Sheerness takes its name from the clearness of the water at the mouth of the River Medway.
To prevent enemy ships from entering the River Medway, King Henry VIII built a fort at a desolate area on the edge of the Isle of Sheppey. In 1666, work commenced on its replacement, a much stronger fort, although it was destroyed by a Dutch raid in 1667, before it could be completed.
Subsequently a naval dockyard was attached as an extension to Chatham. However, due to a shortage of labour the first dry-dock was not completed until 1708. Construction workers were allowed to take materials from the yard provided they could be carried on one shoulder. These materials were used to build dwellings, which were painted using navy grey-blue paint, and became known as the Blue Houses and eventually Bluetown, now the northwest area of Sheerness.
Following a fire at the yard in on 5th September1823, in which many buildings including the blue houses were destroyed, the yard was rebuilt. As a defensive measure, a high brick wall was built surrounded by a moat. As the area outside the yard expanded, it became known as Sheerness, and by the end of the 19th Century had achieved town status and formed a civil parish.
The parish church at Sheerness, was opened on 30th August 1836, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, with a day school being opened in the following year. In 1851, it became a district church and was enlarged. Further alterations were made in 1933.
The Sittingbourne and Sheerness Railway was formed in 1856 to construct a seven mile line from the East Kent Railway station at Sittingbourne to Sheerness, to provide a rail connection to London. Services to a terminus at Sheerness commenced on 19th July 1860. However, the terminus was some half a mile from the town centre, and by 1883, a more convenient station was constructed and named Sheerness-on-Sea, with the terminus being renamed Sheerness Dockyard.
