Hoo Junction

Shornemead Fort is a now-disused artillery fort that was built in the 1860s to guard the entrance to the Thames from seaborne attack. Constructed during a period of tension with France, it stands on the south bank of the river at a point where the Thames curves sharply north and west, giving the fort long views up and downriver in both directions. It was the third fort constructed on the site since the 18th century, but its location on marshy ground led to major problems with subsidence. The fort was equipped for a time with a variety of large-calibre artillery guns which were intended to support two other nearby Thamesside forts. However, the extent of the subsidence meant that it became unsafe for the guns to be fired and the fort was disarmed by the early 20th century. Shornemead Fort was in use from its completion in 1870 to its abandonment in the 1950s. Much of it was demolished by the Army Demolition School of the Royal Engineers in the 1960s. The barracks and administrative buildings have been completely destroyed and only the front of the casemates survives along with the magazines underneath, though the latter are now flooded and inaccessible. The surviving fragments of the fort and the area around it are part of a nature reserve and can be visited by the public.

Higham railway station is in the hamlet of Lower Higham in north Kent. The village of Higham is about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south. It is 28 miles 42 chains (45.9 km) down the line from London Charing Cross. Train services have been operated by Thameslink since May 2018. Before that time, the services were operated by Southeastern and its predecessors, although the station is still managed by Southeastern. The ticket office, on the 'up' side, is situated in the substantial station building. This is staffed only during part of the day; at other times a PERTIS passenger-operated ticket machine issues 'Permits to Travel' - which are exchanged on-train or at staffed stations for travel tickets - and is located at the entrance to the up platform, at the foot of the staircase. From Higham to Strood, the railway passes through a tunnel built for the Thames and Medway Canal, and the station building was converted from the home of the canal towing contractor. The waiting room was heated by the original open fire until as recently as the 1980s.

St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the village of Higham, Kent, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church stands at the north of Lower Higham, in the hamlet of Church Street, some 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Rochester.

Milton Range Halt was a halt between Denton Halt and Hoo Junction Staff Halt on the Hundred of Hoo Railway. It opened in July 1906 and closed to public use on 17 September 1932, although it remained open by special arrangement after that date until some time after 1956. It served Milton Range rifle range. The station was constructed on a low embankment to the south of the Thames and Medway Canal beyond Higham, where the line climbs at 1 in 215 and then falls in a short cutting at 1 in 267. Initially, an island platform was provided, but this was removed in 1914 to be replaced by 400 ft (120 m) wooden facing platforms. These were later rebuilt in concrete and survived beyond official closure to passenger traffic in 1932. At the eastern end of the platforms was a gated sleeper crossing which carried a public footpath over the line.Ostensibly provided to serve the adjoining rifle range, Milton Range Halt was more frequently used by platelayers and railway workmen who would unload tools and materials at this desolate spot. For many years there was a long engineer's siding behind the down platform. The station took on greater importance early in the First World War when around 200 soldiers travelled on weekdays to Milton Range Halt from Chatham on the 0750 service from Cannon Street, returning on the 1325 Charing Cross to Maidstone West, which had three extra third class carriages attached for the use of the soldiers. By May 1915, special calls at the halt were being made by six down and five up services when requested; the Gravesend stationmaster was informed when special calls were to be made by down trains, whilst the Strood stationmaster was responsible for up trains. These stations had to telephone Milton Range Halt every time that a train was to call, with three minutes being allowed for the stop. This arrangement remained in force for the duration of the war.The station was the site of an accident in August 1922 when a down passenger train held at the halt was struck from behind by another train, resulting in the death of five passengers. After the arrival of the 0540 workmen's train from Charing Cross to Strood at 0630, a number of workmen employed in the construction of the A2 road to the south alighted and crossed the line in front of the engine. They proceeded along the up line when they were struck in dense river fog by an up train, killing one workman and seriously injuring another. The accident caused the first train to be delayed at the halt where it was run into by the next workmen's special, timed to leave New Cross at 0555 and to arrive at Milton Range Halt ten minutes after the first train. The collision resulted in the death of a third workman and fatal injuries to two others. The driver of the second train was found to be primarily responsible for the accident by passing a signal without observing its position.The last remains of the derelict platforms survived until 2009.

Shorne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. The parish lies 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Gravesend. Most of the land is well-drained but its marshes, the Shorne Marshes reach down to the Thames Estuary and are an SSSI amid the North Kent Marshes on the Hoo Peninsula proper.

Higham is a large village, civil parish and electoral ward in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. The village lies south-east of Gravesend and just north-west of Strood, in Medway. The civil parish had a population of 3,938 at the 2001 Census, increasing slightly to 3,962 at the 2011 Census.

Gads Hill Place in Higham, Kent, sometimes spelt Gadshill Place and Gad's Hill Place, was the country home of Charles Dickens, the most successful British author of the Victorian era. Today the building is the independent Gad's Hill School. The house was built in 1780 for a former Mayor of Rochester, Thomas Stephens, opposite the present Sir John Falstaff Public House. Gad's Hill is where Falstaff commits the robbery that begins Shakespeare's Henriad trilogy (Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V).

Gad's Hill School in Higham, Kent, England, is an independent school for day pupils, founded in 1924. It is set in the former Gads Hill Place, the country home of Charles Dickens.

Cliffe Fort is a disused artillery fort built in the 1860s to guard the entrance to the Thames from seaborne attack. Constructed during a period of tension with France, it stands on the south bank of the river at the entrance to Cliffe Creek in the Cliffe marshes on the Hoo Peninsula in North Kent, England. Its location on marshy ground caused problems from the start and necessitated changes to its design after the structure begin to crack and subside during construction. The fort was equipped with a variety of large-calibre artillery guns which were intended to support two other nearby Thamesside forts. A launcher for the Brennan torpedo—which has been described as the world's first practical guided missile—was installed there at the end of the 19th century but was only in active use for a few years. Cliffe Fort saw about 60 years of usage as an artillery fort, from its completion in 1870 to its disarmament in 1927. It was repurposed during World War II to serve as an anti-aircraft battery on the approaches to London. The fort's military career ended when it was sold off after the war to the owners of a neighbouring aggregates works. Today it lies derelict, overgrown and heavily flooded. It is not accessible to the public and is in a poor and slowly deteriorating condition which has led it to be listed as an "at risk" heritage asset.

Great Crabbles Wood is a 33-hectare (82-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Rochester in Kent.Most of the wood is mixed coppice, with sweet chestnut dominant and oak standards. There are scarce flora such as lady and man and bird's nest orchids, white helleborine and wild liquorice.The wood is crossed by footpaths.

Coalhouse Fort is an artillery fort in the eastern English county of Essex. It was built in the 1860s to guard the lower Thames from seaborne attack. It stands at Coalhouse Point on the north bank of the river, at a location near East Tilbury which was vulnerable to raiders and invaders. It was the last in a series of fortifications dating back to the 15th century and was the direct successor to a smaller mid-19th century fort built on the same site. Constructed during a period of tension with France, its location on marshy ground caused problems from the start and led to a lengthy construction process. The fort was equipped with a variety of large-calibre artillery guns and the most modern defensive facilities of the time, including shell-proof casemates protected by granite facing and cast-iron shields. Its lengthy construction and the rapid pace of artillery development at the time meant that it was practically obsolete for its original purpose within a few years of its completion. The fort's armament was revised several times during its 70 years of military use, as its role evolved in the river's defensive system. It was initially a front-line fortification, supported by Shornemead Fort and Cliffe Fort located to the south and east respectively on the Kent shore. Over time, as batteries and forts further downriver became the front line of the Thames defences, Coalhouse Fort was stripped of its main weapons and it was altered to support smaller quick-firing guns intended to be used against fast-moving surface and aerial targets. Its last military use was as a training facility for a few years after the Second World War. Decommissioned in 1949, the fort was used as a storehouse for a shoe factory before it was purchased by the local council. The surrounding land was developed into a public park, but the fort itself fell into dereliction despite its historical and architectural significance. From 1985 it was leased to a voluntary preservation group, the Coalhouse Fort Project, which had been working to restore the fort and use it for heritage and educational purposes. Funding for its restoration was provided in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Warner Bros. film studio, which used the fort as a location for the opening scenes of the 2005 film Batman Begins. The group closed in 2020.

East Tilbury is a village and former civil parish in the unitary authority of Thurrock borough, Essex, England, and one of the traditional Church of England parishes in Thurrock. In 2011 the ward had a population of 6,363.