Lower Thames Crossing

Milton Range is a rifle range east of Gravesend. It was formerly served by Milton Range Halt.

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.

The Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre is a specialist training centre for the Metropolitan Police in Gravesend, Kent. It provides both Public Disorder and Specialist Firearms training to officers drawn from the MPS, British Transport Police and City of London Police. The centre was purpose-built for the Metropolitan Police and opened in 2003.

The Thames Cable Tunnel, also known as the Tilbury – Gravesend Cable Tunnel, is a tunnel carrying high-voltage electrical transmission lines beneath the lower River Thames between Tilbury and Gravesend. It remains the furthest tunnel downstream on the Thames.Completed in 1970 at a cost of around £3 million (equivalent to £49 million in 2021) by the Central Electricity Generating Board, the tunnel carries 400 kV transmission cables between substations at Tilbury and Kingsnorth as part of the National Grid. The tunnel is approximately 45 metres (148 ft) deep, and was one of the first tunnels in the UK to be lined with pre-cast concrete segments rather than cast iron. A tunnel was chosen due to the high costs of building an overhead transmission line at this point in the river.

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.

Chalk is a village and since 1935 a former civil parish which adjoins the east of Gravesend, Kent, England. As is intuitive, its name comes from the Saxon word cealc meaning a chalkstone. In 1931 the parish had a population of 563.One layer of the chalk carries flints, stones embedded in the chalk, and these were used in building and in providing the means of fire for muskets. The stone is often cut to provide a flat edge as a craft known as flint-knapping. The trade was worked in Chalk from the 17th century onwards. Gun-flints were produced here in large quantities until the early 19th century. Current issues relating to the immediate environment around Chalk include a proposed new Lower Thames Crossing across the nearby estuary marshes, confirmed in 2017.

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.

Denton Halt was a halt between Milton Road Halt and Milton Range Halt on the Hundred of Hoo Railway. It opened in July 1906 and closed on 4 December 1961. The halt was about 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from Gravesend Central. The station was demolished after closure and there are no remains today. The level crossing adjacent to the station was closed in 1971 and replaced with a footbridge.

The Tilbury power stations were two thermal power stations on the north bank of the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex. The 360 MW dual coal- and oil-fired Tilbury A Power Station operated from 1956 until 1981 when it was mothballed, prior to demolition in 1999. The 1,428 MW Tilbury B Power Station operated between 1968 and 2013 and was fueled by coal, as well as co-firing with oil and, from 2011, biomass. Tilbury B was demolished in 2016–19. Since 2013 three other power stations have been proposed or constructed in Tilbury.

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.

Low Street railway station was on the Tilbury loop line segment of the London, Tilbury and Southend line, at a level crossing near the villages of West Tilbury and East Tilbury, Essex. It was situated between East Tilbury and Tilbury Riverside stations and was 24 miles 16 chains (38.95 km) down the line from London Fenchurch Street station via Tilbury.It was opened in 1861 and closed on 5 June 1967. Low Street was not on the 1963 list of passenger stations to be closed under the Beeching cuts.A through goods loop was located on the down line to the north of the station, this closed on 29 September 1964. There were also sidings associated with gravel workings south and east of the station.

The Bata shoe factory in East Tilbury is what remains of an industrial estate in Essex, England, which produced shoes for over 70 years. Founded in 1932 by Tomáš Baťa, the factory was "one of the most important planned landscapes in the East of England" in the 20th century. The factory closed in 2005.