Gravesend is in a prime location, just 25 miles from London and within easy reach of the ports of Dover and Folkestone as well as the massive Bluewater retail centre.

Dating back to Roman times, Gravesend's history all centres around the town's position on the River Thames.

Gravesend forms a rectangle shape with the main road at the south and the river to the north.

For centuries Gravesend was an important shipping centre and the town still calls itself the gateway to the Port of London.

Its name meaning "place at the end of the grove", the original grove probably located to the east of the present town where the Fort Gardens are today, Gravesend was a rough place to live.

The waterfront was worked by the tough tuggies, the town's tugboatmen who nudged luxury liners up river to London. The Three Daws pub contains a maze of tunnels used by smugglers and men escaping violent press gangs in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gravesend's nautical heritage is still obvious today in the form of the Town Pier, the oldest remaining cast iron pier in the world. Now owned by Gravesham Council, the riverside landmark's restoration was completed in 2002.

Among Gravesend's most famous past characters was Pocahontas (1595-1617), the Native American princess who saved the life of Captain John Smith, leader of the British Colony of Virginia. In 1614, she married another colonist called John Rolfe, who brought her to England in 1616. She died the next year on a ship off Gravesend.

Pocahontas was buried at St George's Church. A statue of Princess Pocahontas is located in the grounds of St George's.

Gravesend was also formerly famous for its asparagus, known as 'Gravesend grass'.

The Gravesend of today is mainly a shopping centre and a far cry for the Gravesend of the past. The town s future looks bright, thanks to funding as part of the Government's massive Thames Gateway development and the building of the international railway station at nearby Ebbsfleet.