DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0204
INGRESS ABBEY. 157
aspired to the rank of a watering-place, and with the aids
and appliances of a pier, hotel, and pleasure-gardens, has
endeavoured, and not without success, to intercept a part
of the visitors who flock to Gravesend. A little below
Erith the Darent flows into the Thames. Opposite to
Erith, on the Essex side, is the village of Purfleet, the
repository of ordnance stores and powder magazines. Its
most conspicuous point is the Beacon Cliff, which serves
as a landmark to sailors, and whence a wide prospect is
gained of the river and of the opposite coast. Several
places on this side of the river we have considered it
unnecessary to mention, as of the thousands that sail
down the Thames, the great majority land on the Kentish
side, few, indeed, setting foot on the Essex shores.
Returning into Kent, the church of St. Mary, Stone, a
venerable specimen of ecclesiastical taste, meets the eye.
It is a beautiful structure, consisting of a chancel, a nave,
and side aisles, and has been considered the finest piece
of Gothic architecture in the diocese of Rochester. The
manor of Stone was given to the see of Rochester by
King Ethelred in 1613, and the bishops were accustomed
formerly to live for some months in the year in the
manor-house. The blooming hamlet of Greenhithe, to
which there is a commodious pier, is the next attractive
spot in the panorama of the Thames. Greenhithe is
famous for its immense chalk-pits; the cliffs whence
chalk has been dug presenting in many places perpendi-
cular heights of from one hundred to one hundred and
fifty feet. Close by, and commanding a fine view of the
river, is Ingress Abbey, seated in the centre of a luxuriant
plantation, the seat of Mr. James Harmer, and in the
construction of which some of the stones of old London
Bridge were employed by that gentleman. The original
building that covered this site was a religious house,
called Ince-Grice, belonging to the prioress and nuns of
Dartford. This edifice, at the dissolution, became crown
property, and was converted into a private residence. It
belonged ,to the Earl of Bessborough in 1758, by whom it
aspired to the rank of a watering-place, and with the aids
and appliances of a pier, hotel, and pleasure-gardens, has
endeavoured, and not without success, to intercept a part
of the visitors who flock to Gravesend. A little below
Erith the Darent flows into the Thames. Opposite to
Erith, on the Essex side, is the village of Purfleet, the
repository of ordnance stores and powder magazines. Its
most conspicuous point is the Beacon Cliff, which serves
as a landmark to sailors, and whence a wide prospect is
gained of the river and of the opposite coast. Several
places on this side of the river we have considered it
unnecessary to mention, as of the thousands that sail
down the Thames, the great majority land on the Kentish
side, few, indeed, setting foot on the Essex shores.
Returning into Kent, the church of St. Mary, Stone, a
venerable specimen of ecclesiastical taste, meets the eye.
It is a beautiful structure, consisting of a chancel, a nave,
and side aisles, and has been considered the finest piece
of Gothic architecture in the diocese of Rochester. The
manor of Stone was given to the see of Rochester by
King Ethelred in 1613, and the bishops were accustomed
formerly to live for some months in the year in the
manor-house. The blooming hamlet of Greenhithe, to
which there is a commodious pier, is the next attractive
spot in the panorama of the Thames. Greenhithe is
famous for its immense chalk-pits; the cliffs whence
chalk has been dug presenting in many places perpendi-
cular heights of from one hundred to one hundred and
fifty feet. Close by, and commanding a fine view of the
river, is Ingress Abbey, seated in the centre of a luxuriant
plantation, the seat of Mr. James Harmer, and in the
construction of which some of the stones of old London
Bridge were employed by that gentleman. The original
building that covered this site was a religious house,
called Ince-Grice, belonging to the prioress and nuns of
Dartford. This edifice, at the dissolution, became crown
property, and was converted into a private residence. It
belonged ,to the Earl of Bessborough in 1758, by whom it