Greenhithe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greenhithe
Ingress Abbey, Greenhithe seen from the riverside HMS Worcester memorial.
Greenhithe shown within Kent
Population	4,700 (2005)[1]
OS grid reference	TQ586748
Parish	Swanscombe and Greenhithe
District	Dartford
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Greenhithe
Postcode district	DA9
Dialling code	01322
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Dartford
List of places: UK • England • Kent

Coordinates: 51°27′01″N 0°16′56″E / 51.4504, 0.2823

Greenhithe is a village in Dartford District of Kent, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe. Although part of Greenhithe is in the neighbouring parish of Stone(including the Asda superstore and Bluewater shopping centre).

Greenhithe, as it is spelled today, is located where it was possible to build wharves for transhipping corn, wood and other commodities; its largest cargoes were of chalk and lime which were needed for agricultural purposes. This led in turn to the development of the cement industry at nearby Swanscombe, although Greenhithe itself had a brief time during Victorian times as a tourist resort: Greenhithe Pier was built in 1842. It does not survive.

[edit] History

Until recently, Greenhithe was little more than a hamlet; within its boundaries was Ingress Abbey, an ancient religious institution among those dissolved by Henry VIII. The buildings later became a Merchant Navy College, of which the training ship HMS Worcester was part.

Its position on the river is now of less importance. The whole area is being redeveloped as part of the Thames Gateway regeneration: its proximity to the M25 motorway, the new High Speed 1 Ebbsfleet International and the Bluewater complex has altered that. It is anticipated that Greenhithe will attract more affluent and upwardly mobile residents because of the proximity to the enormous shopping complex. This is reflected in increased property valuations, and an increasingly "gentrified" feel to the immediate area.

The station is a hub for the Fastrackbus system- providing links to Ebbsfleet, Bluewater, Dartford and Gravesend.

However, many current residents deride Greenhithe for its lack of amenities- Bluewater, the supermarket, and Greenhithe railway station aside, there is little in the area apart from housing and it is hoped that the Thames Gateway project will address this (large housing developments -particularly Ingress Park, Waterstone Park - and industrial estates almost completely surround the former hamlet).

[edit] Gallery

The High Street.

Looking down River, St Clement's or Fiddler's Reach.

Looking up river, the Dartford Crossing and the Long Reach.

New housing replaces the old wharves.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Greenhithe, Kent

• Greenhithe history includes notes on Ingress Abbey and HMS Worcester
• Ingress Park
• Greenhithe in New Zealand

This Kent location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.