Gillingham, Kent

Gillingham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in England, serving the town of Gillingham, Kent. It is 35 miles 75 chains (57.8 km) down the line from London Victoria and is situated between Chatham and Rainham. The station and most trains that call are operated by Southeastern. Following a timetable change on 20 May 2018, some trains are also operated by Govia Thameslink. It is commonly suffixed as Gillingham (Kent) to distinguish it from the similarly named station in Dorset. The station first opened in 1858. It currently has three platforms (two for London-bound services and one for country-bound services) and a passenger lift from the station entrance to the platforms. The station underwent an extensive facelift between 2010 and 2012. This included a new entrance, better pavements, new roof, refurbished waiting rooms, and new cycle storage units.

Gillingham was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Gillingham High Street is a principal shopping and commercial area in Gillingham, a town within the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, England. Historically, it has functioned as a local centre for trade, retail, and civic activity.

New Brompton Cricket Ground was a short-lived cricket ground in New Brompton in Chatham, Kent. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1862 when Kent County Cricket Club played Cambridgeshire in the ground's only first-class cricket match.The ground, which was on the area known as the Chatham Lines, is no longer in existence and the location of the ground is only approximately known. It was probably laid out on an area known as Comparts Meadow to the south of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, an area that had been built over by 1881 and now forms part of Gillingham. The only other match recorded as taking place on the ground was a non-first-class match in 1894 when Chatham Cricket Club played the touring South African side, although this is likely to have taken place elsewhere on the Lines. Other cricket matches are known to have been played on the Chatham Lines, with matches recorded as early as 1773. These include matches played by the Royal Engineers Cricket Club, who used Garrison Ground 2, close to the site of the New Brompton ground, and now use the Garrison 1 Cricket Ground, and the Royal Navy cricket team. Kent have also played first-class matches at both of these grounds.

Radio Sunlight was a community radio station serving the Medway towns in Kent, England.

Our Lady of Gillingham Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Gillingham, Kent, England. It was founded in 1888 and built in 1896. It is situated on the corner of Ingram Road and Railway Street, north of Gillingham Rail Depot in the centre of the town. It is a Gothic Revival church.

The Gillingham Fair fire disaster (also known as the Fireman's Wedding disaster) occurred on 11 July 1929 in Gillingham, Kent, England, when a firefighting demonstration went wrong, and resulted in the deaths of 15 men and boys.

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.

Medway Maritime Hospital is a general hospital in Gillingham, England within the NHS South East Coast. It is run by Medway NHS Foundation Trust. It is Kent's largest and busiest hospital, dealing with around 400,000 patients annually. It was founded as the Royal Naval Hospital in 1902 for the Naval personnel at the Chatham Dockyard. The hospital was where the Piano Man was taken after being found wandering in a soaking wet suit and tie.

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.

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 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.