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 great fire consumed much of Gravesend, also destroying about 110 houses as well as the parish church. Services were transferred to the Town Hall until a new church building (constructed in the Georgian style being part-funded by the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches) was completed in 1731. 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