How old is my house?

I am often asked by people who want to find out how old their house is. There are several methods depending on the approximate age of your property.

In the Medway Towns there are books called Kelly's directory that are held at local libraries. These detail all the properties and owners in particular areas and can show when new houses appear in the records. For example many houses around Maidstone Road in Rainham sprung up in the late 1920s and early 1930s and can be seen from the volumes of Kelly's Directory from each year.

If you property is much older than this then parish records or census returns could be a good starting point. For newer properties local councils may hold records that show when the house was built.

If you have any more suggestions for ways to determine how old your house is then please leave them as comments.

The Lord Stanley Pub, Upchurch

I received this email today which I hope follow up very soon.

A friend of our's contacted me about The Lord Stanley.

Well we bought 'The Lord Stanley Bungalow ' March1996 I was asked when The Public House got burnt down, we are not sure as when we bought The bungalow it was all under probate so it was difficult to find out all about it. I'm not sure if you are interested but we have the deeds from 1865 ? you are most welcome to look at them. This was when it was bought by Barnes, my sister-in-laws Parents lived in Horsham Lane and she can remember going to Barnes' shop, my husbands parents had a fish round and he can remember as a small boy buying sweets from the shop while helping on the fish round with his Step mother. We have a photo taken in 1965 of The Pub and land, it was taken by a photographer in a Tiger Moth flying over head.

Picture Book of Old Rainham - Issue 3 Now Available

A new Picture Book of Old Rainham is now available. Click on the Amazon link below to order for delivery worldwide.


This book follows on from Volume 1 and 2 of the Picture Book of Old Rainham which are now out of print.

Feedback on Rainham History

Thanks for all the feedback and comments on the site, it is much appreciated and makes the effort of maintaining it all worthwhile.

History of Rainham, Photos and Tales of Bygone Times in Kent

The Rainham History site originally started out as a personal project in 2000 so ten years on it is quite an amount of work that has gone into it. I know some of the local schools are using the site for project work which is very gratifying.

Lipton Shop - High Street Rainham Kent, 1920s

I have attached a photo of a shop that I believe was located in HighSt Rainham in the 1920's. The person in the middle was my father Percy Jacobs who was born in Rainham, I think at High street. My grandfather was born in Upchurch he was a shepherd, I think it was at Greenboro' Marsh. In fact all of the Jacobs family was born, married and died in and around Rainham. I know that William Jacobs born 1791 was born in the are, probably Upchurch and his father Edward Jacobs born 1765 was I believe born in Rainham. I have done some research using Ancestry. com but now I am trying any other avenue to see what I can unearth. I am also looking back at the maternal family line which also springs from Rainham, the Hawks being one.

"The Rose" Public House, Rainham, Kent

I received this message today about the "The Rose" Public House, Rainham, Kent

I recognise the pub, but when I lived in Rainham as a boy (1930-38) it was a ‘farmer’s pub’ where all the local farm labourers drank – sawdust on the floor ! I was born in one of the last houses in Rainham on the way out to Sittingbourne – ‘Rosebank’, No. 7 Moor St., and was baptised in the chapel across the road next to the Rose – it’s offices now. The A2 then was the main road to the coast and we kids used to sit outside the house on summer evenings watching the charabancs and cars, red London buses, and the steam lorries from the brewery going past.
I went to the school by the railway – was it in Orchard St?- but didn’t realise until I was much older just how good a school it was under Mr. Pitcher, the headmaster. Well ahead of its time with radio, a lot of music, and games in the Rainham ‘rec.’ under the railway bridge. The place has changed a lot.
Regards – Arthur Johnson.

Rainham Snow

Although we have had snow this week in Rainham the quantity has been nothing like that seen in January 1987. Some parts of Kent this week had up to 20 cm (8 inches) yet in 1987 the recorded amount of snow locally was 22 inches (55 cm) of snow over 2 nights from 12 to 13 January.

Parts of the area were cut off and near Lenham a train was stuck in a snowdrift for over a week before being dug out. You can see more photos and information about this on the snow page of the website