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Wigmore is a suburb/village in the southeast of the Medway conurbation in Kent, England. It is broadly bounded by the A278 road to the west, Rainham to the north and the M2 motorway to the south.

Wigmore
The post-war St Matthew's Church
Wigmore Location within Kent
District	Medway
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
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	Gillingham and Rainham
List of places UK England Kent 51.356°N 0.595°E / 51.356; 0.595

History

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 village 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.

Amenities

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 a fully suburbanised village within south Gillingham, the area has a community primary school,[7] medical centre,[8] and local football team, Wigmore Youth F.C.[9]

Transport

Arriva bus 132 runs between Wigmore, Rainham and Chatham.

References in popular culture

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]

References

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