Riverside - south bank east of the Tower. Milton
Riverside south of the river and east of the Tower. Milton
Complex riverside area with major defence installations in front of a busy and aspirational town centre. Plus a phenomenal number of pubs
Post to the east Denton
Post to the north Tilbury Fort
Post to the west Gravesend
Albion Parade
This is a track running parallel to the river with sheds and works on both sides. It is also the address of the canal marina and some other organisations fronting onto Canal Basin. It was named as the approach road to Albion Baths.
Albion Baths. These were built by James Roper in 1835. They used what he said was sea water and Roper died a year later and they were sold to Harwood & Co. There were vapour baths and showers and a saloon with the papers and a promenade. They later changed hands again while the area became more and more filled with smelly and dirty industry. They closed in the 1870s and were sold and for many years lay as a ‘muddy pool’. A house ‘The bath house’ remained into the 1930s as did the attaché pub.
Albion Ale Shades. This pub dated from 1869, and had been the beer house attached to the Albion Baths which took on a licence when they closed. It was rebuilt in 1910 and closed in 1962. It was demolished following a fire in 1965. It was a Woods Brewery house.
4 Feabrex Factory. Engineers and Steel fabricators
E.H.Sandford. Lock Entrance Works. Engineers and lifting equipment. The company is said to date to before 1877. The family had been fishermen specialising in shrimps, and had a number of fish shops. They also supplying water to passing ships. In the 19th William Sandford ran schooners and colliers as well as tugs. Some of the famiulu became involved in engineering such as tug maintenance and repair. converted the Artemis to a coal hulk for their own use.
Robert L. Priestly, Engineers, dated from the 1870s and were still in business here in the 1970s. They were boiler makers, marine and general engineers, shipbuilder and ships’ smiths as well as undertaking fine metalwork and castings. At Albion Parade their site was known as Milton Ironworks but by the 1970s they were at Denton Works in Mark Lane. Later they were making tunnel boring machines - including that for an initial attempt at the channel tunnel. They then closed their Gravesend works. They appear to have become part of Nuttalls.
Barton’s Timber Wharf. This was here from at least the 1930s and has recently been the site of an, failed, exercise to recover the body of an airman who crashed here during the Second World War.
Howlett Barges. Howlett owned and managed a barge fleet here from at least the 1840s
Henry and Arthur Huggens, Soap works. This was present in the 1860s.
Albion Road
This is a road of fine middle class houses built before 1870, but which had become housing of very poor quality by the late 20th.
7 Albion Tavern. This is now a house but was a pub 1839-1939. It is a double fronted detached house in a different style from the rest of the road.
Albion Terrace
1-9 Phoenix Tavern. This pub was established by 1841. It was rebuilt in 1965 and closed in around 2001. The premises are now in use as a cultural centre
Augustine Road
11-12 Trafalgar Shades. Pub present in 1866 and closed in 1959. It has since been demolished.
Bentley Street
12-13 Half Moon. This pub was present by 1834 and closed in 1935. Now demolished
36 Milton Arms. The pub appears to have been present in the late 19th. It had gone by the 1930s.
Pilots Place. Modern retirement homes.
St. Thomas cottages
Library cottage
Berkeley Crescent,
Only bit left of grand scheme of a north south axis from Terrace to Windmill Hill. This was undertaken by Architect Amon Henry Wilds in the late 1830s as part of what was seen as the Milton Park Estate. Another crescent opposite was never undertaken and shops have replaced the original houses. Fifty years later the Jubilee Clock Tower was added. Over the years the colonnades of Berkley Crescent had disappeared but they have now been restored as have the street-lamps which marked the four corners of the former island. There were originally shrubs and the last of the acacia trees survived until 1968, these too have been replaced.
Nottons. This shop in Berkeley Crescent was well known for supplying school uniforms throughout the town. They dated from 1834 and moved to this site in 1888. From 1920 it belonged to members of the Mole family and was eventually sold in 1983.
Clock Tower. The clock tower was erected to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria In 1887 although the chimes presented by Alfred Tolhurst were not completed until February 1890. The architect was John Johnson, who was also responsible for some of the buildings in The Grove. It has been said that the clock and chimes came from the Rosherville Gardens tower, but reports at the time note the clockmakers as Smith and Son of Derby, and the bells cast by Warner and Co. of Cripplegate. Johnson provided a very similar clock tower at Surbiton, and probably elsewhere.
Canal Basin
Thames and Medway Canal this was conceived as a way of barges going from the Thames to the Medway without sailing round the Isle of Grain. It was built under an Act of 1800 with a two mile tunnel between Higham and Strood having been promoted and designed by Ralph Dodd. It was opened at Gravesend in 1824. The basin is said to have a paved floor and except for a small section of brick walling the basin was simply dug out of the chalk and had no brick or masonry walls. There were many problems and Ralph Walker took over as engineer. As it failed to prosper the Gravesend and Rochester Railway and Canal Company was formed in 1844 and a single-track line alongside the canal was opened in 1845. The company and the line then taken over by the South Eastern Rail Company but the stretch between Gravesend and Higham remained in water with he railway alongside. The last barge used it in 1920 and in 1935 it was closed although the basin which was taken over by Gravesend Council in 1972 for a marina and the canal was filled in between the basin and Mark Lane. There is also some modern work at various points in the basin.
The Embankment Marina - now in the canal basin
Lock from the river. The Thames frontage has curved sea walls leading directly into the barreled lock chamber. On the north west side wall are Roman numerals to indicate the water depth. The lock gates are of cast-iron. There is also some 20th concrete and sheet piling work. The northern gates were blown off in the Second World War and not replaced. To the south are two panelled 20th wooden gates with a cast-iron walkway. The gates are operated by four winches with mechanism in cast-iron housing.
Lock into the canal. There was once a lock between the basin and the canal. Thus the eastern side of the basin is curved and has curved stone slots and cast iron remains of the opening mechanism. The remains of this lock have been round under a car park.
Swing bridge. This is of cast-iron and has a flat arch and a handrail, operated by a circular winch on a three-legged pedestal.
Gravesend Station. In 1845 the Gravesend and Rochester Railway opened a station here. It appears to have been near or on the, now vanished, lock between the basin and the rest of the canal. This was soon superseded when the line was taken over by the South Eastern Railway and this stretch of line taken out of use when the line from the new Gravesend Central Station joined it at Denton in 1849.
Round Tree. This stood at the north-west corner of the canal basin and was marked the seaward limit for the City Corporation coal dues. It was damaged by gun practice, set on fire and then blown down in 1825. It was then replaced by an obelisk which was re-erected in 1893 at the entrance to the Gordon Memorial Gardens.
Blockhouse. A block house was built here under Henry VIII around 1540. It was demolished in 1558. The site was on the corner of the canal basin and brickwork found under the site of the Round Tree may have been from it. It had 12 men and a captain with 30 artillery pieces. It was probably a two-storey, D-shaped building similar to that at Tilbury. It was probably designed by Richard Lee.
Cottage.This had as a roof the upturned hull of a boat and stood opposite the gas works. It was said to be the inspiration of Peggotty’s house in Dickens’ David Copperfield. It was demolished in 1942.
Steam corn mill. This was built here in 1830 by James Roper who later used his engine to pump water from the canal into what became the Albion Baths. It was sold with the baths at his death and continued to change hands with them.
Canal Road
Part of this road was previously Gas Works Road
1 The Canal Tavern. Said to be established before 1817.
Engineer's Arms. This pub was there between 1862 and 1900.
North Star Tavern .The North Star was present from 1853 to 1862.
Gravesend & Milton Gas Light Co. This was on the south side of the canal and had moved here from Bath Street in 1843. Gas manufacture ended in 1958, and the works were demolished, leaving only the gas-holders.
Borough Electricity Works. The local electricity undertaking began in 1900 by Gravesend Corporation, initially for the trams. It was nationalised in 1948 and closed in 1970.
Central Electricity Generating Board Laboratory. This was built on the filled in section of the canal at the east end of the canal basin. It included the Central Radiochemical Laboratory. It has since been demolished
Nuclear Electric Laboratories. Since demolished. Responsible for commercial nuclear generation.
Commercial Place
Milton Chantry. This is the remains of a leper hospital founded by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, about 1322 on the site of a foundation of 1189. It was supported by lands in Nevendon, Vange and South Benfleet, all in Essex. One wall is flint and the rest was covered in brown brick in the 19th by the military. A timber-framed building runs out at right angles from the south wall of the actual chantry. This was the priests' house which includes part of an aisled hall plus a queen post roof. It became a house at the Reformation and then the Zoar Ale House in the18th called the New Tavern. It was later a barracks, and was sold to Gravesend Council by the War Department in 1930. In the Second World War part of the building was used as a gas decontamination chamber. Gravesend Sea Cadets were formed here in 1942 as HMS Gordon. It was restored in the 19th and recently. It is the oldest building in Gravesend and is now the Chantry Heritage Centre
Wates Hotel and the Commercial Hotel and Tavern. Wates Hotel was built in 1819 and was at the western end of the promenade near the Custom House. It was a large weather boarded structure with a weather boarded tower to look out for tilt boats operating the long ferry which came to the New Bridge. It was named after James Wate, its first proprietor. It had an outlet from its riverside to the New Bridge as well as possessing a quay of its own but trade dropped when the long ferry ceased in 1834. In 1883 Wates closed and some of it was demolished leaving the tower and perhaps a part which became the Commercial Tavern or it may always have been a separate building. In 1896 the main building of Wates, or its site became a sailors' home and in 1918 the Sea School built new premises here. It was demolished in 1975 after the Sea School had moved. The Commercial closed in 1930 and too was demolished.
Sailors Home and Rest. In 1827 a group of philanthropists opened the Destitute Sailors' Asylum in Whitechapel; a home for sailors who were not destitute followed in 1835 and in 1882 a branch was opened in Gravesend. Here, sailors of all nations could get decent lodgings between voyages. The Gravesend Home and Rest were handed over to the Government during the First World War and afterwards was sold to the Shipping Federation for their new sea school
The Sea School. The Gravesend Sea School was established in 1918 to train deck and catering boys for the Merchant Navy, funded by the Government. It was managed by the Board of Trade, the Ministry of Shipping, the Shipping Federation and the National Sailors’ and Firemen’s Union. In 1919 the Shipping Federation took over the finances. It soon became the main establishment of its type. In 1939 the Gravesend Sea School was transferred to the Sharpness, in Gloucestershire, and the Gravesend building was used by the Admiralty for training adults. In 1963 the National Sea Training Schools became the National Sea Training Trust, and three years later a purpose built college was opened on a new site on Denton Marshes in 1967 and the building was demolished in 1975.
New Tavern Fort. In the late 18th defences on the Thames began to be strengthened. In 1788 a new battery was planned to the east of the Tudor blockhouse, for 16 guns on an earth embankment facing the river. It was named after a pub in part of the chantry which was used as barracks. A brick wall was later built at the back of the site. In the 1840s a magazine and other buildings were added. In 1868-72 it was remodelled to take 10 heavy guns, mostly 9-inch 12-ton rifled muzzle loaders. Some of the emplacements for these guns still exist and the magazines underneath are virtually intact with their special arrangements for lighting. In 1905 two 6-inch converted breech-loading guns were installed in separate emplacements overlooking the promenade. There is a separate magazine for these two guns which survives complete with shell and cartridge hoists. It was garrisoned until the end of the First World War when it was a Royal Engineers depot. In 1930 it acquired a pair of 6-inch guns for Territorial Army training. Gravesend Corporation bought the inside of the fort though the battery remained in use until 1938. In the Second World War two communications masts supported a naval radio monitoring station and it is thought there was a link to Bletchley Park. Following the war, the fort became a public garden with a bandstand and lawns. Fort House, the Commanding Royal Engineer's home had been bombed and was demolished as was part of the Chantry
Fort Gardens. In 1930 the Corporation bought the fort from the Government, they had already bought the moat and land for the promenade in 1910. The gardens were opened in 1932 by the Earl of Darnley. The moat was converted into The Dell with a stream and paths winding above. The bandstand is the scene of many events including plays and concerts.
Fort House. This was formerly the Rectory of Milton Church. It was the home of the Commanding Royal Engineer and had been demolished after Second World War bombing. In 1870 it was the home of General Gordon and where he entertained lads from the poorer parts of Gravesend. In the Second World War it was used as the Food Office. The site is now a rose garden.
Causeway into the river. This was called the New Bridge and was built on piles terminating in a wooden staircase at low tide point. It is possible that a landing-place existed here to service the early medieval chantry. The parish of Milton was responsible for its upkeep as a public way to the river. Wates Hotel, later the Sea School, was built standing over this above the river.
St.John's Ambulance. Garage of the St. John Ambulance Association. This was adjacent to the Sea School,
Gravesend Rowing Club. Established in 1878 and has produced numerous winners of the Doggetts Coat and Badge. Boat-sheds and clubhouse.
East Crescent Road
This is essentially a service road, with no pavements. There are some patches of granite cobbles
22-23 this was once a stable – the Co-op stables were in this area
East Terrace
44 Flower of Kent. This pub was present between 1846 and 1878. It is not clear where this pub was – if it was next to The Pilot as the numbering suggest there is no space where it could have been, and it is not shown on the 1874 OS,
42-43 The Pilot. This pub is said to date from 1839 – but is also described as being a ‘flamboyant arts and crafts style building on a prominent site’ – so the building must be later than 1839.
Gordon Promenade
The promenade was built in the late 19th and was previously a stretch of saltings which a high tide could cover almost to the wall of the fort. Bags of cement were purchased from a wrecked schooner and an embankment built with them. It is said some of the shape of them could be seen until the late 1970s. It was opened by the Countess of Darnley in 1883.
The Playground on the south side was part of the fort grounds called 'The Captain's Field'. It was leased to the Corporation in 1886. In 1911 a swimming bath was built here but was filled in in 1938.
Bandstand was built in 1890 and demolished in 1933. The Shelters were built in 1906 but have now gone, as have the toilets. There is now a boating lake, a fishing lake, and a childrens' play area
Promenade cafe. This is in ‘Festival of Britain’ style. Edith thinks it was called the Coronation Cafe when it opened in 1952
Gordon Promenade east
Gravesend Sailing Club. This is the clubhouse of the Club which was founded in 1894. Gravesend Sailing Club was established in 1894, and moved here in 1906. It is thought to be the oldest-established Sailing Club on the Lower Thames. Members use the Canal Basin for laying up and fitting-out their craft.
Harmer Street
The street was built in 1836 for the Milton Park Estate Company and was3-1 design by Amon Henry Wilds which was never completed south of Milton Road. It was named after Alderman James Harmer of Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe who backed the scheme. The design was of brick-built terraces in pairs of buildings gradated to the slope away from the river. There are wrought ironwork balconies at the first floor some of which were lost but which have been restored. Many of the buildings are now in residential use although in the past many of them were shops.
1 Alexandra Hotel. 1866
2 This was a Temperance Hotel in the 1930s. In the 1860s it had been Coopers Early Breakfast House and in the 1850s The Star Commercial Dining and Coffee House advertising, among other things ‘Spacious Pleasure Grounds’.
3-11 Harmer House. This was Gravesend Co-op Hall from 1935. In the 1950s and 1960s the Co-op Hall had many concerts with major pop stars of the day. It later became a billiard hall
22 Manufacturer of soda water and ginger beer in the 1870s.
33 Gravesend Savings Bank. Later the Trustee Savings Bank.
15-17 Borough Electric Offices. This was later Hayman Engineering, set up in 1974 to provide refrigeration to the food processing industry
44-46 Gravesend Reporter Offices. This was a local newspaper publishing house. It had in the past been a mineral water manufactory
El Sereno. Gravesend first 1950s coffee bar. Set up by Peter Crofton Sleigh, and friends.
1-2a Stable to 39 The Terrace
Call Boy. The original Literary Institute building stood here until 1955. It had been built in 1836 and had a grand portico and had contained a reading room, lending library, and an assembly room. It included a bar called the Institution Shades. In the 1890s it was reconstructed and became The Prince of Wales Theatre of Varieties and later The Grand Theatre of Varieties. It closed in 1933, and in 1952 the roof fell in. in 1955 it was replaced by the public-house, called The Call-Bay. This was a Shepherd Neame pub which closed in 2008 and then was opened as a series of short lived bars.
Khartoum Place
Gates. Opposite the point where East Terrace joins Milton Place are the gates of Fort Gardens with the Borough coat of arms.
Milton Place
Holy Trinity. This church, built in 1845 was demolished in 1963 and the site became a car park for the post office. It was at the junction with Ordnance Road and Milton Road. The architect was J. Wilson, and the site was given by the Board of Ordnance on condition that seats were made available for customs officers. The church quickly became fashionable and the congregation included prosperous—pilots, customs officers, and watermen but the congregation, however, dwindled as the residential area moved south. It was here that the Trinity Sunday Pilots' Service was first held in 1908.
School. A school was built next to the in 1865. This was burnt down in 1962 and the school was moved to Milton barracks
Tithe Barn. The Milton tithe barn was destroyed in Second World War bombing having been used as a dust cart depot previously.
Milton Road
32 The Globe. This pub is now a bathroom shop. It dated from 1788, although others give the date as 1824 as a City of London Brewery house. It and closed in 2003 having changed its name a couple of times in its last years.
15 TJs. This was the British Tar dates from 1808 although the building may be twenty years or so older. The building frontage is of mathematical tiles and the only example of these in Gravesend. The ground floor is brick with weather boarding at the rear. It was a Barclay and Perkins House, then a Russell’s Brewery house, and then Trueman’s. It was latterly a free house.
79 Ingress Tavern. This was on the corner of Love Lane 1846 - 1856.
144-145 General Post Office. There is a memorial plaque in the building to post office workers who did in the Great War. It may now be closed as a post office. The building is probably from about 1850
146 National Provincial Bank. The bank had opened in 1930 here and closed in 1992 following a merger with the Westminster Bank. The building is probably from about 1850 and is marked as a Post Office on the 1864 OS.
Norfolk Road
Old pillar box. This dates from 1856-1860 and it is understood it is one of the oldest boxes remaining. It is a fluted cylinder with a vertical posting aperture. The only similar box is in Banbury.
Ordnance Road
This was once called Coal Road because much of the coal landed in the Canal Basin was transported along here.
Chantry Grounds. Little Pebbles. Children’s Centre.
Chantry Community Academy. Assume this is a primary school in the old Gordon School buildings,
Gordon School. Gordon Secondary School for Boys was completed in 1932 and opened by Lord Darnley. It moved to Lower Higham Road in 1975 to become a mixed school. The Ordnance Road building became Chantry Primary school
King’s Field. The triangular ground on which Gordon School was built was a pasture for cows, kept by Joble King who had a dairy in Queen Street.
Swimming pool. This had been opened in 1938 and closed in 1988. It was demolished in 1989. It was an open air pool, with a central deep end and changing rooms behind the frontage. There was a separate children’s paddling pool. (Edith can find nothing about the baths and cannot remember if there were slipper baths there)
Gordon Gardens. The Gordon Memorial Gardens were given in 1890 and 1892 by George Arnold, J.P., Mayor of Gravesend.
Obelisk. This was moved here from the canal basin where it had, replaced the Round Tree. A metal plate on it records the gift of the gardens
Drinking fountain and horse trough
Gordon statue. General Charles George Gordon came to Gravesend in September 1865 as Royal Engineer Officer in Command, to supervise the construction of forts for the defence of the Thames. His free time was devoted to helping the needy and he taught regularly at the Ragged School. His special care was for young boys who roamed the streets. The statue is of a full length figure in army uniform with a sabre. It is on a circular column with 6 stone steps.
Royal Pier Road,
This was previously known as East Street
Blockhouse. This is on show on the lawn in front of the Clarendon Hotel. The actual blockhouse building was on the area of the car park. The blockhouse was one of five designed by Christopher Morice and James Nedham for Henry VIII in 1539. It was designed to cross fire over the navigable channel and this was one of the inner lines of forts. It had a clear view of Gravesend Reach and protected the ferry crossing. It was a D shaped structure with guns mounted on a semi circular front with 25-30 guns of various types, some with the range of a mile. It was later used as a magazine for gunpowder. It was gradually run down over the next two centuries – although officers preferred it to Tilbury. It was demolished in 1841. It has since been excavated and the foundations of an ashlar bastion were found which supported the walls.
Pontoon bridge. This was built across the river during the Great War. It ran from the Clarendon lawns to the World’s End supported on lighters which could be moved to provide a gap in the middle. This was probably the earliest lower Thames crossing.
Clarendon Hotel. The site was originally that of a residence for the Duke of York later James II as Lord High Admiral. This was set in front of the Gravesend Blockhouse after the Dutch Road of 1667. Later it became the Ordnance Storekeepers Quarters. It was converted into a hotel in the mid 19th but the current building dates from 1860. James married Anne, daughter of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, hence the name. On the west side is a long low wing and to the east an addition of which the ground floor room is a ballroom. Princess Alexandra spent her first night in England here in 1863 on her arrival to marry the Prince of Wales. It closed due to disrepair in 2004 but has now reopened
Clarendon Shades. The west wing of the hotel was until 1952 in the occupation of a Mr. Combers, locally known as Captain Silver. He had a large collection of ship's models and nautical gear, with the upper floor done up as a steam- ship's bridge. The collection of is now in the National Maritime Museum with the figureheads being in the Cutty Sark
29 there are 3 figureheads in the grounds
Clarendon Cottage. At the rear of the Clarendon was 'Grape Vine Cottage', which had been the Milton parish workhouse in the 18th. This has now gone
Red Cross. Pub in this area 1613-1675
Waters, boat builders were in this area at the west end of Thames Terrace
West's barge builders. This opened in 1904 and included a covered slipway. Samuel West's barges sailed across the Channel during the First World War but were among the first to fit motors to their barges. The yard built a number of vessels but maintened and managed a large fleet of sailing barges,
Royal Terrace pier. This pier, designed by J. B. Redman, is now the headquarters of the Trinity House pilots. Now the headquarters of the Pilotage Service. It was built in 1844 by the Gravesend Freehold Investment Company as a T-shaped construction of cast-iron. At the shore end are small stone pavilions with turrets. In 1834 The Crown offered land around the Blockhouse for sale and Gravesend Corporation wanted something built which would be for the public good. They couldn’t afford to buy it themselves and finance was raised by which the Royal Terrace Gardens Company was set up along with the Gravesend Star Packet Company which was to run steamers from it here. It was thus originally a landing and embarkation point for visitors brought by paddle-steamer in the summer. It was opened in 1842 replacing a temporary pier o f1835. Architect Amon Wildes was commissioned to draw up a vast scheme rebuilt much of Milton as a visitor attraction and watering place. Of course it never really happened – there were other attractions and it was bankrupt by 1859. Trinity House leased the pier in 1859 and bought it in 1893. The Terrace
The Terrace was built in 1791 by James Leigh Joynes, who also paved the footway at his own expense. The ground on which the south side was built was known as The Camps or Sconce lands in the 17th. Pocock noted earthworks here.
Terrace Gardens. The area north of The Terrace between the Clarendon and just short of Milton Place was laid out as gardens in 1833. They commissioned the foremost garden designer J.C.Loudon who designed a scheme to make the garden feel bigger than it actually was. Admission was by ticket or payment at toll-offices, on each side of the Harmer Street entrance on the north side. These were demolished after being semi-derelict for a number of years and replaced with houses. Royal Terrace Pier road went through the middle of the site on arches. By the 1890s the gardens were derelict and replaced with streets and houses
Milton Wharf. Near West's barge works was the London Lead Oxide Works which dated from the period of the Great War. Prior to this, the site was a fodder business and a sweet factory. The original site was the Terrace Gardens and the works were built on the site of one of the old open bandstands.The works moved to Limpsfield during the Second World War
Fountain Inn. This had been on the other side of the road but transferred to the south side when the Excise Office was built. This closed in 1914 but is listed in the 1937 street directory as a cafe
Old Custom House. Before the current custom house was used, the offices were on the south side of the road as the end house in Whitehall Place. This was destroyed in Second World War bombing. It had a look-out with a glass front to see down the river
Custom House. Tall square building of brown brick, with a lookout window on the roof. It Ws built in 1816 for the Excise authorities on the site of the Fountain Inn, which then moved. In 1836 the Board of Customs moved from its offices across the road in Whitehall Place, into this building
Gazebo in Customs Office grounds. This is an octagonal weather boarded building from the early 19th.
Whitehall Place. This is the area between the East Terrace and Milton Place. This is one big house occupied by commercial firms, currently it is Cox House. Before the Second World War it was used by various Thames authorities.
27 City of London. This pub was there before 1839 and was rebuilt in 1893 after its predecessor was burnt down. It closed in 2002 and has been converted to a dodgy looking bed and breakfast.
44 Crown and Thistle. Shop sized terraced pub. Must be almost the last of its type
46 Terrace Tavern. This dated from 1827 and is said to have closed in 2010. It does appear to be open though it’s not clear for what. Said to have planning consent for flats. Green tiled building very dramatic advertising Shrimp Brand Beers in tile work
Sources
Baldwin. The River and the Downs
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Bygone Kent
Discover Gravesham. Web site
Dover/Kent. Web site
English Heritage. Web site
Gravesend Historical Society. Transactions
Gravesend Official Handbook. 1950s
Gravesham Council. Web site
Green. Pubs of the Gravesend Area
Harker. The book of Gravesham
Haselfoot. Industrial Archaeology of South East England
Hiscock. A History of Gravesend
Industrial Heritage
Kent Fallen. Web site
Lost Pubs Project. Web site
National Maritime Museum. Web site
Penguin. Kent
Phillips. A History of Gravesend
Pub History. Web site
Smith. Defending London’s River
Smith. New Tavern Fort. Gravesend.
Thames and Medway Canal Association. Web site
TJs. Web site
Complex riverside area with major defence installations in front of a busy and aspirational town centre. Plus a phenomenal number of pubs
Post to the east Denton
Post to the north Tilbury Fort
Post to the west Gravesend
Albion Parade
This is a track running parallel to the river with sheds and works on both sides. It is also the address of the canal marina and some other organisations fronting onto Canal Basin. It was named as the approach road to Albion Baths.
Albion Baths. These were built by James Roper in 1835. They used what he said was sea water and Roper died a year later and they were sold to Harwood & Co. There were vapour baths and showers and a saloon with the papers and a promenade. They later changed hands again while the area became more and more filled with smelly and dirty industry. They closed in the 1870s and were sold and for many years lay as a ‘muddy pool’. A house ‘The bath house’ remained into the 1930s as did the attaché pub.
Albion Ale Shades. This pub dated from 1869, and had been the beer house attached to the Albion Baths which took on a licence when they closed. It was rebuilt in 1910 and closed in 1962. It was demolished following a fire in 1965. It was a Woods Brewery house.
4 Feabrex Factory. Engineers and Steel fabricators
E.H.Sandford. Lock Entrance Works. Engineers and lifting equipment. The company is said to date to before 1877. The family had been fishermen specialising in shrimps, and had a number of fish shops. They also supplying water to passing ships. In the 19th William Sandford ran schooners and colliers as well as tugs. Some of the famiulu became involved in engineering such as tug maintenance and repair. converted the Artemis to a coal hulk for their own use.
Robert L. Priestly, Engineers, dated from the 1870s and were still in business here in the 1970s. They were boiler makers, marine and general engineers, shipbuilder and ships’ smiths as well as undertaking fine metalwork and castings. At Albion Parade their site was known as Milton Ironworks but by the 1970s they were at Denton Works in Mark Lane. Later they were making tunnel boring machines - including that for an initial attempt at the channel tunnel. They then closed their Gravesend works. They appear to have become part of Nuttalls.
Barton’s Timber Wharf. This was here from at least the 1930s and has recently been the site of an, failed, exercise to recover the body of an airman who crashed here during the Second World War.
Howlett Barges. Howlett owned and managed a barge fleet here from at least the 1840s
Henry and Arthur Huggens, Soap works. This was present in the 1860s.
Albion Road
This is a road of fine middle class houses built before 1870, but which had become housing of very poor quality by the late 20th.
7 Albion Tavern. This is now a house but was a pub 1839-1939. It is a double fronted detached house in a different style from the rest of the road.
Albion Terrace
1-9 Phoenix Tavern. This pub was established by 1841. It was rebuilt in 1965 and closed in around 2001. The premises are now in use as a cultural centre
Augustine Road
11-12 Trafalgar Shades. Pub present in 1866 and closed in 1959. It has since been demolished.
Bentley Street
12-13 Half Moon. This pub was present by 1834 and closed in 1935. Now demolished
36 Milton Arms. The pub appears to have been present in the late 19th. It had gone by the 1930s.
Pilots Place. Modern retirement homes.
St. Thomas cottages
Library cottage
Berkeley Crescent,
Only bit left of grand scheme of a north south axis from Terrace to Windmill Hill. This was undertaken by Architect Amon Henry Wilds in the late 1830s as part of what was seen as the Milton Park Estate. Another crescent opposite was never undertaken and shops have replaced the original houses. Fifty years later the Jubilee Clock Tower was added. Over the years the colonnades of Berkley Crescent had disappeared but they have now been restored as have the street-lamps which marked the four corners of the former island. There were originally shrubs and the last of the acacia trees survived until 1968, these too have been replaced.
Nottons. This shop in Berkeley Crescent was well known for supplying school uniforms throughout the town. They dated from 1834 and moved to this site in 1888. From 1920 it belonged to members of the Mole family and was eventually sold in 1983.
Clock Tower. The clock tower was erected to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria In 1887 although the chimes presented by Alfred Tolhurst were not completed until February 1890. The architect was John Johnson, who was also responsible for some of the buildings in The Grove. It has been said that the clock and chimes came from the Rosherville Gardens tower, but reports at the time note the clockmakers as Smith and Son of Derby, and the bells cast by Warner and Co. of Cripplegate. Johnson provided a very similar clock tower at Surbiton, and probably elsewhere.
Canal Basin
Thames and Medway Canal this was conceived as a way of barges going from the Thames to the Medway without sailing round the Isle of Grain. It was built under an Act of 1800 with a two mile tunnel between Higham and Strood having been promoted and designed by Ralph Dodd. It was opened at Gravesend in 1824. The basin is said to have a paved floor and except for a small section of brick walling the basin was simply dug out of the chalk and had no brick or masonry walls. There were many problems and Ralph Walker took over as engineer. As it failed to prosper the Gravesend and Rochester Railway and Canal Company was formed in 1844 and a single-track line alongside the canal was opened in 1845. The company and the line then taken over by the South Eastern Rail Company but the stretch between Gravesend and Higham remained in water with he railway alongside. The last barge used it in 1920 and in 1935 it was closed although the basin which was taken over by Gravesend Council in 1972 for a marina and the canal was filled in between the basin and Mark Lane. There is also some modern work at various points in the basin.
The Embankment Marina - now in the canal basin
Lock from the river. The Thames frontage has curved sea walls leading directly into the barreled lock chamber. On the north west side wall are Roman numerals to indicate the water depth. The lock gates are of cast-iron. There is also some 20th concrete and sheet piling work. The northern gates were blown off in the Second World War and not replaced. To the south are two panelled 20th wooden gates with a cast-iron walkway. The gates are operated by four winches with mechanism in cast-iron housing.
Lock into the canal. There was once a lock between the basin and the canal. Thus the eastern side of the basin is curved and has curved stone slots and cast iron remains of the opening mechanism. The remains of this lock have been round under a car park.
Swing bridge. This is of cast-iron and has a flat arch and a handrail, operated by a circular winch on a three-legged pedestal.
Gravesend Station. In 1845 the Gravesend and Rochester Railway opened a station here. It appears to have been near or on the, now vanished, lock between the basin and the rest of the canal. This was soon superseded when the line was taken over by the South Eastern Railway and this stretch of line taken out of use when the line from the new Gravesend Central Station joined it at Denton in 1849.
Round Tree. This stood at the north-west corner of the canal basin and was marked the seaward limit for the City Corporation coal dues. It was damaged by gun practice, set on fire and then blown down in 1825. It was then replaced by an obelisk which was re-erected in 1893 at the entrance to the Gordon Memorial Gardens.
Blockhouse. A block house was built here under Henry VIII around 1540. It was demolished in 1558. The site was on the corner of the canal basin and brickwork found under the site of the Round Tree may have been from it. It had 12 men and a captain with 30 artillery pieces. It was probably a two-storey, D-shaped building similar to that at Tilbury. It was probably designed by Richard Lee.
Cottage.This had as a roof the upturned hull of a boat and stood opposite the gas works. It was said to be the inspiration of Peggotty’s house in Dickens’ David Copperfield. It was demolished in 1942.
Steam corn mill. This was built here in 1830 by James Roper who later used his engine to pump water from the canal into what became the Albion Baths. It was sold with the baths at his death and continued to change hands with them.
Canal Road
Part of this road was previously Gas Works Road
1 The Canal Tavern. Said to be established before 1817.
Engineer's Arms. This pub was there between 1862 and 1900.
North Star Tavern .The North Star was present from 1853 to 1862.
Gravesend & Milton Gas Light Co. This was on the south side of the canal and had moved here from Bath Street in 1843. Gas manufacture ended in 1958, and the works were demolished, leaving only the gas-holders.
Borough Electricity Works. The local electricity undertaking began in 1900 by Gravesend Corporation, initially for the trams. It was nationalised in 1948 and closed in 1970.
Central Electricity Generating Board Laboratory. This was built on the filled in section of the canal at the east end of the canal basin. It included the Central Radiochemical Laboratory. It has since been demolished
Nuclear Electric Laboratories. Since demolished. Responsible for commercial nuclear generation.
Commercial Place
Milton Chantry. This is the remains of a leper hospital founded by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, about 1322 on the site of a foundation of 1189. It was supported by lands in Nevendon, Vange and South Benfleet, all in Essex. One wall is flint and the rest was covered in brown brick in the 19th by the military. A timber-framed building runs out at right angles from the south wall of the actual chantry. This was the priests' house which includes part of an aisled hall plus a queen post roof. It became a house at the Reformation and then the Zoar Ale House in the18th called the New Tavern. It was later a barracks, and was sold to Gravesend Council by the War Department in 1930. In the Second World War part of the building was used as a gas decontamination chamber. Gravesend Sea Cadets were formed here in 1942 as HMS Gordon. It was restored in the 19th and recently. It is the oldest building in Gravesend and is now the Chantry Heritage Centre
Wates Hotel and the Commercial Hotel and Tavern. Wates Hotel was built in 1819 and was at the western end of the promenade near the Custom House. It was a large weather boarded structure with a weather boarded tower to look out for tilt boats operating the long ferry which came to the New Bridge. It was named after James Wate, its first proprietor. It had an outlet from its riverside to the New Bridge as well as possessing a quay of its own but trade dropped when the long ferry ceased in 1834. In 1883 Wates closed and some of it was demolished leaving the tower and perhaps a part which became the Commercial Tavern or it may always have been a separate building. In 1896 the main building of Wates, or its site became a sailors' home and in 1918 the Sea School built new premises here. It was demolished in 1975 after the Sea School had moved. The Commercial closed in 1930 and too was demolished.
Sailors Home and Rest. In 1827 a group of philanthropists opened the Destitute Sailors' Asylum in Whitechapel; a home for sailors who were not destitute followed in 1835 and in 1882 a branch was opened in Gravesend. Here, sailors of all nations could get decent lodgings between voyages. The Gravesend Home and Rest were handed over to the Government during the First World War and afterwards was sold to the Shipping Federation for their new sea school
The Sea School. The Gravesend Sea School was established in 1918 to train deck and catering boys for the Merchant Navy, funded by the Government. It was managed by the Board of Trade, the Ministry of Shipping, the Shipping Federation and the National Sailors’ and Firemen’s Union. In 1919 the Shipping Federation took over the finances. It soon became the main establishment of its type. In 1939 the Gravesend Sea School was transferred to the Sharpness, in Gloucestershire, and the Gravesend building was used by the Admiralty for training adults. In 1963 the National Sea Training Schools became the National Sea Training Trust, and three years later a purpose built college was opened on a new site on Denton Marshes in 1967 and the building was demolished in 1975.
New Tavern Fort. In the late 18th defences on the Thames began to be strengthened. In 1788 a new battery was planned to the east of the Tudor blockhouse, for 16 guns on an earth embankment facing the river. It was named after a pub in part of the chantry which was used as barracks. A brick wall was later built at the back of the site. In the 1840s a magazine and other buildings were added. In 1868-72 it was remodelled to take 10 heavy guns, mostly 9-inch 12-ton rifled muzzle loaders. Some of the emplacements for these guns still exist and the magazines underneath are virtually intact with their special arrangements for lighting. In 1905 two 6-inch converted breech-loading guns were installed in separate emplacements overlooking the promenade. There is a separate magazine for these two guns which survives complete with shell and cartridge hoists. It was garrisoned until the end of the First World War when it was a Royal Engineers depot. In 1930 it acquired a pair of 6-inch guns for Territorial Army training. Gravesend Corporation bought the inside of the fort though the battery remained in use until 1938. In the Second World War two communications masts supported a naval radio monitoring station and it is thought there was a link to Bletchley Park. Following the war, the fort became a public garden with a bandstand and lawns. Fort House, the Commanding Royal Engineer's home had been bombed and was demolished as was part of the Chantry
Fort Gardens. In 1930 the Corporation bought the fort from the Government, they had already bought the moat and land for the promenade in 1910. The gardens were opened in 1932 by the Earl of Darnley. The moat was converted into The Dell with a stream and paths winding above. The bandstand is the scene of many events including plays and concerts.
Fort House. This was formerly the Rectory of Milton Church. It was the home of the Commanding Royal Engineer and had been demolished after Second World War bombing. In 1870 it was the home of General Gordon and where he entertained lads from the poorer parts of Gravesend. In the Second World War it was used as the Food Office. The site is now a rose garden.
Causeway into the river. This was called the New Bridge and was built on piles terminating in a wooden staircase at low tide point. It is possible that a landing-place existed here to service the early medieval chantry. The parish of Milton was responsible for its upkeep as a public way to the river. Wates Hotel, later the Sea School, was built standing over this above the river.
St.John's Ambulance. Garage of the St. John Ambulance Association. This was adjacent to the Sea School,
Gravesend Rowing Club. Established in 1878 and has produced numerous winners of the Doggetts Coat and Badge. Boat-sheds and clubhouse.
East Crescent Road
This is essentially a service road, with no pavements. There are some patches of granite cobbles
22-23 this was once a stable – the Co-op stables were in this area
East Terrace
44 Flower of Kent. This pub was present between 1846 and 1878. It is not clear where this pub was – if it was next to The Pilot as the numbering suggest there is no space where it could have been, and it is not shown on the 1874 OS,
42-43 The Pilot. This pub is said to date from 1839 – but is also described as being a ‘flamboyant arts and crafts style building on a prominent site’ – so the building must be later than 1839.
Gordon Promenade
The promenade was built in the late 19th and was previously a stretch of saltings which a high tide could cover almost to the wall of the fort. Bags of cement were purchased from a wrecked schooner and an embankment built with them. It is said some of the shape of them could be seen until the late 1970s. It was opened by the Countess of Darnley in 1883.
The Playground on the south side was part of the fort grounds called 'The Captain's Field'. It was leased to the Corporation in 1886. In 1911 a swimming bath was built here but was filled in in 1938.
Bandstand was built in 1890 and demolished in 1933. The Shelters were built in 1906 but have now gone, as have the toilets. There is now a boating lake, a fishing lake, and a childrens' play area
Promenade cafe. This is in ‘Festival of Britain’ style. Edith thinks it was called the Coronation Cafe when it opened in 1952
Gordon Promenade east
Gravesend Sailing Club. This is the clubhouse of the Club which was founded in 1894. Gravesend Sailing Club was established in 1894, and moved here in 1906. It is thought to be the oldest-established Sailing Club on the Lower Thames. Members use the Canal Basin for laying up and fitting-out their craft.
Harmer Street
The street was built in 1836 for the Milton Park Estate Company and was3-1 design by Amon Henry Wilds which was never completed south of Milton Road. It was named after Alderman James Harmer of Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe who backed the scheme. The design was of brick-built terraces in pairs of buildings gradated to the slope away from the river. There are wrought ironwork balconies at the first floor some of which were lost but which have been restored. Many of the buildings are now in residential use although in the past many of them were shops.
1 Alexandra Hotel. 1866
2 This was a Temperance Hotel in the 1930s. In the 1860s it had been Coopers Early Breakfast House and in the 1850s The Star Commercial Dining and Coffee House advertising, among other things ‘Spacious Pleasure Grounds’.
3-11 Harmer House. This was Gravesend Co-op Hall from 1935. In the 1950s and 1960s the Co-op Hall had many concerts with major pop stars of the day. It later became a billiard hall
22 Manufacturer of soda water and ginger beer in the 1870s.
33 Gravesend Savings Bank. Later the Trustee Savings Bank.
15-17 Borough Electric Offices. This was later Hayman Engineering, set up in 1974 to provide refrigeration to the food processing industry
44-46 Gravesend Reporter Offices. This was a local newspaper publishing house. It had in the past been a mineral water manufactory
El Sereno. Gravesend first 1950s coffee bar. Set up by Peter Crofton Sleigh, and friends.
1-2a Stable to 39 The Terrace
Call Boy. The original Literary Institute building stood here until 1955. It had been built in 1836 and had a grand portico and had contained a reading room, lending library, and an assembly room. It included a bar called the Institution Shades. In the 1890s it was reconstructed and became The Prince of Wales Theatre of Varieties and later The Grand Theatre of Varieties. It closed in 1933, and in 1952 the roof fell in. in 1955 it was replaced by the public-house, called The Call-Bay. This was a Shepherd Neame pub which closed in 2008 and then was opened as a series of short lived bars.
Khartoum Place
Gates. Opposite the point where East Terrace joins Milton Place are the gates of Fort Gardens with the Borough coat of arms.
Milton Place
Holy Trinity. This church, built in 1845 was demolished in 1963 and the site became a car park for the post office. It was at the junction with Ordnance Road and Milton Road. The architect was J. Wilson, and the site was given by the Board of Ordnance on condition that seats were made available for customs officers. The church quickly became fashionable and the congregation included prosperous—pilots, customs officers, and watermen but the congregation, however, dwindled as the residential area moved south. It was here that the Trinity Sunday Pilots' Service was first held in 1908.
School. A school was built next to the in 1865. This was burnt down in 1962 and the school was moved to Milton barracks
Tithe Barn. The Milton tithe barn was destroyed in Second World War bombing having been used as a dust cart depot previously.
Milton Road
32 The Globe. This pub is now a bathroom shop. It dated from 1788, although others give the date as 1824 as a City of London Brewery house. It and closed in 2003 having changed its name a couple of times in its last years.
15 TJs. This was the British Tar dates from 1808 although the building may be twenty years or so older. The building frontage is of mathematical tiles and the only example of these in Gravesend. The ground floor is brick with weather boarding at the rear. It was a Barclay and Perkins House, then a Russell’s Brewery house, and then Trueman’s. It was latterly a free house.
79 Ingress Tavern. This was on the corner of Love Lane 1846 - 1856.
144-145 General Post Office. There is a memorial plaque in the building to post office workers who did in the Great War. It may now be closed as a post office. The building is probably from about 1850
146 National Provincial Bank. The bank had opened in 1930 here and closed in 1992 following a merger with the Westminster Bank. The building is probably from about 1850 and is marked as a Post Office on the 1864 OS.
Norfolk Road
Old pillar box. This dates from 1856-1860 and it is understood it is one of the oldest boxes remaining. It is a fluted cylinder with a vertical posting aperture. The only similar box is in Banbury.
Ordnance Road
This was once called Coal Road because much of the coal landed in the Canal Basin was transported along here.
Chantry Grounds. Little Pebbles. Children’s Centre.
Chantry Community Academy. Assume this is a primary school in the old Gordon School buildings,
Gordon School. Gordon Secondary School for Boys was completed in 1932 and opened by Lord Darnley. It moved to Lower Higham Road in 1975 to become a mixed school. The Ordnance Road building became Chantry Primary school
King’s Field. The triangular ground on which Gordon School was built was a pasture for cows, kept by Joble King who had a dairy in Queen Street.
Swimming pool. This had been opened in 1938 and closed in 1988. It was demolished in 1989. It was an open air pool, with a central deep end and changing rooms behind the frontage. There was a separate children’s paddling pool. (Edith can find nothing about the baths and cannot remember if there were slipper baths there)
Gordon Gardens. The Gordon Memorial Gardens were given in 1890 and 1892 by George Arnold, J.P., Mayor of Gravesend.
Obelisk. This was moved here from the canal basin where it had, replaced the Round Tree. A metal plate on it records the gift of the gardens
Drinking fountain and horse trough
Gordon statue. General Charles George Gordon came to Gravesend in September 1865 as Royal Engineer Officer in Command, to supervise the construction of forts for the defence of the Thames. His free time was devoted to helping the needy and he taught regularly at the Ragged School. His special care was for young boys who roamed the streets. The statue is of a full length figure in army uniform with a sabre. It is on a circular column with 6 stone steps.
Royal Pier Road,
This was previously known as East Street
Blockhouse. This is on show on the lawn in front of the Clarendon Hotel. The actual blockhouse building was on the area of the car park. The blockhouse was one of five designed by Christopher Morice and James Nedham for Henry VIII in 1539. It was designed to cross fire over the navigable channel and this was one of the inner lines of forts. It had a clear view of Gravesend Reach and protected the ferry crossing. It was a D shaped structure with guns mounted on a semi circular front with 25-30 guns of various types, some with the range of a mile. It was later used as a magazine for gunpowder. It was gradually run down over the next two centuries – although officers preferred it to Tilbury. It was demolished in 1841. It has since been excavated and the foundations of an ashlar bastion were found which supported the walls.
Pontoon bridge. This was built across the river during the Great War. It ran from the Clarendon lawns to the World’s End supported on lighters which could be moved to provide a gap in the middle. This was probably the earliest lower Thames crossing.
Clarendon Hotel. The site was originally that of a residence for the Duke of York later James II as Lord High Admiral. This was set in front of the Gravesend Blockhouse after the Dutch Road of 1667. Later it became the Ordnance Storekeepers Quarters. It was converted into a hotel in the mid 19th but the current building dates from 1860. James married Anne, daughter of Edward, Earl of Clarendon, hence the name. On the west side is a long low wing and to the east an addition of which the ground floor room is a ballroom. Princess Alexandra spent her first night in England here in 1863 on her arrival to marry the Prince of Wales. It closed due to disrepair in 2004 but has now reopened
Clarendon Shades. The west wing of the hotel was until 1952 in the occupation of a Mr. Combers, locally known as Captain Silver. He had a large collection of ship's models and nautical gear, with the upper floor done up as a steam- ship's bridge. The collection of is now in the National Maritime Museum with the figureheads being in the Cutty Sark
29 there are 3 figureheads in the grounds
Clarendon Cottage. At the rear of the Clarendon was 'Grape Vine Cottage', which had been the Milton parish workhouse in the 18th. This has now gone
Red Cross. Pub in this area 1613-1675
Waters, boat builders were in this area at the west end of Thames Terrace
West's barge builders. This opened in 1904 and included a covered slipway. Samuel West's barges sailed across the Channel during the First World War but were among the first to fit motors to their barges. The yard built a number of vessels but maintened and managed a large fleet of sailing barges,
Royal Terrace pier. This pier, designed by J. B. Redman, is now the headquarters of the Trinity House pilots. Now the headquarters of the Pilotage Service. It was built in 1844 by the Gravesend Freehold Investment Company as a T-shaped construction of cast-iron. At the shore end are small stone pavilions with turrets. In 1834 The Crown offered land around the Blockhouse for sale and Gravesend Corporation wanted something built which would be for the public good. They couldn’t afford to buy it themselves and finance was raised by which the Royal Terrace Gardens Company was set up along with the Gravesend Star Packet Company which was to run steamers from it here. It was thus originally a landing and embarkation point for visitors brought by paddle-steamer in the summer. It was opened in 1842 replacing a temporary pier o f1835. Architect Amon Wildes was commissioned to draw up a vast scheme rebuilt much of Milton as a visitor attraction and watering place. Of course it never really happened – there were other attractions and it was bankrupt by 1859. Trinity House leased the pier in 1859 and bought it in 1893. The Terrace
The Terrace was built in 1791 by James Leigh Joynes, who also paved the footway at his own expense. The ground on which the south side was built was known as The Camps or Sconce lands in the 17th. Pocock noted earthworks here.
Terrace Gardens. The area north of The Terrace between the Clarendon and just short of Milton Place was laid out as gardens in 1833. They commissioned the foremost garden designer J.C.Loudon who designed a scheme to make the garden feel bigger than it actually was. Admission was by ticket or payment at toll-offices, on each side of the Harmer Street entrance on the north side. These were demolished after being semi-derelict for a number of years and replaced with houses. Royal Terrace Pier road went through the middle of the site on arches. By the 1890s the gardens were derelict and replaced with streets and houses
Milton Wharf. Near West's barge works was the London Lead Oxide Works which dated from the period of the Great War. Prior to this, the site was a fodder business and a sweet factory. The original site was the Terrace Gardens and the works were built on the site of one of the old open bandstands.The works moved to Limpsfield during the Second World War
Fountain Inn. This had been on the other side of the road but transferred to the south side when the Excise Office was built. This closed in 1914 but is listed in the 1937 street directory as a cafe
Old Custom House. Before the current custom house was used, the offices were on the south side of the road as the end house in Whitehall Place. This was destroyed in Second World War bombing. It had a look-out with a glass front to see down the river
Custom House. Tall square building of brown brick, with a lookout window on the roof. It Ws built in 1816 for the Excise authorities on the site of the Fountain Inn, which then moved. In 1836 the Board of Customs moved from its offices across the road in Whitehall Place, into this building
Gazebo in Customs Office grounds. This is an octagonal weather boarded building from the early 19th.
Whitehall Place. This is the area between the East Terrace and Milton Place. This is one big house occupied by commercial firms, currently it is Cox House. Before the Second World War it was used by various Thames authorities.
27 City of London. This pub was there before 1839 and was rebuilt in 1893 after its predecessor was burnt down. It closed in 2002 and has been converted to a dodgy looking bed and breakfast.
44 Crown and Thistle. Shop sized terraced pub. Must be almost the last of its type
46 Terrace Tavern. This dated from 1827 and is said to have closed in 2010. It does appear to be open though it’s not clear for what. Said to have planning consent for flats. Green tiled building very dramatic advertising Shrimp Brand Beers in tile work
Sources
Baldwin. The River and the Downs
British Listed Buildings. Web site
Bygone Kent
Discover Gravesham. Web site
Dover/Kent. Web site
English Heritage. Web site
Gravesend Historical Society. Transactions
Gravesend Official Handbook. 1950s
Gravesham Council. Web site
Green. Pubs of the Gravesend Area
Harker. The book of Gravesham
Haselfoot. Industrial Archaeology of South East England
Hiscock. A History of Gravesend
Industrial Heritage
Kent Fallen. Web site
Lost Pubs Project. Web site
National Maritime Museum. Web site
Penguin. Kent
Phillips. A History of Gravesend
Pub History. Web site
Smith. Defending London’s River
Smith. New Tavern Fort. Gravesend.
Thames and Medway Canal Association. Web site
TJs. Web site
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