Wigmore, Kent
Coordinates: 51°21′22″N 0°35′42″E / 51.356°N 0.595°E
Wigmore is a suburb/village in the Unitary Authority of Medway, in Kent, England.
History
The placename is attested in 1275 as Wydemere, from an Old English *wīd-mere "broad pool".[1]
A sparsely-populated hamlet and farming area until the 20th Century, Wigmore was briefly the site of a smallpox isolation hospital (Alexandra Hospital) from 1902, and began to be developed as a village from 1906 when the 365-acre Wigmore agricultural estate was partitioned and sold as plots,[2] initially as smallholdings (hence the local “Smallholders Club”)[3] and rural shanties for Medway families. The first local church - St Matthews - dates back to 1925;[4] a prefab Evangelical church[5] was opened later on.
Now a fully suburbanised village within south Gillingham, the area has a community primary school,[6] medical centre,[7] and local football team, Wigmore Youth F.C.[8]
References in popular culture
Rock bands associated with the locality-championing Medway scene have referenced Wigmore; The Buff Medways in the song "Medway Wheelers" (2005)[9] and the Len Price 3 with "Wigmore Swingers" (2014).[10]
References
- ↑ "Wigmore" A Dictionary of British Place-Names. A. D. Mills. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
- ↑ Joyce and Miller, Brian and Sophie (2014). Gillingham & Around From Old Photographs. Stroud: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1445632971.
- ↑ http://www.smallholdersclub.org/
- ↑ http://www.stmattswigmore.org.uk/Groups/190758/St_Matthews_Wigmore/Your_church/past_and_present/past_and_present.aspx
- ↑ http://www.wigmorefreechurch.org.uk/3ArmyHuts.htm
- ↑ http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepage.asp?GroupID=392917
- ↑ http://www.wigmoremedicalcentre.co.uk/
- ↑ http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/wigmoreyouthfc/
- ↑ http://www.ctc.org.uk/file/member/200807043.pdf
- ↑ http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review.aspx?id=9422