Brompton

Brompton is an old village near Chatham, in Medway, England. Its name means "a farmstead where broom grows" — broom is a small yellow flowering shrub. Today, Brompton is a small residential village between Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham.

Brompton dates back to the late 17th century, and grew rapidly in the 18th century to accommodate the fast-growing dockyard workforce. It was a deliberately planned settlement, laid out by Thomas Rogers, Esquire, the owner of Westcourt Manor on whose demesne lands it was built. In the 1750s, with the building of the Chatham Lines to defend Chatham Dockyard, the village became completely surrounded by military establishments, limiting its ability to expand much beyond its original plan. When war with France recommenced in 1778, it was necessary to strengthen the dockyard defences. Fort Amherst and the Chatham Lines were improved and extended, and work was later begun on additional perimeter forts in Chatham and Rochester. The Barracks – still in existence today – were built to house the soldiers. This, and the expansion of the dockyard, meant that more homes were needed for the workers. The position of the Chatham Lines meant that eventually building could only happen to the east of the defensive ditch, and so New Brompton came into being. The population rose to 9,000 by 1851.

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