10 FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT' Gravesend

This Thamesside town has some real surprises in store – including a huge Sikh temple and the resting place of a certain Native American princess

- Caroline Read

1 CREEPY NAME

For a long time, a rumour persisted that Gravesend’s name came from its use as a burial ground during the plague. Having run out of space in London, it was said that bodies were sent along the river to mass graves. In fact, it goes back far further. Mentioned in the Domesday Book as Gravesham, the name is thought to have been derived from Grafs-ham or ‘place at the end of the grove’.

2 FAMOUS PRINCESS

It’s more than 400 years since she stepped onto the shore at Gravesend, but the town has never forgotten Pocahontas. A Native American noblewoman who married an Englishman in the colonies, Pocahontas achieved such fame during her visit in 1617 that she was invited to socialise with royalty. But as they set sail to return to the Americas, she became ill and was brought ashore at Gravesend. She died in the town aged just 22. Visitors still gaze at her striking statue outside St George’s Church and if you take the time to look inside the church, you’ll be rewarded with two stained glass windows dedicated to her memory.

3 MARITIME HERITAGE

Gravesend was once one of the most important ports in England, given the sole rights to transporting passengers to and from London in the 14th century. During the 19th century, steamboats chugged up and down the river and thousands of immigrants disembarked in the town as the first port on the Thames. There’s a Kent Maritime Heritage Trail that stretches from Gravesend (it starts at the grave of Pocahontas) right through to Dungeness.

4 OLDEST PIER