JULY 12TH, 2010
By ADMINISTRATOR

Gillingham

Nursing Homes near Gillingham

Kent

Approximate Population: 98,403

Gillingham forms part of the Medway conurbation in Kent. From Old English ‘ham’ meaning village or homestead and ‘ingas’ meaning family or followers, the name simply means ‘homestead of Gillia’s family and was first recorded in the 10th century as Gyllingeham.

The G is pronounced J as it is also referred to in old texts as Jillyingham. A small hamlet consisting mainly of farmland, after the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror gave it to his half-brother Odo of Bayeux who rebuilt the parish church of St Mary Magdalene and constructed an archbishop’s palace.

Queen Elizabeth I founded the dockyard, on the site of the present gun wharf, it being transferred to its present site in 1622. The part of Gillingham known as Grange formed a limb of the Cinque Ports in medieval times and the maritime importance of the area continued until the late1940’s. The Raid on Medway took place in 1667 when a Dutch fleet sailed up the river, landed on the Isle of Sheppey, laid siege to the fort at Sheerness and invaded Gillingham.