GILLINGHAM

gillingham, a municipal borough of kent, england, in the parliamentary borough of chatham and the mid-division of the county, on the medway immediately east of chatham, on the south-eastern & chatham railway. pop. (1891) 27,809; (1901) 42,530. its population is largely industrial, employed in the chatham dockyards, and in cement and brick works in the neighbourhood. the church of st mary magdalene ranges in date from early english to perpendicular, retaining also traces of norman work and some early brasses. a great battle between edmund ironside and canute, c. 1016, is placed here; and there was formerly a palace of the archbishops of canterbury. gillingham was incorporated in 1903, and is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. the borough includes the populous districts of brompton and new brompton. area, 4355 acres.