Strood

Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. Strood forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point.

Strood began as a manor then chapelry of Frindsbury until gaining its own parish status in 1193. Today Frindsbury is effectively, in all but a few associations such as in the Church of England, the northern part of Strood. The history of Strood has been dominated by the River Medway and facing port-associated towns, particularly its road and rail bridges since the Roman era to Rochester and the two other Medway Towns immediately adjoining and beyond from the north-east quarter of Kent to London and the rest of Britain. It has a mixed retail and leisure area at its heart.

History

Pre-Conquest Strood was part of Frindsbury until 1193. It was named Strodes in the Textus Roffensis, now kept in Rochester Cathedral, though most early records use the spelling Stroud. The Old English name Strōd refers to a "marshy land overgrown with brushwood". The Gloucestershire town of Stroud has the same etymology.

The Roman Legions built a stone bridge and laid a road on a causeway across the marshy ground. The foundations were about 8 ft below the level of the 1856 road. The road went up Strood Hill, and was called Watling Street, as it still is today. This is the A2 road. There is further evidence of a causeway-based road leading along the bank towards the Frindsbury Peninsula leading to a villa, was found on 24 March 1819. The present road and field pattern suggest that there was a substantial agricultural settlement of the Roman Empire centred near Frindsbury.

In 764 AD Offa King of Mercia and Sigered King of Kent granted to Eardulph lands in Easlingham (Frindsbury). In 840 AD, 994 AD, and 998 AD Strood was pillaged by the Danes. In 960 AD a wooden bridge was built across the Medway.

Medieval A small wooden church was erected at Strood in 1122, as a chapel of ease in the parish of Frindsbury. Land was granted in 1160 to the Knights Templar by King Henry II. The Manor House was used as a Lodging House.

In 1193, Strood became a parish. It was run by the Grey Friars or Franciscans of Newark Hospital, and had its own burial grounds. In 1291 there was an affray at Newark Hospital between the Monks of Strood and the locals from Frindsbury.

In 1264 Simon de Montfort laid siege to Rochester Castle from the Strood Side. In the action the wooden bridge was destroyed by fire. After Simon's death a heavy fine was levied on Strood because he had stayed there during the siege. The Strood Quay and Strood Wharf had been constructed by Bishop Gilbert de Glanvill with rents going to Newark Hospital. In 1293 the Rochester Wharf was in such disrepair that ships had to use the Strood Wharf, however as Rochester Bridge was out of use, ferries had to be used to cross the river. In 1309, a harsh winter, Rochester Bridge was damaged by ice. In 1312 the Knight's Templar were suppressed and the Manor of Strood passed into private hands briefly before being passed on to the Abbess and Sisters Minorites of St. Clare of Denney in Cambridgeshire. In 1387 a stone bridge was built by John de Cobham and Robert Knolles. In 1460 Edward IV appointed a mayor of Rochester with jurisdiction over Strood river frontage and the houses there.

Early Modern Strood was owned by the Rochester Monastery from the 18th year of Edward III's reign until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, after which time as part of the Hundred of Sharnel (Shamwell) which included Cobham, it was passed to George Brooke, Lord Cobham. His grandson Henry Brooke lost his estates to James I in 1603 through a false charge of treason, although he escaped with his life. The Temple Manor thereafter was granted to Sir Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury (son of William, Lord Burleigh), who later became Lord Treasurer of England under Queen Elizabeth, and married Elizabeth, sister of Henry, Lord Cobham.

In 1554 Thomas Wyatt of Allington on hearing that Mary I intended to marry a Catholic gathered an army with the intention of marching on London. He took Rochester Castle and the bridge. According to Marsh there was to have been a battle at Strood, but the Queen's men, stationed on Strood Hill, deserted.Alfred Pollard, Tudor Tracts (London, 1903), pp. 229–230 However, Coulson records that Wyatt defeated the Duke of Norfolk and seized six cannon. Wyatt then marched on Cooling Castle. The rebellion fizzled out, and Wyatt was executed, along with the captain of the deserters.

The parish accounts begin on 12 August 1555. Following the accession and marriage of Queen Mary (known as "Bloody" Mary) the country reconverted to Roman Catholicism and a considerable sum was spent re-converting Strood Church. However just nine years later in 1565 a further five-year period of refurbishment was required to convert the church back to Protestant usage following the accession of Queen Elizabeth I. The parish registers start from this date. Possibly mindful of the changes, the churchwardens waited until 1574 before going to St. Dunstan's Fair in Rochester to sell "a cross and other relics of Roman superstition, formerly used in Strood Church".

In the 1672 the parishes of St. Margaret's, Rochester and St Nicholas, Strood jointly applied to the Court of Chancery for a ruling which was decided in their favour to extend the area over which Watts charities could operate. The parish of Strood utilised some of the money to provide a workhouse for the poor. Above the door was set a stone slab which is now displayed in the Guildhall Museum, Rochester. The text is reproduced alongside.

In 1769, under authority of the Paving, Etc., of London Act 1768, a tollgate was erected at The Angel Inn on North Street in Strood, to pay for improvements to the parish. Hasted, in his study of Kent (1778–99), said Strood's inhabitants were chiefly seafaring or fishermen, and engaged in dredging oysters.

Nineteenth century Between 1804 and 1824 the Thames and Medway canal was dug. See below, under Transport for more details.

Twentieth century The ancient City of Rochester merged with the borough of Chatham and part of the Strood Rural District in 1974 to form the Borough of Medway, later renamed the City of Rochester-upon-Medway. In 1998 another merger with the rest of the Medway Towns created the Medway unitary authority.

Geography Strood lies on the edge of marshy land alongside the River Medway. The chalk hills of the North Downs have been breached at this point, forming a river cliff rising to 100 ft directly behind.

Strood Fair An annual fair was instituted in 1206 during the seventh year of King John's reign to the priory of Rochester, to be held on 26 August, which continued well into the 18th Century, according to Edward Hasted, the Kent historian. It was traditionally held over three days, and associated with Christian celebration of the Assumption (15 August). The Strood Fair was held regularly until 31 October 1982. The land used for the Strood Fair was sandwiched between Grange Road and Station Road, adjacent to Strood railway station. It was for many years part of the Milsted Dairy Farm, though by 22 August 1975 the farm building had been turned into a motor repair business. The brownfield land was passed on to the Fairground Shift Manager who ran the Strood Fair. It was then used by them to stay through the winter months.

The land is still occupied as winter quarters by the Showman's Guild with its running costs supported by the Strood Fair on the brownfield site, which is facilitated every 12 months. On 15 June 2007 to 18 June 2007, the motor repair building was demolished to be replaced by flats. Today's market is held on a Tuesday and Saturday, and a car boot sale or boot fair is held on a Sunday.

Newark Hospital

Gilbert de Glanvill, Bishop of Rochester, in 1190, early during the reign of Richard I founded a hospital in Strood, east of Strood Church, which was afterwards called the Newark Hospital or Stroud Hospital. Newark Hospital was important in raising the profile of Strood. However, there was constant concern about its financial management, and the rivalry between it and the Rochester Priory. In 1539, under King Henry VIII, the hospital was under the control of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester.William Henry Ireland

The location of the former Newark Hospital or Strood Hospital is now mainly the Temple Street Car Park behind Strood High Street. The 19th century railway embankment carrying the Chatham Main Line cuts across the back of the site where the Newark Hospital or Strood Hospital used to be. Strood Market was held on part of this land, but was relocated to make way for a food store, Aldi. An archaeological excavation of the site behind Strood High Street was done from March 1974 to June 1974.

Politics In 1891 the civil parish had a population of 7982. On 30 September 1894 the parish was abolished and split, the part in Rochester Municipal Borough becoming Strood Extra and the rural part becoming Strood Intra. It is now in the unparished area of Rochester.

Strood Rural District

Strood Rural District was a local government district of Kent from 1894 to 1974. It did not include Strood itself (which formed part of Rochester) and covered a wide area. The offices of Strood Rural District Council were located on Frindsbury Hill, near Parsonage Lane and Bingham Road in Strood. The former offices of the Strood Rural District Council are now occupied by Frindsbury Hall Care Home that has 56 single bedrooms and 9 beds in double rooms. Frindsbury Hall Care Home was opened on 23 October 1987.

Strood representation Strood is part of the parliamentary constituency of Rochester and Strood.

Local government was consolidated in the late 1990s into a single tier with the creation of Medway Council.

Economy Engineering

Small enterprises were formed to service Chatham Dockyard.

Joseph Collis started as a retail ironmonger in 1777. By 1865 he was a wholesaler specialising in zinc, iron, tinplate and locksmithery. By 1870, he and his partner Stace took over the Pelican Foundry and manufactured structural ironwork, toilet cisterns and manhole covers. Aveling and Porter built traction engines at the Invicta Works next to Rochester Bridge from 1861. Later the works were acquired the Collis and Stace's Pelican Foundry. Avelings were noted for excellent employment practices, and made their premises available for meetings of co-operative and radical societies. Avelings in turn became Wingets factory, then the Rochester-upon-Medway Civic Centre which passed to Medway Council.

Shorts, the seaplane manufacturer, used a yard on the Strood side for construction of the airframes of F3 and F5 flying boats.

Other employers were Hobourn-Eaton, Kent Alloys, Fishers and the Co-operative bakery.

Commerce

Settlement geography tells us that a bridging point becomes a route centre and a trading centre. Being a lowest bridging point of a critical prehistoric military route compounds the problem. Towns had to be built above the flood plain at a pinch point and flat land on the Rochester side of the River Medway was needed for a walled town with castle and cathedral, in effect sterilising the land that side of the River Medway from future major development. The landmass was locked by the construction of the London, Chatham and Dover railway in an embankment and arches. Small shops grew up around "The Angel" on North Street in Strood forming the town centre.

Transport

River Transport in Strood was dominated by the river. From the earliest times river transport used Strood, but before the coming of the Romans the area was marshy and not well populated. Once Strood started to be filled in various boatyards and ship repair businesses started up both on the river and in the creeks which drain the marshes.

Road