Following from my last walk from Swale to Rainham, this walk covers the next section of the England Coast Path (ECP), bookended by stations at Rochester and Rainham. It follows the Southern shore of the River Medway estuary, including many sites pertaining to our naval heritage, and fine views over to Hoo and Grain on the Northern shore.
NB The map shows my route, with various diversions and excursions which you may not wish to follow precisely. You can download the Google map info, as a KML/KMZ file, then convert to GPX using a site like GPS Visualiser.
Essentials:
Start/Finish: By train, start at Rochester station, and follow the ECP to Bloor's Wharf on the outskirts of Rainham, then walk about 1.5 miles on roads down to Rainham Station. By car, you can park in the Riverside Multistory Car Park next to Rochester station (charge). To do the walk in reverse, there is a small free car park on Motney Hill Road near Bloor's Wharf, so you could walk from there to Rochester, get the train back to Rainham, and walk back to the car park
Walk: The route basically follows the Medway riverside through Rochester, Chatham, St Mary's Island, and the Riverside Country Park between Gillingham and Rainham.
Distance: main route (ECP) 12 miles. 1.5 miles to Rainham Station. Optional excursions into Rochester historic centre (High Street, Cathedral, Castle) 1 mile, and around Horrid Hill (1 mile).
Refreshments: Numerous options. Handy Costa right next to the Rochester Multistory Car Park. Usual offerings in Rochester High Street, Chatham, Dockside outlet centre (St Mary's Island), and Gillingham Pier retail Park (including Asda Superstore). Cafe at Strand Lido Park. Riverside Country Park Visitor Centre
Points of Interest: Heritage galore. Rochester High Street (Charles Dickens central), Cathedral (magnificent), Castle (really old). Wharfs, cranes, piers, marinas. Former RN Chatham Dockyard (where HMS Victory was built) where many heritage buildings remain for example the old Ropery. Old ships moored up (Challenge tug boat on Chatham reach, Medway Queen paddle steamer at Gillingham Pier). Strand Lido Park. Riverside Country Park (birdlife especially waders in season), Horrid Hill (island connected to mainland by a causeway). Bloor's Wharf, massive concrete apron. Views across the Medway Estuary to landmarks on the Isles of Hoo and Grain on the Northern bank, including Upnor Castle (17th Century), Cockham Wood Fort (18th Century), Hoo and Darnet Forts (Victorian), Darnet Creek Power Station, London Thamesport, and Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey. New riverside housing developments (Rochester Riverside, St Mary's Island)
Notes: Reasonably well signed as 'England Coast Path', but there are gaps and a GPX file will be invaluable. The path is paved, except through the Riverside Park, which is mainly stone chippings. Ongoing development means there will inevitably be path closures and diversions, for example the path from Rochester Bridge round the shore to Limehouse Landing is closed (October 2025). There are some stretches beside busy roads, notably alongside Chatham Dockyard, and from St Mary's Island to the Gillingham Pier retail park.
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I decided to do this walk 'clockwise' rather than 'anticlockwise' as in my previous walks. This was so I could be sure that Rochester Cathedral and Castle would be open, and seen in good morning light. I parked in the multistory car park next to Rochester Station (charge about £7 for the day, Ringgo App), and was pleased to find a good Costa just by the exit for a coffee and comfort break after a long drive.
First, I set off through the station subway to visit the town centre, with it's historic High Street with many associations with Charles Dickens, but my main objective was to see the Cathedral and the Castle. Visits to both had to be brief. The Cathedral was founded in 604, but rebuilt by the Normans (re-consecrated 1130). From atop the massive 12th century Castle keep, the views over the city and along the Medway are impressive.
I attempted to start the walk proper by accessing the coast path next to the road bridge over the Medway, but found the whole 'peninsula' was fenced off for works associated with Rochester Riverside development. I don't mind, but it's annoying when there were no explanatory notices, causing me to waste considerable time looking for a way round. Anyway, I headed back to the Costa, and began the walk from there.
In summary, I think this is one of those walks which you start with low expectations, but actually turns out to be full of fascinating detail, especially regarding the maritime history of Chatham. The views across the estuary are also impressive, if you like that sort of thing. I don't know what the new developments are like to live in, but I thought the layout and architectural styles were quite appealing .
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| Tug boat 'Challenge' |
At Rochester Riverside, the path weaves around the various old wharves, which are now lined with new housing. Across the sharp bend in the river, the hill above Chatham comes into view, topped by the Chatham Naval War Memorial. In the Napoleonic era, the Great Lines fortifications were built on the plateau at the top of the hill, to defend the Dockyards. They would be worth a visit, but I did not have time or energy today.
You have to leave the riverside and take to Chatham's somewhat run-down High Street: I guess that the town has never fully recovered since the closure of the Dockyards in the 1960s led to mass local unemployment. A waterfront green lined with old cannons makes for a pleasant interlude, with the Chatham Community Hub, essentially the public library, housed in the Grade 2 listed Ordnance Store (1805), overlooked by the green verdigris dome of the Chatham Town Hall (1898), which was reinvented as a theatre in the 1980s, and is now undergoing renovation.
The next section from the Command House pub (a fine looking building, formerly the house of the Store Keeper for the Ordnance Yard) has gates which are locked at 5pm (presumably because of the risk of anti-social behaviour of an evening?). I emerged next to the imposing gatehouse of the Chatham Dockyard complex. Most of the buildings have been repurposed for commercial or educational use (University of Kent), and it is not possible to enter through this gate. However, the security guard did let me pass through to view the coat of arms of George I on this side (1722), whereas the coat of arms on the 'public' side were replaced in 1811 by those those of George III. The old muster bell atop a white mast can also be seen.
The huge scale of this complex brings home the importance of this facility to the RN and to the local economy. It's history goes back to the sixteenth century. Nelson's flagship HMS Victory was built here, and the Ropery, over 1000 feet long, is still operational. For much of the twentieth century, up until closure in the 1960's, the Dockyard's primary role was the building of submarines (57 in all).
There is then a long section on the pavement beside the massive brick walls of the dockyard alongside the busy A231. After a mile or so you leave the road at the public entrance to the Historic Dockyard. Sadly, I had not time to stop (it merits several hours at least), but some of the old buildings are well seen from the car park.
The next section is around St Mary's Island. This was previously part of the Dockyard Estate, and has now been redeveloped for housing, including an excellent path around the waterfront. The houses along the riverside have excellent views across the water, which probably command a price premium.
The Medway, relatively narrow at Rochester, now begins to broaden into a wide estuary. Across the water can be seen a succession of fortifications: Upnor castle, built, belatedly, to defend the approaches to Chatham following the humiliating attack by the Dutch in 1667; the ruined brickwork of the 18th Century Cockham Wood Fort, right on the beach; a WW2 pill box; then, better seen later in the walk, the Victorian forts on the low lying Hoo Island and Darent Island. (I hope to see the first three close up on my next walk along the Hoo/Grain section of the ECP.)
Three large basins make the island an island. You enter across the Westernmost, which is now (perhaps inevitably) a Marina. You exit around and across the middle one. I attempted to continue along the southern wall of the basin, but discovered there is no way out when you reach the end, explaining why the official route doesn't do this.
There then follows another dreary section on pavement beside the A289, after which the Gillingham Pier retail park comes as something of a relief. Tucked around the back of the Asda Superstore, is Gillingham Pier itself, which houses the depot for the Medway Queen Paddle Steamer, which was moored alongside when I passed. Next door is Gillingham Marina - you can't have too many marinas, apparently.
Next up came The Strand, which was a beach park for Gillingham back in the day. River bathing is not as popular now, but the lido is still there (with cafe, does good chips), and a good waterside path heads eastwards. The estuary widens further here, and you can make out Darnet Crreek Power Station and the cranes of the London Thames Port on the Isle of Grain, as well as the two Victorian Forts mentioned earlier (being low profile, they are quite difficult to see, which was the point).
At Copperhouse Lane, I entered the Riverside Country Park, a two-mile ribbon of green. The most interesting feature is perhaps Horrid Hill. A cement works was built on an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway, You can make a circuit, and there is an excellent panorama across the estuary, now including Sheerness on Sheppey (this walk), with its wind turbines, and also the Motney Hill waste water treatment works (this walk), with its rather sinister looking dome.
I called in at the Country Park Visitor Centre, but found it was closed (it was late afternoon by now).
The final point of interest is the huge concrete apron that was Bloors Wharf, which seems to have started in Victorian times as a fishermans' wharf, then to have been expanded in the twentieth century to handle scrap metal. It overlooks intertidal mud flats: there were waders here, probably redshank.
My coastal walk ended when I finally emerged at the small car park on Motney Hill road, where I ended
my previous walk. It was then a mile+ trudge down to Rainham station, for the train back to Rochester.
My other coast walks can be found on this page.
Nearby walks:
I have also cycled the Riverside Country Park to Gillingham
Photos: Late October, cloudy start, bright middle, clouding over at the end.
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| Subway to Rochester High Street |
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| La Providence alms houses - descended from the Hospital for Huguenot Refugees, which relocated from London to these 19th century buildings in 1959 |
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| Rochester Cathedral |
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| Rochester Castle |
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| Screen in Rochester Cathedral |
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| College Yard |
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| Atop Rochester Castle Keep |
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| Cathedral from Castle |
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| Inside the Keep |
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| View up the Medway from Rochester Castle |
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| View over Rochester bridge. The path around the 'headland' is closed (Oct 2025) |
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| Rochester Bridge |
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| No access to the riverside at Rochester Riverside |
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| Common Creek Wharf |
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| Crane at Blue Boar Wharf |
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| View to Chatham: RN Memorial atop Great lines. Green dome is former Town Hall |
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| Chatham High Street |
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| Collection of boats at Sun Pier (Rochester Cathedral on skyline) |
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| Riverside Gardens, Chatham |
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| View back to Cathedral |
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| Community Hub in old RN Ordnance Store |
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| Command House Pub |
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| Gates locked at 5pm |
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| The Medway widens |
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| Inside view of Chatham Dockyrad Gatehouse (arms of George I) |
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| Dockyard entrance road |
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| Dockyard entrance (arms of George III) |
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| Walk beside Dock Road |
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| Buildings of the Historic Dockyard |
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| St Mary's Island Marina In Westernmost basin of three) |
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| Marina Lock |
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| Upnor Castle |
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| Path around St Mary's Island |
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| Path around St Mary's Island |
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| Ruin of Cockham Wood brick fort |
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| Mariners sculpture, St Mary's Island |
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| Path through the St Mary's Island development |
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| Boardwalk beside the middle Basin |
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| Path beside A289 |
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| Asda superstore at Gillingham Pier |
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| Medway Queen at Gillingham Pier |
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| Gillingham Marina |
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| Cafe at The Strand (good chips) |
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| Darnet Creek Power Station |
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| Boats moored at The Strand (plus barge wrecks) |
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| Left, liquid gas storage tanks; right, cranes of London Thamesport, Grain |
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| Entering Riverside Country Park at Copperhouse Lane |
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| To the right (difficult to see on the photo) are the wind turbines at Sheerness, Sheppey |
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| Nearing Horrid Hill |
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| Track out to Horrid Hill |
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| Foreshore of Horrid Hill |
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| Dome of Motney Hill wastewater treatment plant |
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| Wreck at Horrid Hill |
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| Riverside Country Park Visitor Centre |
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| Bloors Wharf |
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| Motney Hill car park |
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