Vanished Livelihoods: Halling Ferry...

Peters Bridge

Even though it only opened in September 2016, Peters Bridge (which crosses the River Medway between Wouldham and Halling) is already very much taken for granted.

Prior to that, pedestrians or motorists from the Halling or Cuxton area had to cross the Medway over the M2 bridge, or use the bridge at Aylesford. Before that, the old A2 bridge at Rochester would have represented the nearest river crossing to the communities of Halling, Cuxton and Wouldham: communities separated by only fifty yards of river and yet miles away from each other by road!

As far back as the 16^th century, the lack of a bridge between Wouldham and Halling was lamented.  As William Lambarde wrote at the time in his Perambulation of Kent: “And now, for want of a bridge at Halling, we may use the ferry and touch at Wouldham”.

Halling Ferry, c.1920, as seen from the Wouldham side...

Different sets of local government officials met several times over the years (in 1876, 1892 and 1909) to consider a bridge across the river at Halling, but nothing ever came of such discussions.

However, for 800 years, travellers between these villages had the option of crossing the river by boat, using the ferry crossing which ran from the riverside at the Bishops Palace at the bottom of Ferry Road in Halling, across to the bottom of Ferry Lane in Wouldham. 

The Halling ferry almost certainly began with the advent of the Bishop’s Palace and nearby Halling Manor (latterly Manor Farm House, still there on the High Street) which were built in the 12th. century.

"View Of The Medway", painted by Francis Wheatley, 1776, showing the ferry and the ruins of the Bishops Palace.

The ferry was part of the surrounding lands owned by the Bishop of Rochester until 1551, when Bishop Scory leased the Manor and its lands to a Robert Deane, whose daughter Sylvestre married William Dalison. The Dalison family held the lands (and presumably responsibility for the ferry) until the middle of the 19th. century, when the riverside area became the property of the Hilton and Anderson cement company.

Since 1898, the Halling ferry was operated by the Stevens family, whose involvement began as a result of an appalling accident.

Two men - one of them Uriah Stevens - were working in a kiln at Anderson's Cement Factory when it collapsed on them. They were taken to hospital by horse drawn ambulance. Mr Stevens, then aged 46, had one of his legs amputated. His face and an arm had also been badly damaged.

Ferry Cottage, c.1930...

Mr Anderson, the factory owner, personally informed Stevens' wife, Hannah, of the accident, at their home in the Old Parsonage, Wouldham.

Once he learned that they were a family of 10 children, who would be forced into a workhouse (the Strood Union most likely: the local Halling workhouse at the Bishops Palace had closed in 1835...) unless something was done, he gave Mrs Stevens £50 to tide the family through. (I wonder how many of today’s employers would voluntarily take such trouble and care over their employees and their families?).

Against all expectations, Mr Stevens recovered from his injuries but could no longer work at the factory. Mr Anderson therefore gave him the ancient Halling Ferry business in perpetuity, and also set him up with a small chandlery catering for the numerous barges that plied the River Medway at the time.

The ferry was operated by Mr Stevens' sons, assisted by their remarkable young sister Mabel. With the advent of the First World War, the sons signed up for their patriotic duty and Mabel, just 16, was left to run the ferry.

It was a hard life for a young girl. Mabel often had to get up at 4.00 am to row cement workers across to their factories, with the ferry remaining open until 10.00 pm at night.  (More tales of the redoubtable Mabel Stevens here).

The ferry operation was suspended during the Second World War as a result of a temporary military bridge being built across the river, from the bottom of Marsh Road in Halling over to All Saints Church at Wouldham. 

Temporary bridge being built, from Wouldham to Halling, 1941...

Land had been purchased on both the Wouldham and Halling side of the riverside in around 1865 so that the army could hold summer bridging camps, which they did for many years.

Bridge-building exercise at Wouldham, WW1...

During World War II, the armed forces were trained for the building of bridges which would take place during the Normandy landings. Along with our own armed forces, American army soldiers also came over to learn how to build the bridges.

The WW2 military bridge ("Hamilton bridge") across the Medway between Halling and Wouldham...

Local residents tried to get the Hamilton bridge of 1941 left in place, but the district council would not pay for the maintenance. Industrial users of the river also claimed that their barges could not pass underneath during high tide and so, to much local disappointment, the bridge was removed in 1946.

The Stevens family had also operated local ferries at Snodland and at New Hythe, but these both closed in 1948. 

Ron Stevens, c.1960

Operation of the Halling ferry resumed once the Hamilton bridge was taken down, with a census in 1955 showing that around 300 people a day were using it. 

The Halling ferry continued to run until 1964, when its last ferryman, Ron Stevens, finally called it a day and took a job at the nearby Aylesford paper mills. 

Up until then, Mr. Stevens had been running the ferry for 18 hours a day, seven days a week for £8-15s, a poor weekly wage even by 1960’s standards. By then, the M2 motorway bridge had opened (on May 29th, 1963) which had a pedestrian path.  

People were also beginning to be able to afford private motor cars, reducing the need for the ferry.

At the time though, the loss of the ferry still greatly inconvenienced the local community. 

Mr. Stevens at work, October 1962. Price for the crossing was 6d.

It was to be another 52 years before a bridge finally linked Halling to Wouldham. 

The abandoned Ferry Cottage and the Chandlery, 1972 (now both demolished).

The £19 million Peters Bridge opened on 15 September 2016, being constructed by developer Trenport to facilitate the building of a new housing estate of over 1000 dwellings on the site of the old Peters cement works at Wouldham.

Construction of Peters Bridge, 2015 (picture by Clare French)...

Construction of Peters Bridge, 2015 (picture by Clare French).

References:

Across the Low Meadow: A History of Halling in Kent, by Edward Gowers and Derek Church (1979)

The Kent Messenger (1964)

Wouldham Village History – web page (link here)