In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Higham like this:
HIGHAM, a village and a parish in North Aylesford district, Kent. The village stands near the Thames and Medway canal and the North Kent railway, 1½ mile from the Thames, and 4 NNW of Rochester; was known, at Domesday, as Heckham; and has a station on the railway, and a post office under Rochcster. ...
The parish includes also Lillechurch, Oakley, Mockbeggar, and Gads Hill. Acres, 3, 155; of which 190 are water. Real property, £7, 630. Pop. in 1851, 843; in 1861, 1, 064. Houses, 208. The increase in pop. arose from the extension of market gardening, and the erection of small houses for the workers. The property is much subdivided. A Benedictine nunnery was founded at Lillechurch, by King Stephen; had, for its first abbess, King Stephen's daughter, Mary; was soon removed to Higham village; was given, at the dissolution, to St. John's college, Cambridge; and is now represented by some fragments of masonry there, in a house called the Abbey. An ancient causeway, probably of Roman origin, leads from the village, across the marshes, to the Thames at a point where formerly there was a ferry to a road direct toward Colchester. An ancient barrow is about 1½ mile from the railway station. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelry of St. John, in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £598. Patron, St. John's College, Cambridge. The parish church is ancient, with slight Norman traces; was recently restored; and contains a font, a piscina, and a large ancient altar tomb. Roman bricks are in its masonry; and many Roman urns, pieces of pottery, and other relics were found in the near neighbourhood, in what is supposed to have been a potter's field. The church of St. John was built, in 1861, at a cost of £3, 600; is in the early decorated English style; and consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with W porch and circular tower. There are national schools, and charities £16.
Higham through time
Higham is now part of Gravesham district. Click here for graphs and data of how Gravesham has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Higham itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Higham, in Gravesham and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/2872
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Higham".