Wigmore, Kent

Wigmore is a suburb /village in the Unitary Authority of Medway, in Kent, England. HistoryThe placename is attested in 1275 as Wydemere, from an Old English *wīd-mere "broad pool". 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, and began to be developed as a village from 1906 when the 365-acre Wigmore agricultural estate was partitioned and sold as plots, initially as smallholdings (hence the local “Smallholders Club”) and rural shanties for Medway families. The first local church - St Matthews - dates back to 1925; a prefab Evangelical church was opened later on. Now a fully suburbanised village within south Gillingham, the area has a community primary school, medical centre, and local football team, Wigmore Youth F. C. References in popular cultureRock bands associated with the locality-championing Medway scene have referenced Wigmore; The Buff Medways in the song "Medway Wheelers" (2005) and the Len Price 3 with "Wigmore Swingers" (2014).

Wigmore is a suburb /village in the Unitary Authority of Medway, in Kent, England. HistoryThe placename is attested in 1275 as Wydemere, from an Old English *wīd-mere "broad pool". 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, and began to be developed as a village from 1906 when the 365-acre Wigmore agricultural estate was partitioned and sold as plots, initially as smallholdings (hence the local “Smallholders Club”) and rural shanties for Medway families. The first local church - St Matthews - dates back to 1925; a prefab Evangelical church was opened later on. Now a fully suburbanised village within south Gillingham, the area has a community primary school, medical centre, and local football team, Wigmore Youth F. C. References in popular cultureRock bands associated with the locality-championing Medway scene have referenced Wigmore; The Buff Medways in the song "Medway Wheelers" (2005) and the Len Price 3 with "Wigmore Swingers" (2014).