Medway Estuary and Marshes

HMS Bulwark was one of five London-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the 19th century. The Londons were a sub-class of the Formidable-class pre-dreadnoughts. Completed in 1902 she was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet as its flagship. The ship then served with the Channel and Home Fleets from 1907 to 1910, usually as a flagship. From 1910 to 1914, she was in reserve in the Home Fleet. Following the start of the First World War in August 1914, Bulwark, along with the rest of the squadron, was attached to the reformed Channel Fleet to protect the British Expeditionary Force as it moved across the English Channel to France. On 26 November 1914 she was destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men near Sheerness; only a dozen men survived the detonation. It was probably caused by the overheating of cordite charges that had been placed adjacent to a boiler-room bulkhead. Little of the ship survived to be salvaged and her remains were designated a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Diving on the wreck is generally forbidden.

The Upchurch Hoard was a pot containing thirty-seven Roman sestertii dating from the late 1st century to the second half of the 2nd century AD found near the village of Upchurch, Kent, England, in 1950.

Burntwick Island is an island in the estuary of the River Medway in Kent, United Kingdom. It is a flat, raised area of marshland around 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide among the tidal sand banks on the southern side of the estuary and separated from the British mainland of Chetney Marshes by a narrow channel known as Stangate Creek. The island is crossed by several narrow tidal channels that mean that at high tide the island is separated into several smaller islands.

Upchurch is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. It is situated about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the A2 road, between Rainham and Sittingbourne.

SM UB-150 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat built for the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. Incomplete at the end of the war, she was surrendered to the Allies at Harwich on 27 March 1919, and then taken to Chatham Dockyard as a potential subject for experimental work, but was never so-employed. She was sold to M. Lynch & Sons on 22 July 1920 for £2,000, and towed to Rochester, Kent. After being stripped of any reusable material, the hulk was dumped in shallow water in the Medway estuary, along with those of UB-144 and UB-145. The remains of all three - partly broken up in-situ during 1939–45, with one significantly better preserved than the other two - remain visible, but it is unclear which wreck is which.

UB-145 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat built for the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. Incomplete at the end of the war, she was surrendered to the Allies at Harwich on 27 March 1919, and then taken to Chatham Dockyard as a potential subject for experimental work, but was never so-employed. She was sold to M. Lynch & Sons on 22 July 1920 for £2,000, and towed to Rochester, Kent. After being stripped of any reusable material, the hulk was dumped in shallow water in the Medway estuary, along with those of UB-144 and UB-150. The remains of all three - partly broken up in-situ during 1939–45, with one significantly better preserved than the other two - remain visible, but it is unclear which wreck is which.

UB-144 was a German Type UB III submarine or U-boat built for the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. Incomplete at the end of the war, she was surrendered to the Allies at Harwich on 27 March 1919, and then taken to Chatham Dockyard as a potential subject for experimental work, but was never so-employed. She was sold to M. Lynch & Sons on 22 July 1920 for £2,000, and towed to Rochester, Kent. After being stripped of any reusable material, the hulk was dumped in shallow water in the Medway estuary, along with those of UB-145 and UB-150. The remains of all three - partly broken up in-situ during 1939–45, with one significantly better preserved than the other two - remain visible, but it is unclear which wreck is which.

Lower Halstow is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is northwest of Sittingbourne on the banks of the Medway Estuary. It lies north of Newington on the A2 Roman road. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 1,180.The village has a long history, with evidence of constant occupation since the Iron Age. Being so close to the water, Lower Halstow has (until recently) been a village that has made its living from the water. Whether it be ancient pottery making, ancient fishing, barge building, or in the 19th- and 20th-century brick-making (Eastwoods Brickworks), the water has been the lifeblood of the village. According to Edward Hasted in 1798, two large hospital ships, commonly called lazarettos, (which were the surviving hulks of 44-gun ships) were moored in Halstow Creek. The lazarettos monitored ships coming to England which were forced to stay in the creek under quarantine, to protect the country from infectious diseases.In 1563 Queen Elizabeth ordered a survey, and Halstow Key (a wharf on the creek), was made up of 24 people in houses and 14 living on boats. There were two hamlets, one beside the wharf and the other around Halstow Green on Lower Street. The rest of the northern lands were salt marsh. Lands heading southwards (measuring 1200 acres) were heavy clay. All the lands were under the control of the manor of Milton Regis.The creek and some of the village is featured in the 2017 film Wonder Woman. The village has an active cricket club.

Stoke Junction Halt (TQ 843 756 51°26′57″N 0°39′02″E) was a halt on the Hundred of Hoo Railway between Middle Stoke Halt and Grain Crossing Halt, it was also at the junction of the line to Allhallows-on-Sea. It was opened on 17 July 1932 and closed on 4 December 1961.

HMS Princess Irene was a 5,394 GRT ocean liner which was built in 1914 by William Denny and Brothers Ltd, Dumbarton, Scotland for the Canadian Pacific Railway. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy on completion and converted to an auxiliary minelayer. On 27 May 1915, she exploded and sank off Sheerness, Kent, while being loaded with mines prior to a deployment mission, with the loss of 352 lives.

Middle Stoke Halt (TQ 833 753 51°26′49″N 0°38′09″E) was a halt on the Hundred of Hoo Railway. It was opened in July 1906 and closed to passengers on 4 December 1961.

London Thamesport (formerly just "Thamesport") was a small container seaport on the River Medway, serving the North Sea. It is located on the Isle of Grain, in the Medway unitary authority district of the English county of Kent. The area was formerly called Port Victoria. Since early 2020, Thamesport has no longer operated as a container port, having been eclipsed by the new and much larger London Gateway container port on the Essex coast of the Thames Estuary.