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horseback, in their gowns, on Blackheath. In the year 1727 the church and great part of the town were consumed by fire. Soon after this disaster, the present elegant structure for divine worship was erected; towards the expence of which, king George II. contributed liberally. The town house, where all public business is transacted, is situated near the middle of the High Street on the east side; it was erected in 1764, and is a handsome structure. In 1772 the inhabitants applied to the legislature for, and obtained an act for new paving and lighting the streets; to this act they owe their present commodious and agreeable appearance. All outward bound ships are obliged to cast anchor before the town, till they have been examined by, and obtained proper clearances from searchers appointed for that purpose, who have an office near the town key: centinel is also stationed at the block-house below the town to give notice by the firing of a musket when ships are coming up the river, who are obliged to receive on board officers from the customs, a number of which are constantly waiting here for that purpose *. The gardens round this town are so rich, that they not only supply the shipping with every article of that kind they stand in need of, but send great quantities to London; the asparagus in particular is remarkably excellent. The town is also well supplied

with fish.

The present church is dedicated to St. George, and was erected on the site of that destroyed by fire, between the years 1731 and 1733, in pursuance of an act of parlia

* The manner of stopping ships is this: As soon as the centinel sees a ship among those riding in the road, he fires his musquet, implying "bring to;" if no notice is taken he fires again, implying “Why don't you bring to?" If this is not attended to a third fire is discharged, meaning "That if they bring not to immediately, they must be made." If the captain and crew continue obstinate, the gunner from the fort fires a gun loaded with powder. Should this not have the desired effect, the gunner immediately fires a shot, which is a signal to Tilbury Fort to use all the force of which that garrison is capable; and the situation of that fort is such, that its guns can reach a ship at a great distance.—Pococke's Gravesend.

5

ment,

ment, by which 5000l. was granted, and this was included among the fifty new churches to be built in and near London. The building is of plain brick, with stone quoins, cornices, &c. and has the following inscription on a fascia, round the tower: HANC ADEM INCENDIO LUGUBRI DELetam GEORGIUS II. REX MUNIFICENTISSIMUS SANCTUS CONSULTO INSTAURANDAM DECREVIT. The interior consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a large gallery on the north side, and a good organ at the west end. No monuments have been suffered within the church since its erection *.

Trade and its necessary consequences have been very rapid here during the latter part of the nineteenth century. A small manufactory of cables and other ropes is in a flourishing state, and a yard for shipping re-established by Mr. Cleverley, in which have been built L'ACHILLE, of eighty-four, the COLOSSUS of seventy-four, and the DiRECTOR of sixty-four guns, besides smaller vessels.

Gravesend supplies most of the East and West India outward bound ships with live and dead stock, and vegetables. The inns for the accommodation of mariners and visitors are numerous; and in 1796, the principal inhabitants erected a BATHING HOUSE for the accommodation of sea bathing, the terms of which are ten shillings per month, or one guinea for the season.

The town gave name to an eminent family of antiquity: Sir Stephen de Gravesende accompanied Edward I. in his wars with Scotland; Richard and Stephen de Gravesende, were bishops of London, and Sir Thomas de Gravesende, a in the reign of Edward III.

The remains of an antient chapel which belonged to the nuns of Grace, is the only object of antiquity worthy of

* The original church belonging to Gravesend, was dedicated to St. Mary, and stood above the town, on the north side of the Dover road, in a place still called Church Field; but this having been found inconvenient on the increase of the population, the inhabitants erected a chapel where the new church now stands, about the year 1497, under a license from the official of the bishop of Rochester; and this, on the decay of the old church, was made parochial.

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notice some thick walls and Gothic arches are entire, and a receptacle for holy water still to be seen in the cellar. The NEW TAVERN now occupies the spot; adjoining is a delightful prospect of that part of the Thames styled the Hope, The chalky cliffs rising perpendicularly on the Kentish shore, with the distant view of the Essex hills on the opposite side, adds to the beauty of the prospect. Near this tavern was erected in 1778, a new battery mounting sixteen guns.

MILTON CHURCH is situated at the end of an agreeable enclosed walk to the east of the town. Over the porch, by the road leading from Gravesend to Rochester, is a curious south dial, west eight degrees, constructed by Mr. Giles, master of Gravesend school.

On the left of the road to Rochester, at the distance of twenty-four miles, is CHALK CHURCH; over the entrance are some very preposterous figures, illustrative, probably, of a give-ale, bequeathed by William May, of this parish, in 1512; he directed" that his wife make every year for his soul, an obit, and to make in bread six bushells of wheat, and in drink ten bushells of mault, and in cheese twenty pence, to give to poor people for the health of his soull: and he ordered that, after the decease of his wife, his executors and feoffees should continue the obit before rehearsed for evermore." Within, is little remarkable, except a monument erected to the memory of William Martin, with an inscription on a brass plate, denoting he died May 16, 1416.

After passing through Chalk turnpike, the road on the left hand leads to Higham, Cliffe, Cowling, and into the hundred of Hoo, which is the narrow tract of land situated between the Thames and Medway *.

In

Etymologists conjecture it to have taken its name from the Saxon word ho, or hoh, which signifies sometimes a heel, and sometimes the ham of the leg (whence the word hough, to hough or hamstring) be cause it runs out into a kind of a point like a hecl, or lies in a bend between the two rivers, like a ham. Hollingshed the historian, who was a

Kentish

In SHORNE church, which is dedicated to St. Peter and Paul, was buried Sir Henry de Cobham, sheriff of Kent, in the reigns of Edward I. and II.; round the stone which covers him formerly had the following inscription: Icy gist Sir Henri de Cobeham chevalier seignour de Rondale. Dieu de sa alme, &c. The font is very curious, with sculptures of scripture history.

A small battery of four twenty-four pounders, similar to those at the Lower Hope Point, was raised in the marshes, bordering on the Thames in this parish, in 1796.

HIGHAM had formerly a nunnery, built by king Stephen, in which his daughter Mary was first prioress. Its remains are now part of a farm house, not far from the church, in which is a tablet to the memory of Sir Francis Head, bart. who resided at the Hermitage, where he rebuilt the mansion and improved the grounds. He died in 1768. Here are also some antient memorials for the dead, particularly a large tomb of grey marble, without inscription or date, probably raised over prioress JOANE DE HADLOE, who was buried by Hamo, bishop of Rochester, in 1325 *.

The

Kentish man, has observed, according to Harris, that Hoo, in his time, was nearly an island; and of the Hundred of Hoo, he said the people had this proverbial rhime:

"He that rideth in the Hundred of Hoo,

"Besides pilfering seamen, shall find dirt enow."

Within this hundred, is a parish which bears the same name, but which antiently was more frequently denominated St. Werburgh, from the saint to whom the church is dedicated. Mr. Brydges, in his History of Northamptonshire, says that St. Werburgh, or Werburge, was the daughter of king Wulphere, and set over a monastery of nuns at Wedon in that county, by her uncle king Etheldred. By this authority, we are likewise informed, that St, Welburge is celebrated by some writers, for driving away the geese that used to infect the neighbourhood; and the vulgar superstitious now observe, that no wild geese are ever seen to settle and graze in Wedon field.

* Plautius, the Roman general under the emperor Claudius, in the year 43, is said to have passed the river Thames from Essex into Kent, near the mouth of it, with his army, in pursuit of the flying Britons, wha were better acquainted with the firm and fordable parts of it than him

self.

The incumbent of CLIFF, is said to have episcopal juris diction. It was supposed to have been the place for holding synods and councils; but it certainly was of more importance than at present; the church, dedicated to St. Helen, and built in the form of a cross, is large and handsome, with an embattled tower, containing six bells. The windows were formerly ornamented with painted glass, of which some rich specimens remain. In the chancel, behind the screen, in the south wall, is a Piscina, and three very elegant stone seats, finished with light pointed canopies, of rich workmanship. An antient tomb, under a pointed arch, supported by episcopal heads, is opposite. A stone, with an inscription round the verge, in Saxon capitals, for Jone la Femme Johan Ram, is in the middle. aisle; and in the north aisle is another, having a half-length brass of a female, with her hands raised as in prayer, for Ellenore de Clive; the other monuments are not remarkable. Here is still preserved a very curious and antient Patine, of silver gilt, six inches in diameter. It is beautifully embellished with blue and green enamel, representing the Deity, sitting with his arms extended, and supporting

self. From East Tilbury to Higham, is by many supposed to have been the course of this passage. The probability of this having been a frequented ford in the time of the Romans, is strengthened by the visible gemains of a caussey, near thirty feet wide, leading from the bank of the Thames through the marshes by Higham, southward; and it seems to have been continued cross the London high road on Gad's Hill to Shorne, Ridgeway, (implying the way to the ford or passage; Rhyd, in the antient British, signifying a ford;) about half a mile beyond which it joined the Roman Watling Street road, near the entrance into Cobham Park. The charge of maintaining that part of the caussey which was in the parish of Higham, as also of a bridge, was found before the judges upon their circuit, to belong to the prioress of the nunnery. Between Tilbury and Higham there was a ferry for many ages: and accounts of it are to be met with as late as the reign of Henry VIII. before which Higham was a place much used for shipping and unshipping of corn and goods in large quantities. In the reign of queen Elizabeth there seems to have been a fort or bulwark at Higham for the defence of the river Thames; the yearly expence of which to her majesty, for the pay of the captains, soldiers, &c. maintained in it was 281. 2s. 6d.—Husted,

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