Gravesend was granted, allowing the men of the town to operate boats between London and the town; these became known as the "Long Ferry". It became the preferred form of passage, because of the perils of road travel (see below). On Gravesend's river front are the remains of a Tudor fort built by command of King Henry VIII in 1543. On 21 March 1617, John Rolfe and Rebecca (aka Princess Pocahontas) with their two-year-old son, Thomas, boarded a ship in London bound for the Commonwealth of Virginia; the ship had only sailed as far as Gravesend before Rebecca fell fatally ill,
Gravesend railway station Gravesend railway station Gravesend railway station serves the town of Gravesend in north Kent, England. It is down the line from . Train services are operated by Southeastern. As of the Christmas period 2013 a major overhaul of the lines and platforms changed the four line, two platform layout into a three line, three platform layout. The first railway to arrive in Gravesend was the "Gravesend & Rochester Railway" (G&RR) who had purchased the Thames and Medway Canal and its tunnel between Strood and Higham. The G&RR ran the first train to the then terminus at Gravesend (adjacent to the