Rainham ( ) is a town in the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

area of

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 ...

, in the ceremonial county of

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 town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester,

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 ...

and Gillingham.

History

Historically, Rainham was a separate village. In 1921 the

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 ...

had a population of 4335. On 1 April 1929 the parish was abolished and merged with Gillingham and became part of the Municipal Borough of Gillingham, 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. It is now in the

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparis ...

of Gillingham.

Geography

Rainham occupies a large stretch of land from the

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

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 Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

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, West 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 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, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

, the

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

between London and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. The most northerly road runs close to the southern bank of the river. The Chatham Main Line has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

here and

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 ...

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 Chatham. 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 thirty 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 Chatham Main Line 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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

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 oasthouse) or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, and are often good examples of agricultu ...

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, TV and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquire ...

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

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

Television

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

. Television signals are received from the Bluebell Hill TV transmitter.

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 Royal Tunbridge Wells. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audie ...

, Heart South and Smooth.

Education

Rainham has four secondary schools: * The Howard School: a selective and secondary school for boys * Rainham Mark Grammar School: selective school for which the Medway Test has to be taken, open to both boys and girls * Rainham School for Girls: a comprehensive school for girls * Leigh Academy Rainham: a comprehensive school for girls and boys 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 Church of England, CE Primary School, Chatham, Kent, Chatham *Balfour Infant School, R ...

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 . There are a variety of natural habitats within the park, including mudflats and salt mars ...

, 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 Populated places in Kent Former civil parishes in Kent Gillingham, Kent