Rainham Parish History Kent Online Parish Clerks

Visit Images of England to search for possible photographs of interesting places in the parish.  The English Heritage-Pastscapes website has the National Monuments Record online and is also a good place to search for photographs and historical information pertaining to places within the parish.

As of 1828, Rainham was within the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the diocese of Canterbury and deanery of Sittingbourne.  The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is a handsome building, consisting of two very broad aisles, and the same number of chancels, with a high beacon tower at the west end.  There was formerly some good stained glass in the windows of this church, which has long since been destroyed.

Rainham, called in ancient deeds Renham, lies the next parish northward from Bredhurst, and the next eastward from Gillingham.

The whole of this parish is in the division of East Kent, which begins here;  the adjoining parish of Gillingham, westward, being wholly in that of West Kent.  The situation is, for the most part, low and unpleasant, and, from its contiguity and exposure to the marshes, very unhealthy;  it contains upwards of 2100 acres of land, besides woods, which comprise about 540 acres.  The high road from London to Dover leads through this parish, on which, at the thirty-fourth milestone from London, is the village of Rainham street, having the church, with the parsonage and vicarage, at the east end;  there is also a neat house, which belonged to Mr. Russell, of Greenwich;  and about a quarter of a mile thence, is the hamlet of Moore street.

From the high road the ground rises, southward, to a dreary barren country, among the woods, being extremely hilly, the soil, at places, chalky and much covered with flints, over which it extends until it becomes joined to Bredhurst, its southern boundary.  Round the street, and northward of it, the soil changes, being more fertile, both for corn and fruit, insomuch that this parish has been famous for growing some of the best wheat in the kingdom.  Near this street, on the road leading from Chatham and Gillingham to King's Ferry and the Isle of Shepey, is the hamlet of West or Lower Rainham street, on the south side of which stood the old mansion of Bloor's place, great part of which was pulled down some years ago, and the residue converted into a farm-house, though what still remains, with the garden, walls, offices, etc. evince that it was very spacious, and well suited to the hospitality of those times, as well as the rank which the founder held among the gentry of the county.  About half a mile hence is Beren grave;  and at a little distance, the estate of Mackland, belonging to the charity of the Chest, at Chatham. Near the last-mentioned road are the fresh marshes;  and beyond the wall, which encloses them, a quantity of salts, the northern boundary of which, and of this parish, is Otterham creek, united to the Medway at either end.

In the return of the survey made of the several places in this county, where there were any shipping boats, by order of Queen Elizabeth, in her 8th year, Rainham was said to contain eight inhabited houses, and three quays;  the common quay, Blower's quay, belonging to John Tufton, the younger, while Hasting's quay was owned by Henry Lawrence and the heirs of Jeffry Empson.  There were thirteen ships and boats, from one to thirty-five tons, and twelve persons occupied in carrying from port to port.

Visit Rainham church history for a description of the church and its brasses and stained glass windows.

In the 14th of Edward II., commissioners were appointed to take a view of the borders and ditches lying on the banks of the Medway, near Rainham, which were much decayed by the fresh waters;  and again, under Edward III., others were assigned for the view of those situated in Moteneye marsh, at the manor called Quene’s court, and to proceed according to the law and custom of the realm.

Visit Rainham Manors, Castles and significant Estates for a discourse on the various manors, estates and the associated families located within the parish.

In 1821 there were 164 dwellings in the parish of Rainham;  and at the same period, when the last census of the population was taken by order of Parliament, the numbers of inhabitants were as follow:  males 505, females 525, making a total of 1030 souls.¹

¹Excerpt:  W. H. Ireland, ed. & comp. England’s topographer: or A new and complete history of the county of Kent; from the earliest records to the present time, including every modern improvement..  (England:  1828).  Embellished with a series of views from original drawings by Geo. Shepherd, H. Gastineau, &c. with historical, topographical, critical, & biographical delineations.