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,
St George's Church, Gravesend St George's Church, Gravesend St George's Church, Gravesend is a Grade II*-listed Anglican church dedicated to Saint George, which is situated near the foot of Gravesend High Street in the Borough of Gravesham. It serves as Gravesend's parish church and is located in the diocese of Rochester, Kent, England. Gravesend was recorded in the Domesday Book as part of the parish of St Mary the Virgin at Heacham. In 1478, a chapel of ease to St Mary's was licensed by King Edward IV, after three years' public petitioning for a place which "in time to come shall become the parish