Wigmore is a suburb in the southeast of Medway in Kent, England. It is near Hempstead to the west and Rainham to the north east.
| Wigmore | |
|---|---|
 The post-war St Matthew's Church | |
  Wigmore Location within Kent | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Gillingham |
| Postcode district | ME8 |
| Dialling code | 01634 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
History
editThe placename is attested in 1275 as Wydemere, from an Old English *wīd-mere "broad pool".[1]
A sparsely-populated hamlet and farming area until the 20th century, Wigmore was briefly the site of a smallpox isolation hospital (Alexandra Hospital) from 1902,[2] and began to be developed as a suburb from 1906 when the 365-acre Wigmore agricultural estate was partitioned and sold as plots,[3] initially as smallholdings (hence the local “Smallholders Club”)[4] and rural shanties for Medway families.
Amenities
editSt Matthew's Church was founded in 1925 and was replaced in the 1960s by architects Brett, Boyd and Bosanquet.[5] A prefab Evangelical church[6] was opened later.
Now fully suburbanised within the East of the Medway Towns, the area has a community primary school,[7] medical centre.[8] There is also a local football club called Wigmore Youth F.C, which runs teams for both boys and girls which range from under-7s up to under-18s.[9]
Transport
editArriva bus 132 runs between Wigmore, Rainham and Chatham.
References in popular culture
editRock bands associated with the locality-championing Medway scene have referenced Wigmore; The Buff Medways in the song "Medway Wheelers" (2005)[10] and the Len Price 3 with "Wigmore Swingers" (2014).[11]
References
edit- ^ "Wigmore" A Dictionary of British Place-Names. A. D. Mills. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. [1]
- ^ "Alexandra Hospital".
- ^ Joyce and Miller, Brian and Sophie (2014). Gillingham & Around From Old Photographs. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445632971.
- ^ "Smallholders Club".
- ^ Twentieth Century Society, https://c20society.org.uk/publications/c20-magazine/review-the-buildings-of-england-kent-west-and-the-weald/
- ^ "3 Army Huts". www.wigmorefreechurch.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015.
- ^ "New Era Technology UK | Part of the New Era Technology family".
- ^ "Wigmore Medical Centre - 114 Woodside, Wigmore, Gillingham, ME8 0PW".
- ^ "Wigmore Youth FC".
- ^ "Site Search | Cycling UK" (PDF).
- ^ "Len Price 3: Nobody Knows (CD on JLM Recordings)".
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