Editing Strood (section)

==History==
[[File:MerrallM2OverStrood9931.JPG|thumb|High Speed 1 and the M2 form the southwestern boundary of Strood.]]
[[File:StroodCTRL2.JPG|thumb|A [[Eurostar]] train passing Strood heading for the [[Medway Viaduct]] ]]
[[File:Strood TempleMarsh RochWire.JPG|thumb|The River Medway and its marshes in Strood, showing Strood juxtaposed with [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] ]]
[[File:Medway Valley Leisure Park - geograph.org.uk - 1226876.jpg|thumb|The far end of Medway Valley Leisure Park.]]
[[File:StroodCrispin8591.JPG|thumb|The Crispin and Crispianus pub is typical of the shiplapped houses in Strood on the higher ground, On 27 March 2011 the pub was set alight.{{sfn|BBC|2011}}{{sfn|Historic England|1336171}}]]

===Pre-Conquest===
Strood was part of [[Frindsbury]] until 1193. It was named ''Strodes'' in the ''[[Textus Roffensis]]'', now kept in [[Rochester Cathedral]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rochester Cathedral |url=https://www.rochestercathedral.org/textus |url-status=live}}</ref> though most early records use the spelling ''Stroud''.{{sfn|Hasted|1797|pp=546–560}}  The [[Old English]] name ''Strōd'' refers to a "marshy land overgrown with brushwood".{{sfn|Glover|1992}} The Gloucestershire town of [[Stroud]] has the same etymology.{{sfn|Room|1988}}

The [[Roman Legions]] built a [[Rochester Bridge#Roman|stone bridge]] and laid a road on a causeway across the marshy ground.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}} The foundations were about 8&nbsp;ft below the level of the 1856 road. The road went up Strood Hill, and was called [[Watling Street]], as it still is today. This is the [[A2 road (England)|A2 road]]. There is further evidence of a causeway-based road leading along the bank towards the Frindsbury Peninsula leading to a villa, was found on 24 March 1819.{{sfn|Barnard|1994}}  The present road and field pattern suggest that there was a substantial agricultural settlement of the [[Roman Empire]] centred near Frindsbury.{{sfn|Barnard|1994}}

In 764 AD [[Offa]] King of [[Mercia]] and [[Sigered of Kent|Sigered]] King of Kent granted to Eardulph lands in Easlingham (Frindsbury).{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  In 840 AD, 994 AD, and 998 AD Strood was pillaged by the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]].{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  In 960 AD a [[Rochester Bridge#Middle Ages|wooden bridge]] was built across the Medway.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}

===Medieval===
A small wooden church was erected at Strood in 1122, as a [[chapel of ease]] in the parish of Frindsbury.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  Land was granted in 1160 to the Knights Templar by [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]]. The [[Temple Manor|Manor House]] was used as a Lodging House.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}

In 1193, Strood became a parish. It was run by the [[Grey Friars]] or [[Franciscans]] of Newark Hospital, and had its own burial grounds.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}} In 1291 there was an affray at Newark Hospital between the Monks of Strood and the locals from Frindsbury.{{sfn|Barnard|1994}}

In 1264 [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] laid siege to [[Rochester Castle]] from the Strood Side. In the action the wooden bridge was destroyed by fire.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}} After Simon's death a heavy fine was levied on Strood because he had stayed there during the siege.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  The Strood Quay and Strood Wharf had been constructed by Bishop Gilbert de Glanvill with rents going to Newark Hospital. In 1293 the Rochester Wharf was in such disrepair that ships had to use the Strood Wharf, however as Rochester Bridge was out of use, ferries had to be used to cross the river.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}} In 1309, a harsh winter, Rochester Bridge was damaged by ice.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  In 1312 the Knight's Templar were suppressed and the Manor of Strood passed into private hands briefly before being passed on to the Abbess and Sisters Minorites of St. Clare of Denney in Cambridgeshire.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  In 1387 a stone bridge was built by [[John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham|John de Cobham]] and [[Robert Knolles]].{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  In 1460 [[Edward IV]] appointed a mayor of Rochester with jurisdiction over Strood river frontage and the houses there.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}

===Early Modern===
Strood was owned by the Rochester monastery from the 18th year of [[Edward III]]'s reign until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under [[Henry VIII]], after which time as part of the Hundred of Sharnel (Shamwell) which included [[Cobham, Kent|Cobham]], it was passed to George Brooke, Lord Cobham. His grandson Henry Brooke lost his estates to [[James VI and I|James I]] in 1603 through a false charge of [[treason]], although he escaped with his life.{{citation needed|date=February 2007}} The Temple Manor thereafter was granted to [[Sir Robert Cecil]], the [[Earl of Salisbury]] (son of William, Lord Burleigh), who later became Lord Treasurer of England under [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth]], and married Elizabeth, sister of Henry, Lord Cobham.{{citation needed|date=February 2007}}

In 1554 [[Thomas Wyatt the younger|Thomas Wyatt]] of [[Allington, Kent|Allington]] on hearing that [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] intended to [[wedding of Mary I of England and Philip of Spain|marry a Catholic]] gathered an army with the [[Wyatt's rebellion|intention of marching on London]]. He took Rochester Castle and the bridge. According to Marsh there was to have been a battle at Strood,{{sfn|Marsh|1976}} but the Queen's men, stationed on Strood Hill, deserted.<ref>Alfred Pollard, [https://archive.org/details/tudortracts00polliala/page/228/mode/2up ''Tudor Tracts'' (London, 1903), pp. 229–230]</ref> However, Coulson records that Wyatt defeated the Duke of Norfolk and seized six cannon. Wyatt then marched on Cooling Castle.{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}} The rebellion fizzled out, and Wyatt was executed, along with the captain of the deserters.

The parish accounts begin on 12 August 1555.  Following the accession and marriage of [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary]] (known as "Bloody" Mary) the country reconverted to Roman Catholicism and a considerable sum was spent re-converting the church.  However just nine years later in 1565 a further five-year period of refurbishment was required to convert the church back to Protestant usage following the accession of Queen [[Elizabeth I]].{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}  The parish registers start from this date.  Possibly mindful of the changes, the churchwardens waited until 1574 before going to St. Dunstan's Fair in Rochester to sell "a cross and other relics of Roman superstition, formerly used in Strood Church".{{sfn|Coulson|Collins|1982}}

{{Quote box
 | quote  =
To the Honour of God.<br />
and for the Benefit of the Poor.<br />
of this Parish, This House was.<br />
Built with Mr. Watt's Charity.<br />
A.D. 1671 in which the Sick and.<br />
Aged are taken care of; ye Ignorant.<br />
instructed, Such as are Able to.<br />
Work Imployed, & a Comfortable.<br />
Maintenance Provided for All..

Go and do Thou Likewise.

''Inscription above Strood workhouse''
 | align  = left
 | qalign = center
}}
In the 1672 the parishes of St. Margaret's, Rochester and St Nicholas, Strood jointly applied to the [[Court of Chancery]] for a ruling which was decided in their favour to extend the area over which [[Richard Watts Charities|Watts charities]] could operate.{{sfn|Hinkley|1979|p=14}}  The parish of Strood utilised some of the money to provide a workhouse for the poor.{{sfn|Hinkley|1979|p=104}}  Above the door was set a stone slab which is now displayed in the Guildhall Museum, Rochester.  The text is reproduced alongside.

In 1769, under authority of the [[Paving, etc., of London Act 1768]], a [[tollgate]] was erected at The Angel Inn on North Street in Strood, to pay for improvements to the parish.  Hasted, in his study of Kent (1778–99), said Strood's inhabitants were chiefly seafaring or fishermen, and engaged in dredging oysters.{{sfn|Hasted|1797|pp=546–560}}

===Nineteenth century===
Between 1804 and 1824 the Thames and Medway canal was dug.  See below, under ''Transport'' for more details.

===Twentieth century===
The ancient City of Rochester merged with the borough of [[Chatham, Medway|Chatham]] and part of the [[Strood Rural District]] in 1974<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cityark.medway.gov.uk/Details/archive/110024803 | title=Medway Council Heritage Services catalogues &#124; Details }}</ref> to form the Borough of Medway, later renamed the City of Rochester-upon-Medway.  In 1998 another merger with the rest of the Medway Towns created the Medway [[unitary authority]].