Rainham, Kent

Historically, Rainham was a separate village. In 1921 the civil parish had a population of 4335. On 1 April 1929 the parish was abolished and merged with Gillingham and became part of the Municipal Borough of Gillingham, which was originally created in 1903 and was grouped with the latter's built-up area in analysis of the 2011 census by the Office for National Statistics. It became part of the Medway authority when Gillingham was incorporated with the other towns to form Medway Unitary Authority in 1998. Rainham is now one of the five distinct towns of Medway, alongside Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Strood.

The Riverside Country Park, which fronts on to the river Medway at Rainham Creek, includes the promontory of Horrid Hill. Berengrave Local Nature Reserve (a disused chalk pit) is located on the Lower Rainham Road. There are also a number of parks and recreational grounds around Rainham.