page_title: Strood
section_title: Housing
hierarchical_section_title: Strood / Housing
caption_attribution_description: Medway Gate Housing Development, in a old chalk pit in Strood in Kent. You can see the extensive landscaping, the access road to the left,the exposed chalk cliff and its associated strata, and the foundations for the densely packed new homes. Camera location51°&#160;23′&#160;02.76″&#160;N, 0°&#160;28′&#160;30.36″&#160;EView this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap - Google Earth
context_page_description: Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England. It lies on the northwest bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town.
  Strood began as a manor then chapelry of Frindsbury until gaining its own parish status in 1193. Today Frindsbury is effectively, in all but a few associations such as in the Church of England, the northern part of Strood. Strood's history has been dominated by the river and facing port-associated towns, particularly its road and rail bridges since the Roman era to Rochester and the two other Medway Towns immediately adjoining and beyond from the north-east quarter of Kent to London and the rest of Britain. It has a mixed retail and leisure area at its heart. Most of its sources of employment are the other Medway towns, their associated commercial, industrial and logistics parks and London, as an outer commuter town.
  Among its broadest named neighbourhoods are the "Earl estate" and Marlowe Park, one named after a house builder, the other after the grounds of a former mansion house.
context_section_description: The area of Strood around Knight's Place and Temple Street, was referred to as the Swamp. On the floods Smetham wrote in 1899 in that woebegone spot the foul contents of water closets were washed into poor peoples homes, and an indescribable filth permeated the fetid spot for months. In 1912 there was a typhoid outbreak here, 56 people contracted it, and five died.
  In the 1880s, there was a major expansion of houses. Terraced houses were built on the hill, closing the gap between Strood and Frindsbury. The land around St Mary's, now drained and close to the station was used. There was a mix of house sizes, from the large detached to the small terraces that opened on the street. They were all built in local yellow brick, with detailing in reds.
  Following World War I, the city built 19 houses in Steele St, and 73 on Frindsbury Hill (Murray Road). Following World War II, under the Housing Act, 1946, and the Housing Subsidies Act, 1956 the city continued to build, including the triangle between the A228, Watling Street and the M2.
  With continuing population growth and pressure from commuters, more and more land has been developed by the private sector. By 2000, the riverside by the station had been developed. Kingswear Gardens off Canal Road is a social housing estate. Kingswear Gardens is a high crime area, and is prone to flooding. The chalkpit by the A228 at Merral's Shaw now has 400 dwellings on it, in spite of the massive infrastructure work needed, (roads and landscaping) this development is called Medway Gate. In 2009, plans were in existence to build over the Temple Marsh. Up to 620 homes are planned to be built and up to 12,300 sq metres of mixed-use employment and retail floorspace to develop. Now renamed as 'Temple Waterfront'.
  There are concerns for the architectural heritage in the area. A sad loss of an Edwardian gem occurred in 2010 when Medway Council demolished the Aveling & Porter building to make way for a car park.
caption: Work progresses on the foundations of the first houses in the Medway Gate Housing Development.
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