History (Page 1)

Evidence of Stone Age activity has been found in Rainham Dock East. It also contains a Roman burial ground and it is believed that the area was used by the Romans for both cement and pottery production

When the Romans left Britain the Ancient Britons, after so many years of relying upon the Romans for defence, lacked the martial skills to defend themselves and the country was left open to invasion. They therefore invited the Jutes, a tribe from middle Germany which originated in Jutland, now part of Denmark, to come and help with defence. The Franks, from the middle region of the Rhine, got in on the act and came over with the Jutes. In payment for their services, the Franks were given part of what is now Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and, in what is now Kent, the Isle of Thanet

Not being content with the Isle of Thanet, the Franks slowly spread westward and held at a line which runs approximately north-south through a point, known as Rainham Mark, approximately 2 kilometres (1-1/4 miles) west of where Berengrave LNR now is. The Berengrave area  therefore came under the control of the Franks

Note: To this day, those born to the west of this line are known as 'Kentish Men' (or Maids), whilst those born to the east are known as 'Men (or Maids) of Kent'

In the 13th century, the land was owned by Queen Eleanor of Provence (Queen Consort of King Henry III)

It was then gifted to

St Katherine's Church

(By the Tower of London)

With a short gap, which is still being researched, the Friends of Berengrave have records of land ownership right up to present times

It is known that by the end of the 19th century the land was arable land, but in 1901 it was leased to the barge company of E.J&W Goldsmith for the purpose of chalk extraction. Between 1901 and 1912, the chalk from Rainham Chalk Pit was shipped by barge from Rainhan Dock to local cement works on the River Medway

Chalk from Rainham Chalk Pit was used in the manufacture of cement that was used, among other things, in the building of the rapidly expanding London suburbs of the early 1900's and in the reconstruction of San Francisco following the great earthquake of 1906

The picture on the right shows some of the chalk pit workers in the early 1900's standing in front of the tunnel which took the narrow gauge railway under the Lower Rainham Road

Chalk was taken by this railway to Rainham Dock. When it reached the cement works it was mixed with mud, collected from the river by 'Muddies', then baked to produce the cement

In the early 1900's, the increasing demand for cement meant that smaller cement manufacturing and chalk extraction companies could no longer compete with the larger ones and started forming into combines. E.J&W Goldsmith's became part of the British Standard Cement Company

In 1912 this company opened its new cement works in what is now known as Rainham Dock East

Click HERE for a description of the cement works

Until 1929 Rainham was part of Milton Regis Rural District Council (now Swale District Council), but in that year borough boundaries were changed to put Rainham into the Borough of Gillingham. Historical records of the area were apparently never handed over and these now seem to have been lost

Cement production at this works continued until 1931 when, due to falling demand, the works was closed and the site became derelict

Anecdotal information informs us that during World War II the chalk pit was used by the Home Guard for training and exercises

Local residents used part of the pit for growing vegetables to suplement their meagre rations

It is also believed that local residents intended using the pit for protection in the event of air raids in the area