Rainham was first recorded in 811AD, as "Roegingham", believed to mean 'the home of the people living on rough ground', although an alternative has been suggested of 'homestead/village of the Roegingas'
The Church is dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch, who was the Christian daughter of a pagan priest in Antioch, at a time when her religion was forbidden by the Emperor Diocletian. The story says that she was thrown into prison for rejecting the suit of a Roman Prefect. Whilst incarcerated, she was visited by Satan in the form of a dragon. This monster attempted to devour her, but she held onto her crucifix and the monster spat her out. She became a popular saint in the 14th Century, after her story had been brought back from the crusades.
The church was built of stone in the 11th Century, replacing an earlier wooden Saxon building. Additions continued throughout the 12th, 13th and 14th Centuries. The tower is made from Kentish ragstone, mixed with flint, with turret and battlements. Built around 1480, it was once intended to be used as a beacon, connected with a line of other churches from London to the coast.
Rainham station came into use with the initial Chatham to Faversham section of the East Kent Railway's London to Dover route on 25th January 1858, and was known as 'Rainham & Newington' from the outset. On 1st August 1862, a station opened to the east, at Newington, which resulted in the dropping of the '& Newington' suffix from the name boards.
