Old Historical Photographs of Rainham Kent Rainham is one of the Medway Towns in North Kent which also includes Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester. More updates and requests for info can be found on the Rainham History Facebook page, click Like to get updates. Rainham has a number of distinct areas such as Parkwood, Wigmore, Rainham Mark, Twydall along with Meresborough and Lower Rainham. The aim of this site is to create an archive of historical information and photos about the history of Rainham, Kent and the surrounding areas.

Rainham History - Old Photos & Articles about Rainham Kent

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Local Websites

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Any photos or information would be most welcome. Your memories about the history of Rainham, Kent or surrounding areas would also be extremely useful and can be formatted for web use if emailed through. Please contact by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The concept for this site originally dates from 2000 as a personal project when looking through my grandmother's collection of old photos. She had lived in Wigmore all her life and had many images depicting the changes over that time. This site went live in 2001 and I am very grateful to all those people who have provided photos of Rainham and Wigmore to use.

I understand that material from this site is now being used for teaching in local schools and it is gratifying that this collection of photos and documents is proving useful for teaching new generations about the history of the local area. You can see Freddie Cooper talking about life in Rainham in the last century

Change in the urban environment is continual and even in the short time that this site has been running significant changes have been seen. The main change within the Rainham area is the continual infill of new housing. Due to the properties built before the Second World War with large gardens particularly in Wigmore there is a ready supply of old bungalows that are being demolished to be replaced by multiple detached houses. In addition the decision to abandon the bypass of the centre of Rainham has led to the release of land retained for the road between the A2 at Holding Street to Orchard Street through to Mierscourt Road for new housing. There are also many areas on the outskirts of Rainham where new estates are being build to infill and expand the footprint of Rainham

Photo of Rainham High Street 1950

In addition I would like to thank Action Forum, local magazine for Rainham who have agreed to let me use articles on the site. I would also like to thank Hales & Moore fishmongers of Station Road Rainham who have provided publicity for the site with a display in their window.

Station Road Rainham Photo

Any photos or information would be most welcome. Articles or reminiscences about the history of Rainham, Kent or surrounding areas would also be extremely useful and can be formatted for web use if emailed through.

Please contact by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

If you are looking for more information about Rainham and local Kent history then you may be interested in Rainham Historical Society which has monthly meetings at the Millennium Centre in Rainham Kent - click for details.

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Rainham Kent History, articles photos and stories about bygone Rainham Kent

Rainham is one of the Medway Towns in North Kent which also includes Gillingham, Chatham and Rochester. Rainham has a number of distinct areas such as Parkwood, Wigmore, Rainham Mark, Twydall along with Meresborough and Lower Rainham. The aim of this site is to create an archive of historical information and photos about the history of Rainham, Kent and the surrounding areas.