Medway

Medway Park Sports Centre, formerly known as The Black Lion Leisure Centre, is a prominent sports facility located in Gillingham, Medway, England. Opened on 14 December 1973 by Sir Roger Bannister, the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile, the centre has undergone significant transformations over the decades. As part of the Medway 2012 programme, aimed at leveraging the London Olympics for local development, the facility was extensively upgraded and renamed Medway Park Sports Centre in 2011. Medway Park offers a wide range of sports, fitness, and recreational activities while hosting national and international sporting events.

The Gillingham War Memorial, also known as the Medway Park War Memorial, is a Grade II listed war memorial situated at the junction of Mill Road and Brompton Road in Gillingham, Kent, England. It commemorates the men and women of the former Borough of Gillingham who gave their lives in the First World War, and was later updated to honour those who died in the Second World War and the Korean War. Prominently located near the entrance to Medway Park, the memorial remains a focal point for remembrance in the Medway towns. Unveiled on 20 July 1924 by Alderman W.H. Griffin JP, with a dedication by the Right Reverend Harmer, Bishop of Rochester, the memorial originally stood at the centre of a road junction where High Street, Mill Road, Brompton Road, and Marlborough Road met. In this original location, it occupied a small gated garden surrounded by four entrances, creating an enclosed and ceremonial space at the heart of what was then known as Mill Road Junction. At the time, the surrounding area included Black Lion Field, an open space that had not yet been developed into the sports complex known today as Medway Park. The memorial itself is a tall, tapering stone pylon, designed by sculptor Francis William Doyle-Jones, who was renowned for his public monuments and commemorative work. The pylon stands on a two-stage pedestal with a two-stepped base and features sculptural roundels on its faces. By the 1960s, although the memorial still stood at the junction, growing traffic and changes to urban planning made its location less suitable. The junction remained active, and the enclosed garden around the memorial was still present. However, as road layouts and the surrounding infrastructure evolved, the decision was made in the early 1970s to relocate the memorial across the road to its present site near the entrance of the soon-to-be-built Black Lion Leisure Centre (later renamed Medway Park). This move was intended to improve both public access and safety, allowing the memorial to be better integrated into the civic environment. The Gillingham War Memorial was officially listed as a Grade II structure on 24 February 2016 under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, recognising its architectural and historic significance. Today, it remains one of the most prominent war memorials in the Medway area and continues to serve as a central site for Remembrance Day events and community commemoration.

Garrison Ground 2 was a cricket ground in Gillingham, Kent. The ground, which has also been known as the Royal Engineers Sports Ground and simply the Garrison Ground, was used by Kent County Cricket Club for first-class and List A cricket between 1937 and 1972 and was the home ground of the Royal Engineers Cricket Club until 1961. The ground was located on Marlborough Road on the edge of the area known as the Chatham Lines, an area of open space historically containing a number of military fortifications. The site, which is now used as a recreation ground, is around 300 metres (980 ft) west of Gillingham High Street.

The Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham, Kent. It tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and British military engineering in general.

The Black Lion Skatepark was a premier concrete skatepark in Gillingham, Kent (then under Gillingham Borough Council, now Medway Council), active from 1978 until its abrupt closure in 1987. It was built in 1978 during the late-1970s boom of skateboarding and BMX, funded by local businessman Alfred Faccenda. Historic England notes that Gillingham’s Black Lion was one of a series of top-tier “shotcrete” skateparks (designed by Adrian Rolt’s G-Force team and built by Skate Park Construction Ltd) opened in the UK around 1977–78. These featured California-inspired elements and poured concrete construction. In planning terms, the site (on Mill Road near the Black Lion pub) had formal approval, and in 1987 even a fresh permission was granted for an expanded replacement park and shop – but this redevelopment never occurred.

Garrison Stadium is a running track and sports field in Gillingham, Kent. The stadium has also been known as the United Services Sports Club, was built on land owned by the Ministry of Defence and was associated with the military establishments in the area such as Chatham Dockyard and Royal School of Military Engineering. The stadium is built on the area known as the Chatham Lines, an area of open space extending between Gillingham and Chatham. A cinder running track runs around the stadium. This was used in the 1960s for athletics meetings and Kent county schools championships and from 1968 by the City of Rochester Athletics Club. The central area of the stadium was used for rugby league by the Medway Dragons. The club now uses the playings fields attached to the stadium which are also used for association football and field hockey and were used in the past for cricket. Kent County Cricket Club used Garrison Ground 2, which was situated to the east of the stadium, for first-class and limited overs cricket matches between 1937 and 1972. The club has also used other pitches on the Chatham Lines, including Garrison 1 Cricket Ground and New Brompton Cricket Ground.

MidKent College (formerly Mid-Kent College of Higher and Further Education) is a further education college in Kent, England. It runs courses from two separate campuses in Maidstone and Medway, including a number of higher education courses. There are approximately 8,500 students aged 16 years and upwards enrolled at the college. Courses offered range from pre-entry level to degree level and cover a wide range of vocational and academic subject areas.

The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Group provides a wide range of training for the British Army and Defence. This includes; Combat Engineers, Carpenters, Chartered Engineers, Musicians, Band Masters, Sniffer Dogs, Veterinary Technicians, Ammunition Experts, Bomb Disposal Operators, and Counter Chemical Warfare experts, as well as Command and Leadership.

The Great Lines Heritage Park is a complex network of open spaces in the Medway Towns, connecting Chatham, Gillingham, Brompton and the Historic Dockyard. The long military history of the towns has dominated the history of the site and the park. The Great Lines Heritage Park, consists of Fort Amherst, Chatham Lines, the Field of Fire (later known as the Great Lines), Inner Lines, Medway Park (sports centre) together with the Lower Lines. The Lines, were constructed in Napoleonic times. They were never used (during the wars) but they have been used to be a barrier to development, keeping the fort and the Lines mostly untouched. Most of the park is accessible to all at most times. It has many pedestrian and cycle links for residents of the two towns of Gillingham and Chatham.

Brompton Academy is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Gillingham, Kent, England. It is part of the University of Kent Academies Trust.

Lower Lines Park, also known as Admiral's Gardens, is a public park in Gillingham, Kent. The park is part of the former Chatham Lines, a defensive moat built in 1803 to protect Chatham Dockyard. Used by the military until the mid-1900s, it never saw combat and is now a Scheduled Monument within the Great Lines Heritage Park. The park is owned by Fort Amherst Trust.

The Medway School of Pharmacy is a school of pharmacy in South East England. Established in 2004, the school is the result of a collaboration between the University of Greenwich and the University of Kent. Its campus is part of a shared facility on Chatham Dockyard in Medway, Kent.