Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Gravesend

GRAVESEND, a municipal and parliamentary borough, river-port, and market-town in the county of Kent, England, is situated on the right bank of the Thames opposite Tilbury Fort, 30 miles below London by the river, and 24 miles by rail. It extends about 2 miles along the river bank, occupying a slight acclivity which reaches its summit at Windmill Hill, whence extensive views are obtained of the river, with its windings and shipping. The older and lower part of the town is irregularly built, with narrow and inconvenient streets, but the upper and newer portion contains several handsome streets, squares, and terraces. Gravesend is the boundary of the port of London. It has three piers, the town pier, erected in 1836, and belonging to the corporation, the terrace pier, built about 1840, and a new pier and station lately erected by the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway Company. The town is a favourite resort of the inhabitants of London, both for excursions and as a summer residence. The principal buildings are the town-hall, a neat and conspicuous Doric edifice erected in 1836; the parish church of Gravesend, erected on the site of an ancient building destroyed by fire in 1727; Milton parish church, in the Late Decorated style, erected in the time of Edward II.; the county courts, the clubhouse of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, the custom-house, the assembly-rooms, the workmen's hall, the free grammar school, the almshouses for aged persons, and the dispensary and infirmary. East of the town are the earthworks designed to assist Tilbury Fort in obstructing the passage of an enemy's force. They were originally constructed on Vauban's system in the reign of Charles II., and some years ago they were strengthened at the cost of nearly £150,000. Gravesend has some import trade in coal and timber, and fishing, especially of shrimps, is carried on extensively. The principal other industries are boat-building, ironfounding, brewing, and soap-boiling. Fruit and vegetables are largely grown in the neighbourhood for the London market. Since 1867 Gravesend has returned a member to parliament. The municipal borough includes the parishes of Gravesend and Milton. The population of the municipal borough in 1871 was 21,265, and of the parliamentary 27,493.

Gravesend occurs in Domesday Book under the name Gravesham. It was burnt by the French in 1377. In 1573 it obtained a charter of incorporation from Queen Elizabeth, who also renewed the right, first conferred by Richard II., of regulating the "Long Ferry" (or passage from London) and enacting a fee from the "barges, till-boats, light-horsemen (hobellers), and wherries" on the river.