Higham, Kent

Higham /ˈhaɪ.əm/ is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. The village lies south-east of Gravesend and just north-west of Strood, in Medway. The civil parish had a population of 3,938 at the 2001 Census, increasing slightly to 3,962 at the 2011 Census. Higham is formally twinned with the Ukrainian villages of Novyi Bilous in the Chernihiv Region of Ukraine. A Roman grave and artefacts have been found at the north end of the village. The priory dedicated to St. Mary was built on land granted by Queen Matilda for the benefit of her veiled daughter, Mary. In 1148, the nuns of St Sulphice-la-Foret, Brittany, moved to Higham. Higham Priory was also known as Lillechurch. On 6 July 1227, King Henry III confirmed the royal grant to the abbey of St. Mary and St. Sulpice of Lillechurch. The original parish church, the Church of St Mary, was built in the 13th and 14th centuries and stands to the north of the present village, in the hamlet of Church Street.