My long standing Medway born and bred near neighbour with a penchant for macabre and salacious gossip told us that St. Mary’s Island was a plague burial ground and is haunted 👻 😅
Chatham, Rochester, or Gillingham? Possibly all three. Royal Mail allocated it to the CHATHAM post-town, but there seems no doubt that it was in Gillingham borough prior to the creation of Medway UA.
However, it's possible that it was historically in the City of Rochester . . . The charter bounds of the city over several centuries specified that the city included the river Medway from Hawk Wood (in Burham) to Sheerness. If St Mary's Island was considered an island (or islands) in the Medway, then it may have been considered part of the City of Rochester. Perhaps we should call it Gillingham Intra?
My long standing Medway born and bred near neighbour with a penchant for macabre and salacious gossip told us that St. Mary’s Island was a plague burial ground and is haunted 👻 😅
I’m so disappointed I didn’t hear that story while putting this together!
Chatham, Rochester, or Gillingham? Possibly all three. Royal Mail allocated it to the CHATHAM post-town, but there seems no doubt that it was in Gillingham borough prior to the creation of Medway UA.
However, it's possible that it was historically in the City of Rochester . . . The charter bounds of the city over several centuries specified that the city included the river Medway from Hawk Wood (in Burham) to Sheerness. If St Mary's Island was considered an island (or islands) in the Medway, then it may have been considered part of the City of Rochester. Perhaps we should call it Gillingham Intra?
@robertflood749276 might know.