Gravesend

Town in Kent, southeast England, 35 km/22 mi east of London, on the River Thames opposite Tilbury, with which it is linked by ferry; borough population (2001) 53,100. Industries include engineering, printing, and the manufacture of electrical goods and a range of paper goods.

Gravesend is the site of the Thames pilot station, at the point where the Thames Estuary narrows and river pilots take control of ships using the Port of London.

History The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Gravesham. The American Indian Matoaka Pocahontas died here in 1617 and was buried in St George's Church. A substantial Sikh community has developed since the 1950s.