Wigmore is a suburb in the southeast of Medway in Kent, England. It is near Hempstead to the west and Rainham to the north east.
Wigmore | |
---|---|
The post-war St Matthew's Church | |
Wigmore Location within Kent | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Gillingham |
Postcode district | ME8 |
Dialling code | 01634 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
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,[2] and began to be developed as a suburb from 1906 when the 365-acre Wigmore agricultural estate was partitioned and sold as plots,[3] initially as smallholdings (hence the local “Smallholders Club”)[4] and rural shanties for Medway families.
St Matthew's Church was founded in 1925 and was replaced in the 1960s by architects Brett, Boyd and Bosanquet.[5] A prefab Evangelical church[6] was opened later.
Now fully suburbanised within the East of the Medway Towns, the area has a community primary school,[7] medical centre.[8] There is also a local football club called Wigmore Youth F.C, which runs teams for both boys and girls which range from under-7s up to under-18s.[9]
Arriva bus 132 runs between Wigmore, Rainham and Chatham.
Rock bands associated with the locality-championing Medway scene have referenced Wigmore; The Buff Medways in the song "Medway Wheelers" (2005)[10] and the Len Price 3 with "Wigmore Swingers" (2014).[11]