Gravesend

Gravesend. Steel engraving. Drawn by Tomblesome. From Eighty Picturesque Views of the Thames and Medway.

Text accompanying the engraving

The town of Gravesend is a place of considerable importance on the Thames, being the first port on the river, and consequently immediately connected with its navigation. The name is derived from Gerefa, signifying a ruler or portreve, termed in German Greve; hence Gravesend indicates the limit or bound of a certain jurisdiction or office. The port of London terminating just below the town, an office of customs is established in it, and all homeward-bound vessels are obliged to lay to, until visited by the proper authorities. The contiguity of Gravesend to the metropolis and the ready access afforded by the numerous steam-boats daily running to and fro, togetlier with the new and elegant buildings in the environs, particularly at the delightful village of Milton, for the accommodation of visitors and those wishing a partially saline bath, have much improved the town, and ranked it among the fashionable watering-places of the kingdom. The view of the surrounding counties obtained from the Windmill-hill is rich, beautiful, and diversified, and the river, covered with vessels of various forms, and in as many directions, affords detached groups of naval objects at once pleasing and picturesque. A new stone pier was opened on the twenty-ninth of July, 1834, for the convenience of passengers, and will prove a great accommodation to the town. A short distance beyond Gravesend is the entrance to the Thames and Medway-canal. About three miles from the town, near the rural village of Shome, at the foot of a sloping eminence, crowned with trees, called "the Warren," is situated a mild chalybeate spring, reputed highly effective in the cure of scorbutic and other diseases, but at present entirely neglected. The view from the height is beautiful and extensive, and the spot possesses all the natural requisites for being rendered a highly attractive and fashionable place of resort. [77-78]

Other images of Gravesend

Text and formatting by George P. Landow. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the University of California Library and the Internet Archive and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]

Bibliography

Fearnside, W. G. Eighty Picturesque Views of the Thames and Medway, Engraved on Steel by the First Artists. London: Black and Armstrong, [n.d. after 1837]. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of California at Berkley Library. Web. 30 March 2012.


Last modified 2 May 2012