Gillingham is a sprawl of barracks, hospitals and nondescript houses with nothing much to stop it as it spreads along the dead straight line of the A2. It continues uninterruped to Rainham where suddenly a monumental church tower juts up south of the main road, like an old oak among a mass of scrub. It has a lop-sided ruggedness, emphasized by the ancient roof timbers and kingposts.

 

East of the church is a reminder of the open country beyond in a string of oasthouses end on to the road.