. It ...

, in

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

. The civil parish had a population of 3,938 at the 2001 Census, increasing slightly to 3,962 at the 2011 Census. Higham is formally twinned with the Ukrainian villages of Novyi Bilous in the Chernihiv Region of Ukraine.

History

A Roman grave and artifacts have been found at the north end of the village. The priory dedicated to

St. Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

was built on land granted to Mary, daughter of King

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

. 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 A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, the Church of St Mary, was built in the 13th and 14th centuries and stands to the north of the present village, in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Church Street. Redundant since the early 1980s, it is in the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

, 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 the 14th century. Charles Dickens' daughter

Kate Kate may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American author o ...

was married here in 1860. The Higham Village History Group, founded in 1997, is devoted to assembling the history of the village.

Parts of Higham

Higham has developed as two parts, the original Saxon village of Higham to the north (now Lower Higham), and a more recent settlement to the south around the main road linking Gravesend to Rochester (Upper Higham), which grew in size and importance during the 1800s.

Village facilities

Services within the village are centred on the two parts of Higham. Higham (upper) is the larger and is the site of a post office, a GP's surgery, a library and several shops and pubs. It is also the location of the current parish church of St John's, consecrated in 1862. Higham (lower) is smaller. It originally had 4 pubs (all closed): The Sun Inn, The Chequers, The Railway Tavern and the Malt Shovel; a garage and Higham railway station. Until recently there was a Post Office and shop serving this area of the village. Church Street is a kilometre north of the station and is the location of the now redundant St Mary's Church and a small number of houses. The village primary school (Higham County Primary), village hall (Higham Memorial Hall), park (Higham Recreation Ground) and tennis courts lie between the two parts of the village on School Lane. Until the 1990s the GP surgery serving the village was also based in this area.

Points of interest

Gad's Hill

Gad's Hill was once notorious as a haunt of robbers. As far back as 1558 there was a ballad entitled ''The Robbers of Gad's Hill''. In

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Henry IV, Part 1 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the Battle of H ...

'' Falstaff and his cronies organise a highway robbery there. Gad's Hill Place was once the home of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, who bought it in 1856 for £1,790 and died there in 1870. In its garden once stood a Swiss chalet in which Dickens would compose his works. The chalet is now in the gardens of Eastgate House, Rochester. There are signs at the parish boundaries depicting Dickens' characters. The house itself is now a private

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

, originally for girls, but now mixed.

Higham Marshes

The marshes are an important wetland habitat for many species of wildfowl. There are waymarked walking trails across the marshes.

Communications

* ''Canal'': The Thames and Medway Canal now terminates at Higham. Opened 1824, the canal used to connect the Thames at Gravesend to the Medway at

. It lost the second half of its route c. 1847 when the railway took over the Higham and Strood canal tunnel, but continued to operate from Gravesend to Higham until 1934. It is now disused but there are plans to restore it for leisure use. * ''Bicycle'': Canal Road which runs beside the canal is used by

National Cycle Route 1 The cycle-path is located in the United Kingdom. Route Dover to Canterbury Dover , Deal, Kent, Deal , Sandwich, Kent, Sandwich , Canterbury Links with National Cycle Route 2, RCR 16, Kent, Regional route 16, and RCR 17, Kent, Regional r ...

(between Gravesend and Medway). * ''Railways'': Higham railway station is located in Higham (lower), near the entrance to the former canal tunnel. It is served by the

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 ...

. This section of the line was closed throughout 2004, to allow the chalk tunnel to be completely relined after a series of roof falls. * ''Roads'': The main A226 road between Gravesend and Rochester runs to the south of Higham village. Other transport issues relating to Higham include a planned new Lower Thames Crossing through Shorne Woods Country Park and a proposal for a new Thames Hub Airport on the nearby

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the unitary authority, district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. Once an island and now forming part of the peninsul ...

, abandoned in July 2015 on the recommendation of the Airports Commission.

Demographics

At the 2001 UK census, the parish of Higham had 3,471 residents and 1,580 households. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. The age distribution was 5% aged 0–4 years, 13% aged 5–15 years, 8% aged 16–24 years, 24% aged 25–44 years, 31% aged 45–64 years and 19% aged 65 years and over.

Economy

As at the 2001 UK census, 62.3% of Higham residents aged 16–74 were in employment, 2.2% were unemployed and 34.1% were economically inactive. Unemployment was low compared to the national rate of 3.4%. 21% of residents aged 16–74 had a higher education qualification or the equivalent, compared to 20% nationally.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Kent Gravesham Civil parishes in Kent Populated places on the River Thames