Kemsley

Kemsley, once a separate village, is now a suburb of Sittingbourne in Kent, England.

Kemsley
Village hall, Kemsley
Kemsley Location within Kent
Population	6,100 (2005)[1] 7,621 (2011)[2]
OS grid reference	TQ905660
District	Swale
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sittingbourne
Postcode district	ME10
Police	Kent
Fire	Kent
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Sittingbourne and Sheppey
List of places UK England Kent 51.36°N 0.74°E / 51.36; 0.74

According to Asserius Menevensis in his contemporary survey, the Danes built a fortress or castle here in 893 at a place called 'Kemsley downe'. This later became 'Castle Rough'.^[3]

At the end of the 19th century, the site of the village was simply a row of cottages beside a brick works,^[4] located close to the remains of the medieval fortified manor house Castle Rough.

Kemsley Paper Mill

In 1924, with expansion impossible at the old Sittingbourne Paper Mills, owner Edward Lloyd built the new Kemsley Paper Mill, which served by a creek allowed the direct importation of raw materials to the site. At the same time he built a garden village to house his employees, the core of which comprises the modern day Kemsley village. The narrow gauge industrial railway which served the factory is now the preserved Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway, a tourist attraction. Kemsley railway station is on the Sheerness Line.