Gravesham

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

title: "Gravesham" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gravesham", "thames-gateway", "local-authorities-adjoining-the-river-thames", "non-metropolitan-districts-of-kent", "boroughs-in-england"] topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravesham" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
	timezone
utc_offset	0
timezone_DST	BST
utc_offset_DST	+1
	settlement_type
subdivision_type	Sovereign state
subdivision_type1	Constituent country
subdivision_type3	Non-metropolitan county
subdivision_type4	Status
subdivision_type5	Admin HQ
subdivision_name	United Kingdom
subdivision_name1	England
subdivision_name4	Borough
government_type	Non-metropolitan District Council
leader_title	Leadership
leader_title1	MP
established_title1	Incorporated
population_density_km2	auto
blank1_name	ONS code
blank2_name	OS grid reference
	name
other_name	Borough of Gravesham
image_skyline	Royal Terrace Pier, Gravesend - geograph.org.uk - 6254787.jpg
imagesize	280px
image_caption	Gravesend Royal Terrace Pier and town skyline
image_map	Gravesham UK locator map.svg
map_caption	Gravesham located within Kent
subdivision_name2	South East England
subdivision_name3	Kent
subdivision_name5	Gravesend
established_date1	1 April 1974
governing_body	Gravesham Borough Council
leader_name	Member of Parliament
leader_name1	Lauren Sullivan
area_rank	(of )
area_total_km2	99.02
population_total
population_as_of
population_rank	(of )
	demographics_type1
demographics1_footnotes
demographics1_title1	Ethnic groups
website
demographics1_info1	{{Collapsible list
	demographics_type2
demographics2_footnotes
demographics2_title1	Religion
demographics2_info1	{{Collapsible list
blank1_info	29UG (ONS)
E07000109 (GSS)
blank2_info
::

| timezone = GMT | utc_offset = 0 | timezone_DST = BST | utc_offset_DST = +1

| name = Gravesham | other_name = Borough of Gravesham | image_skyline = Royal Terrace Pier, Gravesend - geograph.org.uk - 6254787.jpg | imagesize = 280px | image_alt = | image_caption = Gravesend Royal Terrace Pier and town skyline | image_shield = | shield_size = | shield_alt = | shield_caption = | shield_link = | image_map = Gravesham UK locator map.svg | mapsize = | map_alt = | map_caption = Gravesham located within Kent | subdivision_name2 = South East England | subdivision_name3 = Kent | subdivision_name5 = Gravesend | established_date1 = 1 April 1974 | governing_body = Gravesham Borough Council | leader_name = Member of Parliament | leader_name1 = Lauren Sullivan | area_rank = (of ) | area_total_km2 = 99.02 | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_rank = (of ) | demographics_type1 = Ethnicity (2021) | demographics1_footnotes = | demographics1_title1 = Ethnic groups | website = | demographics1_info1 = {{Collapsible list | 76.6% White | 11.2% Asian | 6.5% Black | 3% other | 2.6% Mixed | demographics_type2 = Religion (2021) | demographics2_footnotes = | demographics2_title1 = Religion | demographics2_info1 = {{Collapsible list | 49.2% Christianity | 32.1% no religion | 8% Sikhism | 5.2% not stated | 3.1% Islam | 1.4% Hinduism | 0.6% other | 0.3% Buddhism | 0.1% Judaism | blank1_info = 29UG (ONS) E07000109 (GSS) | blank2_info = Gravesham ( ) is a local government district with borough status in north-west Kent, England. The council is based in its largest town of Gravesend. The borough is indirectly named after Gravesend, using the form of the town's name as it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086. The district also contains Northfleet and a number of villages and surrounding rural areas.

Parts of the borough lie within the Kent Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The neighbouring districts are Dartford, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge and Malling, and Medway, plus Thurrock on the opposite side of the River Thames.

Gravesham is twinned with Cambrai in Hauts-de-France, France and Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The Gravesham parliamentary constituency covers the same area as the borough.

History

The first borough in the area of modern Gravesham was "Gravesend and Milton", an ancient borough which had been incorporated in 1568 by Elizabeth I. The borough had been reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough, at which point the name was changed to just "Gravesend".

The modern district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of two former districts and parts of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:

Gravesend Municipal Borough
Northfleet Urban District
Strood Rural District (parishes of Cobham, Higham, Luddesdown, Meopham and Shorne only, rest went to Medway) The new district was named Gravesham, using the form of Gravesend's name which had appeared in the Domesday Book. The choice of name was not without criticism; Robert Heath Hiscock, chairman of the Gravesend Historical Society, in the foreword to his book, 'A History of Gravesend' (Phillimore, 1976) wrote: :"The name Gravesham appears only in the Domesday Book, 1086, and was probably the error of a Norman scribe. It was 'Gravesend' in the Domesday Monarchorum c.1100, and 'Gravesende' in the Textus Roffensis c. 1100. It is strange that this "clerical error" should now have been adopted as the name of the new Council".

The district was granted borough status from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

Governance

Gravesham Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Kent County Council. The more rural parts of the borough are also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since the 2023 election.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: ::data[format=table] | Party in control || Years | |---| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Gravesham. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2003 have been:

::data[format=table]

Councillor	Party	From	To
title=By-election for Coldharbour Ward in Gravesend following resignation of Cllr Rosemary Leadley	url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/by-election-after-councillor-resignation-15130/	access-date=25 July 2022	work=Kent Online
title=Council minutes, 9 December 2003	url=https://democracy.gravesham.gov.uk/Data/Council/20031209/Minutes/$Minutes.doc.pdf	website=Gravesham Borough Council	access-date=6 March 2025}}
David Turner		15 May 2007	26 Jun 2007
title=Council minutes, 26 June 2007	url=https://democracy.gravesham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=144&MId=702	website=Gravesham Borough Council	access-date=6 March 2025}}
John Burden		17 May 2011	May 2015
John Cubitt		19 May 2015	Mar 2017
David Turner		18 Apr 2017	Aug 2018
	Aug 2018	May 2019
Gurdip Ram Bungar		16 May 2019
::

Composition

Following the 2023 election, and subsequent defections in October 2025 the composition of the council was:

::data[format=table]

Party	Councillors	Total	39
	22
	13
	5
::

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 39 councillors, representing 17 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

The wards are:

Chalk
Coldharbour and Perry Street
Denton
Higham and Shorne
Istead Rise, Cobham and Luddesdown
Meopham North
Meopham South and Vigo
Northfleet and Springhead
Painters Ash
Pelham
Riverview Park
Rosherville
Singlewell
Town
Westcourt
Whitehill and Windmill Hill
Woodlands

Premises

The council is based at Gravesham Civic Centre on Windmill Street in Gravesend, which had been built in 1966 for the old Gravesend Borough Council. The building was formally opened on 15 November 1968 by Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

Housing and architecture

Housing varies from mid rise to low rise, particularly in the villages. The district has 12 buildings listed in the highest category of the national grading system, Grade I, three of which are private residences:

Gadshill Place in Higham
Luddesdown Court in Luddesdown
Nurstead Court in Meopham

Cobham Hall, also in the highest architectural category, is a stately home which was formerly the seat of the Earls of Darnley: since 1965 it has been a private girls' school. Cobham Park is Grade II*-listed which is listed separately in the gardens and parklands category of classification approved by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport; and includes the remains of a Roman villa.

The other Grade I-listed buildings in the borough comprise its ancient parish churches.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Gravesend_Sikh_Temple_-geograph.org.uk-_1943692.jpg" caption="Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara, Gravesend"] ::

Gravesham is home to the largest Sikh Gurdwara in Europe, Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara.

Parishes

The borough includes six civil parishes, covering the more rural eastern and southern parts. The more urban north-west of the borough, roughly corresponding to the combined area of the former borough of Gravesend and urban district of Northfleet, is an unparished area. The parishes are:

Cobham
Higham
Luddesdown
Meopham
Shorne
Vigo

References

"Gravesham Local Authority".
(1797). "The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent". W. Bristow.
(1835). "Municipal Corporations Act".
{{cite legislation UK. (1972)
{{cite legislation UK. (1973)
(28 March 1974). "District Councils and Boroughs".
"Council minutes, 13 May 2025".
(8 January 2020). "New Gravesham chief executive Stuart Bobby pledges to make area somewhere everyone is as "proud to call home as I am"". Kent Online.
{{cite legislation UK. (1972)
(6 May 2023). "Local Elections 2023: Results in Sussex, Kent and Essex". ITV News.
"Compositions Calculator". University of Exeter.
(10 May 2011). "England council elections". [[BBC News Online]].
(1 April 2014). "By-election for Coldharbour Ward in Gravesend following resignation of Cllr Rosemary Leadley". Kent Online.
"Council minutes, 9 December 2003".
(4 May 2007). "Tories rule in Gravesham". News Shopper.
"Council minutes, 15 May 2007".
"Council minutes, 26 June 2007".
(6 May 2011). "Labour leader back in Gravesend again". Kent Online.
"Council minutes, 17 May 2011".
(11 May 2015). "'Disappointed' John Burden throws down gauntlet as Conservatives take control of Gravesham Council". News Shopper.
"Council minutes, 19 May 2015".
(12 August 2017). "Former Gravesham council leader Cllr John Cubitt dies after illness battle". Kent Online.
"Council minutes, 18 April 2017".
(4 October 2018). "Gravesham council leader David Turner faces vote of no confidence". Kent Online.
(3 May 2019). "Gravesham council election results 2019". Kent Online.
"Council minutes, 16 May 2019".
(2025-10-07). "Four Tory councillors defect to Reform".
"Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
"Gravesham". Thorncliffe.
{{cite legislation UK. (2022)
(19 August 1966). "Gravesend Borough Council: Civic Centre". Kent Messenger.
(22 November 1968). "Gravesend's Royal Day: Duchess opens Civic Centre". Kent Messenger.
{{National Heritage List for England
"Gravesham Listed Building Guidance Notes".
{{National Heritage List for England
(17 December 2011). "Kent County Council's cabinet members visit Europe's largest Sikh temple".
"Election Maps". Ordnance Survey.
"Parish Councils".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::