
In 1550 Rochester was the only Medway town. It dominated the river estuary & an agricultural hinterland in which Strood Chatham & Gillingham were nearby villages reliant on fishing & farming for their livelihood. By the beginning of the twentieth century these four towns had become an urban conurbation. The key factor in this dramatic change was the growth of the Royal Naval Dockyards at CA--A--hatham home to the English fleet from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-eighteenth century & subsequently the foremost shipbuilding & repair docks in Engl&. The yards at Chatham soon became the largest industrial complex in the south of Engl&. Over the course of the next 350 years Rochester Chatham Gillingham & Strood grew. They merged physically but developed distinct characteristics. Chatham became the dockyard town whilst Rochester retained a more genteel air. Gillingham gained a military presence & covered agricultural land with terraced housing. Strood on the opposite bank of the river abandoned fishing & farming for brick & cement manufacture & engineering. This book explores the impact of these changes on the people who lived & worked in the Medway Towns the transformation of the political & economic scene & of the built environment.