Gillingham, Kent Walk: Town Centre【4K】

Located in the county of Kent, and around 30 miles east, and slightly south, of central London, is the town of Gillingham (not to be confused with the town of Gillingham in Dorset, which is pronounced with a hard "g", unlike here where the "g" is soft. English pronunciation - gotta love it!).

The name 'Gillingham' breaks down to 'Gylla', 'ingas' and 'ham', literally meaning 'home of Gylla's (a Saxon personal name) family/followers'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as 'Gelingeham', at which point it was a tiny hamlet.

During the mid-16th century, Chatham Dockyard was established along the River Medway in the neighbouring town of Chatham, and subsequently expanded into Gillingham. It was founded by Queen Elizabeth I, who established it as a royal dockyard. In 1667 it was subject to a raid from a Dutch fleet who sailed up the Medway during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The Dutch scored a successful attack on the English warships in what was one of the worst defeats in the history of the Royal Navy.

In 1756 the Seven Years' War began. The Chatham Lines of Defence were built to defend the dockyard in 1758, and stretched for over a mile between Chatham at one end and Gillingham at the other. The war ended in Anglo-Prussian coalition victory after, well, seven years. Additionally, HMS Victory was constructed at Chatham Dockyard during the war, and first launched in 1765. The ship would later see action, perhaps most famously in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar.

At the time of the first census of 1801 the population of Gillingham was a little over 4,000. This would expand tenfold to over 40,000 a century later. In 1858 the railway arrived at Gillingham, originally named New Brompton in reference to the historic planned village of Brompton which originated in the late 17th century to aid with the construction of the dockyard, and later split into Old Brompton and New Brompton. Today the railway station has connections to London to the west and the Kent coast to the east. Among its services are high speed trains direct to St Pancras Station, known as Class 395 Javelins, which are built in Japan by Hitachi.

In 1984 Chatham Dockyard closed. In 1987 the Royal Engineers Museum opened in Gillingham. This museum and library tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers who to this day are garrisoned in neighbouring Chatham.

Gillingham is represented in sport by Gillingham Football Club. Founded in 1893, originally as New Brompton, they are nicknamed 'the Gills' and play their home games at Priestfield Stadium just east of the town centre.

Gillingham is the birthplace of William Adams, an Elizabethan seafarer who, in 1600, was the first Englishman to reach Japan. Also, Jack Hues of Wang Chung comes from Gillingham (one for the '80s music fanatics).

👇 SUBSCRIBE TO 4K EXPLORER FOR NEW VIDEOS EVERY WEEK 👇
https://www.youtube.com/4KExplorer?su...

Filmed: 10th March 2022

Link to the walk on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/F3kvRAnkPNGwP33Q9

Filmed on a Sony FDR-AX700 with a Zhiyun Crane 2 and a Sony ECM-XYST1M Stereo Microphone.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Canterbury Street
4:02 St Mark's Church
4:11 Canterbury Street
4:47 High Street
8:51 Gillingham Station
8:58 High Street
10:52 Sappers Walk
11:52 High Street
17:18 Mill Road
17:39 Gillingham War Memorial
17:44 Mill Road