With the growing population and lack of recreational facilities, new parks were planned for the Rainham area. One of these was a new playing field in Wigmore being proposed in December 1967 as reported in the Kent Messenger. Gillingham council chose to name it Kings Frith after an old wood that grew nearby. Plans were approved and in June 1970 four plots totalling 2 acres had been bought for £13,000. By January 1971 the final total of 18 acres had been acquired for £72,000 to create the new sports pitches. In March that year the council approved £9,000 to equip the site with pitches for various sports. This led to some vigorous discussions about which sports should be featured with football not originally planned to be included but hockey and rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer. Exclusive use of the site was to be given to Anchorians and Gillingham Hockey Club. Local footballers were unhappy with this decision and campaigned to get it reversed.
In March 1971 Gillingham Council reviewed the opening of the newly created parks at Kings Frith, Wigmore and Cozenton and as a trial agreed they could stay open overnight. This was made permanent in October.
By the next year Gillingham Council had considered the representations from local sports clubs and agreed in March 1972 that football would also be included in the plans. This was a short lived celebration as by 1973 there were regular reports of injuries caused by the pitch and the flints in it. Parkwood Football Club secretary Dave Parry said “ Almost every match we have somebody taken to Medway Hospital and one boy had to have 17 stitches put in a wound”. After only six matches at Kings Frith the team decided to move elsewhere.
It was reported in 1974 that “The council hoped to provide rugby and hockey pitched at Kings Frith but ground conditions prevented this. Eventually it is hoped that pitches can be provided on army land along the A2.” Looking back that was exactly what happened.
The park was still being used for events such a 50 lap sponsored bike ride that took place in October 1974. As a result of these difficulties the council were in talks with private developers to build a new all purpose sports centre on the land. Other plans included a commando style adult fitness circuit, crazy golf and putting green. It was reported in August 1975 that these plans had broken down and been shelved for at least 5 years. This decision obviously wasn’t adhered to as by August 1976 the recreation committee were inviting private companies to bid to develop the land as squash courts, ice and roller skating rinks along with a social centre.
In the meantime the land was being used for other activities with Gillingham Horse show displaying horse riding skills and a Rainham South Brownies’ Jubilee jamboree taking place in summer of 1977 and Sir Robert Fossett’s circus and the West German Hell Drivers stunt team being given permission to use it in 1978. As now football had become the primary sport taking place at Kings Frith at this time and there were repeated complaints about the costs of hiring the pitches by local clubs. It was claimed that one local team paid £155 for the seasons of 24 games compared to their opponents in other Kent districts paying between £22 and £36 for the same period of hire.
Over the next few years the field continues to be used for events with Gillingham Horse show going from strength to strength and other events taking place such as displays by motorcycle stunt rider Eddie Kidd in August 1980 when he leapt over 10 parked cars on his bike and Monty Hammond funfairs using the site.
By early1986 plans for sports centre development at the site had been revived with Medway Indoor Bowling club asking for permission to build an international standard eight lane bowl centre. At the same time it was also being considered whether the location was suitable for a swimming pool – this was eventually sited at Cozenton Park as Splashes. These plans were very short lived as by July 1986 the council was proposing to develop Kings Frith for housing as it was being under-used due to the flinty nature of the surface. The proposal would have involved swapping the East Hoath woods owned by Medway Health authority for Kings Frith so that the woods were retained and Kings Frith built on. These plans caused much local protest and a petition with over 2100 names was handed in to the council as well as getting support from the local MP Jim Couchman. From the newspaper reports it appears that at this time Great Lines in Gillingham was also being considered for development as well as East Hoath Woods and Kings Frith. Fortunately these plans were all eventually rejected.
During Winter 1987 the area was covered with deep snow causing difficulties with food deliveries and later that year the great storm of 1987 struck. Kings Frith playing fields came to the rescue in both cases. In the January snow it was used for an army helicopter landing to airlift 18000 pints of milk to Unigate dairies Wigmore depot as the roads from the processing plant were blocked. After the October storms the playing field was one of the locations where residents could take broken branches from trees to be disposed of by the council.
By now the children’s play area was getting old as it dated back to the 1970s so Gillingham Council were proposing to renovate the equipment in Kings Frith and other local parks. Gillingham Horse show had continued to grow and was now judged to be too big for the park and needed to find a new venue. The playing field was regularly being used for boot fairs as well as the local football leagues. By 1990 it was hosting an annual five a side tournament with nearly 1000 boys in 140 teams from all over Kent taking part in the event organised by Twydall Boys Football club.
Around this time more plans were put forward for a table tennis centre. These were rejected and it was pointed out that the land creating Kings Frith was given to the council by a elderly gentleman with a covenant in place that no building was to be permitted on the land. The council were also having to contend with anti-social behaviour at the park with local residents complaining about the noise and rubbish left behind. In 1991 the council arrange for lockable gates to be fitted and closed each evening to improve security. This had some unintended consequences as it was reported that local dog walker Ray Quinney and collie Kelly were locked in the park overnight and had to be rescued by police in January 1992. The council responded that the notice that was meant to be erected on the gates wasn’t in place so the residents had no way of knowing about the closure!
Plans were once again put forward to add facilities to the park with Rainham Football Club proposing a sports pavilion in early 1996. These plans were also refused due to the covenant discovered previously.
Since then the playing fields have continued to be well used for local football teams and tournaments as well as dog walkers and runners making use of the open space. Hopefully the legal restrictions will enable the park to be used in a similar way for many years to come.