BROOMHILL: the HISTORY PAGe
Broomhill is part of the North Downs ridge of chalk that finishes on the Hoo Peninsular and was formed in the cretaceous period. If you are lucky you may find prehistoric fossils, especially oyster shells, washed up by the sea that used to cover the area.
Chalk was quarried at Broomhill from Roman times until the last quarry was closed in the middle of the 20th century. There were also several lime kilns on the site from the Middle Ages which were were still in use until the 19th Century.
Evidence has been found at Piper’s House Farm that the chalk pits were used as refuges by Ancient Britons when under attack.
An Anglo-Saxon grave was found on the site which contained a spearhead, knife and bronze ring set with an amethyst which can be seen in Rochester Museum.
Fighting talk
Through history, the summit has been used strategically in
battle.
Legend has it that Boudica and the Iceni massed ready to swoop on the Romans as they sent their advance guard wading across the Medway.
In 1264 Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester and leader of the 2nd Barons’ uprising, used Broomhill to plan his strategy for capturing Rochester Castle.
When the rebellion in 1554 against Queen Mary marrying Philip of Spain failed, Norfolk and other royalists escaped over the hill to Gravesend.
During the time of the Spanish Armada, Broomhill was part of the chain of early warning beacons set up from strategic points along the south coast, criss-crossing Sussex, Surrey and Kent to London.
In 1606 James I and his family showed off the Dockyard to King Christian IV of Denmark from the Hill and forty years later, during the Civil War, Cromwell’s troops were ambushed there before they eventually captured Rochester.
spotted fever
Several skeletons have been discovered on Broomhill. It is believed they were victims of the spotted fever epidemic of 1657, when infected sailors were billeted on Strood residents.
Until recently, no one could travel between London and Dover without crossing the hill.
Turner spent a lot of time on the hill painting views from it, Hogarth sketched it and John Cobbett refers to it in his writings.
In the early 19th century, navvies tunnelled under Broomhill to construct the Gravesend to Strood canal, which was subsequently filled in and is now used for the railway line.
The site was also home to 6 windmills on all sides of the hill until the beginning of the 20th Century.
After the 1st World War, allotments were plotted out and sold, some are still there. By this time housing development had also begun to creep up the hill.
world war 2
In more recent times, during the 2nd
World War, a German Messerschmitt plane
crashed on the hill. The wounded pilot was helped by a young
woman before being taken to Chatham Police Station by the
Home Guard with fixed bayonets, followed by an angry crowd of
housewives wielding brooms and spades.
In 1955, the pilot returned to thank the doctor who treated him and the girl who had helped him.
After the war, prefabs were built on the top of the hill. It was when they were demolished in the 1960’s that the summit was declared a park to prevent any further incursion on one of Medway’s green spaces.
The Friends group are interested in hearing recollections of Broomhill during the war. Please contact us if you have any stories.
Strood needs this 'green lung'.
Help us keep it, maintain it and improve it.
Thank you.