Queenborough, Kent

Description
Queenborough, a market-town, a municipal borough, a parish, and a port in the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. The town stands on the Swale, near the Medway, with a station on the Sittingbourne and Sheerness branch of the L.C. & D.R., 50 miles from London, and 2 S of Sheerness. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Sheerness. Acreage of parish, 298; population, 1050. Queenborough superseded a Saxon place called Cyningburg or Kings Castle, where annual courts were held; was founded along with a castle by Edward III., and called Queenborough in compliment to bis queen Philippa; received a charter from Edward III.; is now governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 13 councillors; sent two members to Parliament from the time of Elizabeth till 1832; and was long a staple for wool. There is no market day, but a fair is held on 5 August. It has some glue and chemical manure factories, Portland cement works, and carries on a large timber trade. It consists chiefly of one main street, and has a guildhall, a church, Congregational and Wesleyau chapel, and charities. The guildhall has been recently renovated. The L.C. & D.R. have constructed a branch line for the requirements of their continental traffic via Flushing; a pier erected by them was destroyed by fire in 1882, and was rebuilt in 1885 on a much larger scale. The castle was erected after designs by William of Wykeham; was repaired by Richard II., Henry VIII., and Elizabeth; was taken down in the time of the Commonwealth; and is now represented by only a well and the remains of the moat and glacis. The well was re-opened in 1860, and is 271 feet deep. The church has an ancient tower, probably Norman, and was well restored in 1885. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £190 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury.