sittingbourne

Sittingbourne owes its name to a modernised version of an observation on its location. The town's name came from the fact that there is a small stream or "bourne" running underground in part of the town. Hasted writing in the 1790s in his History of Kent states that:{{cite web|url=http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/Name%20Sittingbourne.htm|title=The name Sittingbourne|publisher=Sittingbourne Heritage Museum|access-date=8 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310035627/http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/Name%20Sittingbourne.htm|archive-date=10 March 2009|df=dmy-all}}

{{cquote|Sittingbourne was anciently written Sedingbourne, in Saxon, Saedingburga, i.e. the hamlet by the bourne or small stream.}}

The Kent Hundred Rolls of 1274–75, preserved in the National Archives, record Sittingbourne as Sydingeburn in the following entries "

Item dicunt quod Johannes Maresescall de Synele tenet unam parvam purpresturam in villa de Sydingeburn et solvit domino regi per annum 1d et dominus rex nichil perdit et quod Petrus de London tenet unam parvam purpresturam in villa de Sydingeburn et solvit inde per annum domino regi 1d et rex nichil perdit." Translated as, "Then they say John Marshall de Synele holds one small encroachment in the vill of Sittingbourne and he pays the lord king 1d. each year and the lord king loses nothing and that Peter of London holds one small encroachment in the vill of Sittingbourne and he pays 1d. each year to the lord king and the king loses nothing."{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Bridgett|title=Kent Hundred Rolls Project|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/khrp/hrproject.pdf|website=Kent Archaeology Society|access-date=18 September 2015|pages=73, 74|date=2007|archive-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192253/http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/khrp/hrproject.pdf|url-status=live}}

In 1921, the civil parish had a population of 9339.{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10226302/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Sittingbourne AP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=29 September 2023}} On 31 March 1930 the parish was abolished to form "Sittingbourne and Milton", part also went to Tunstall.{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10226302|title=Relationships and changes Sittingbourne AP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=29 September 2023}}

File:Copper age grave group stone wristguard copper dagger bone belt fitting sittingbourne british museum.JPG grave group dating from 2500 to 2100 BC, found at Sittingbourne]]

{{main|Roman Britain}}

There is evidence of settlement in the area before 2000 BC, with farming and trading tribes living inland to avoid attack, yet close enough to access the sea at Milton Creek. In AD 43, the Romans invaded Kent,{{cite web|author1=Alan Abbey|title=Where did the Romans land in AD 43?|url=http://www.hrgs.co.uk/index.php/local-history-articles-and-transcriptions/32-where-did-the-romans-land-in-ad-43|website=Historical Research Group of Sittingbourne|publisher=HRGS|access-date=18 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304075804/http://www.hrgs.co.uk/index.php/local-history-articles-and-transcriptions/32-where-did-the-romans-land-in-ad-43|archive-date=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}} and to make access quicker between London and Dover, built Watling Street, which passed straight through Sittingbourne. As a point where sea access met road access, the port of Milton Regis became the Roman administrative centre for the area, with some 20 villas so far discovered, but Sittingbourne remained a minor hamlet throughout Roman times.{{cite web|url=http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/Romans.htm|title=The Romans in Sittingbourne|publisher=Sittingbourne Heritage Museum|access-date=8 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513000745/http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/Romans.htm|archive-date=13 May 2010|df=dmy-all}}

Most Roman finds in this area were due to the efforts of 19th-century brick makers who used topsoil to make bricks, and uncovered the finds; and preserved thanks to banker George Payne, who preserved or bought materials and published his works in 1893 in Collectanea Cantiana.{{cite book|author=George Payne|title=Collectanea Cantiana: Or, Archaeological Researches in the Neighbourhood of Sittingbourne, and Other Parts of Kent ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8WUWAAAAYAAJ|access-date=18 September 2015|year=1893|publisher=Mitchell Hughes|archive-date=29 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429004335/https://books.google.com/books?id=8WUWAAAAYAAJ|url-status=live}}

File:The Red Lion Public House, Sittingbourne - geograph.org.uk - 1426194.jpg

There was no entry for Sittingbourne in the Domesday Book of 1086, merely a note attached to Milton Regis showing a population of 393 households.{{cite web |title=Place Milton (Regis) |url=http://opendomesday.org/place/TQ9065/milton-regis/ |website=Open Domesday |publisher=Anna Powell-Smith |access-date=17 August 2015 |archive-date=1 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601034443/http://opendomesday.org/place/TQ9065/milton-regis/ |url-status=live }} However, after the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket in 1170, pilgrims began to travel to Canterbury Cathedral and Sittingbourne became a useful hostelry for travellers. Sittingbourne is mentioned as a stopping point in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, with the Summoner in "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" saying:{{cite book |first1=Geoffrey |last1=Chaucer |first2=Larry Dean |last2=Benson |title=The Riverside Chaucer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4DXD7Sk7WcC&pg=PA116 |access-date=21 August 2015 |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-955209-2 |pages=116– |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819041843/https://books.google.com/books?id=E4DXD7Sk7WcC&pg=PA116 |url-status=live }}

{{cquote|But if I telle tales two or thre / Of freres er I come to Sidyngborne / That I shal make thyn herte for to morne}}

The parish church of St Michael was built in the 13th century. At that time, the High Street had 13 pubs and hostels. The Lyon – now the Red Lion – hosted King Henry V of England on his way back from the Battle of Agincourt, and Henry VIII visited Sittingbourne in 1522 and 1532.{{cite web|url=http://www.theredlion-inn.co.uk/history.htm|title=Our History|publisher=The Red Lion, Sittingbourne|access-date=10 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119082517/http://www.theredlion-inn.co.uk/history.htm|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} In 1708, the Rose Inn was built, originally called Rose Place and used as a private house. According to Edward Hasted "the principal inn now in it (Sittingbourne), called the Rose, is perhaps the most superb of any throughout the kingdom."{{cite book |first=Alan |last=Everitt |title=Landscape and Community in England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9z_NHMjJ9hoC&pg=PA161 |year=1985 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-2041-1 |pages=161– |access-date=13 October 2016 |archive-date=18 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818214123/https://books.google.com/books?id=9z_NHMjJ9hoC&pg=PA161 |url-status=live }} In 1825 the future Queen Victoria and her mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld stayed overnight at the Rose Inn.{{cite web |title=A brief history of Sittingbourne |url=http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/OurTown.htm |publisher=Sittingbourne Museum |access-date=14 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803035041/http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/OurTown.htm |archive-date=3 August 2013 |df=dmy-all }}

After the railway came in 1858,{{cite web|title=Sittingbourne Rail|url=http://kentrail.org.uk/Sittingbourne.htm|website=Kent Rail|publisher=David Glasspool|access-date=28 July 2015|archive-date=18 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318235627/http://www.kentrail.org.uk/Sittingbourne.htm|url-status=live}} Sittingbourne became less a market trading and hostelry stop-off, and more a 19th-century centre of production to fuel the expansion of London, by producing bricks and paper from its clay substrata.{{cite web|last1=Clancy|first1=John|title=Sittingbourne The Industrial Revolution|url=http://www.sittingbourne.me/history/history-of-sittingbourne/industrial-revolution|website=Sittingbourne.Me|publisher=Hudson Berkley Reinhart Ltd|access-date=28 July 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072439/http://www.sittingbourne.me/history/history-of-sittingbourne/industrial-revolution|url-status=live}}

The area around Sittingbourne was subject to constant air raids by Zeppelins and aeroplanes during the First World War. The Germans used the town as a reference point for bearings on the way to London.

The first visit by a German aeroplane happened on Christmas Day 1914.{{cite web|title=25th December 1914 Kent|url=http://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/25th-december/4585835647|website=Zeppeline Raids Britains First Blitz 1914-1918|access-date=21 August 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032202/http://www.iancastlezeppelin.co.uk/25th-december/4585835647|url-status=live}} Guns at Sheerness fired at the lone invader but still one shell dropped into a field at Iwade. The next event was to occur on 16 January 1915 when another solitary pilot from a German aerodrome in Belgium bombed Sittingbourne. This aircraft, a Taube, was pursued by two local airmen, but managed to escape after dropping a couple of bombs.

About 100 air-raid warnings were sounded in Sittingbourne during the First World War and anti-aircraft batteries were strengthened in 1917. The last big raid to pass over the town on Whit Sunday (19 May 1918), carried out by a number of Gothas, eliciting perhaps the most ferocious barrage from the ground defences the town had ever seen.{{cite book|author1=Raymond H. Fredette|author2=Hanson W. Baldwin|author3=Tom D. Crouch|title=The Sky on Fire: The First Battle of Britain, 1917-1918|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EPbAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA253|access-date=25 August 2015|date=8 January 2006|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-5347-6|pages=253–254|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818185120/https://books.google.com/books?id=7EPbAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA253|url-status=live}}

The local newspaper, the East Kent Gazette, reported:

:"The first of these duels occurred about an hour after the raid had been in progress, and probably this machine was caught while on its way to London. It was engaged by a daring aviation officer while at a great height. The British airman attacked his opponent so fiercely that the German was forced down to a lower height, and ultimately, to the joy of the onlookers, the Gotha burst into flames, seemed to break in two and came down piecemeal, all aflame. The wrecked machine and the three occupants fell by a farm. Two of the Germans fell into marshy ground and their bodies were deeply embedded in the mud. The third man's head struck a wall and was shattered like an eggshell. All three bodies were removed to a local aviation establishment. The fall of the burning Gotha was seen for miles around."

The second Gotha was surrounded by British fighters shortly after, returning from a successful raid on London.

Donald John Dean VC OBE of Sittingbourne was awarded the Victoria Cross for deeds carried out in France in 1918. His ashes are interred in the family plot at St John the Baptist Church, Tunstall, Kent.{{cite web|title=Donald J Dean VC|url=http://www.victoriacrossonline.co.uk/donald-j-dean-vc/4586511582|website=Victoria Cross Online|access-date=29 July 2015|archive-date=4 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804021042/http://www.victoriacrossonline.co.uk/donald-j-dean-vc/4586511582|url-status=live}}

As a result of the number of soldiers blinded during the war, the Kent Association for the Blind was formed in Sittingbourne in 1920.{{cite web|title=Kent Coast in WWI|url=https://fwwkentmedway.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/screen-south-kent-coast-in-ww1-presentation-nov-2013.pdf|website=Screen South|access-date=2 September 2015|page=6|date=2013|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211925/https://fwwkentmedway.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/screen-south-kent-coast-in-ww1-presentation-nov-2013.pdf|url-status=live}}

The local clay was suitable for making bricks, and North Kent is geologically rich in chalk, which is not found in many other places in Europe in such abundance. This led to the development associated industries: water transport, paper, and cement; all of which continue today in the area.

In 1870, up to 2,628 men were working in the brick and tile industry, this is compared to Staffordshire (the next largest brick manufacturing area) that had only 1,566 men working in the industry.Alan Armstrong (Editor) {{google books|9GEgTy8r6OAC|The Economy of Kent, 1640-1914|page=163}} Brickmaking continued in the town well into the mid twentieth century. The bricks for the {{convert|3.45|mi|m|adj=on}} London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct were all made at Sittingbourne and transported to the site by barge.{{Cite book| last=Turner| first=J.T. Howard| year=1977 | title=The London Brighton and South Coast Railway: Part 1. Origins and formation| publisher=Batsford|page=41|isbn= 0-7134-0275-X}}

{{anchor|Dolphin Yard Sailing Barge Museum}}

File:Dolphin Yard Sailing Barge Museum, Sittingbourne - geograph.org.uk - 1214.jpg

Barges were needed to move many other raw materials and finished goods into the Thames and to London and beyond. Sittingbourne was ideally suited for this purpose and a successful barge-building industry developed at Milton Creek.

Sittingbourne developed into a port during the Industrial Revolution, from which Kentish produce was transported to the London markets. During this era over 500 types of barges are believed to have been built, centred around Conyer, a Roman hamlet of the village of Teynham, found at the head of a small creek between Sittingbourne and Faversham.{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesbarge.org.uk/barges/charter/dolphinmilton.html |title=Dolphin Yard and Milton Creek |publisher=Thamesbarge.org.uk |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927145042/http://www.thamesbarge.org.uk/barges/charter/dolphinmilton.html |archive-date=27 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

After World War II, these activities began to fall into a decline, so that only the Burley yard continued with the repair of barges until about 1965.

Charles Burley was a brick maker and barge owner who occupied the yard in Crown Quay Lane, which is now occupied by a builders' merchant.{{cite web|title=Local History Study Group|url=http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/studygroup.htm|publisher=Sittingbourne Museum|access-date=14 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116080038/http://www.sittingbourne-museum.co.uk/studygroup.htm|archive-date=16 January 2014|df=dmy-all}}

This lack of barge repairs led the creek to become silted and derelict. In 1968, the site was owned by Bourncrete Limited, manufacturers of concrete products.

The yard was then leased to the newly established Dolphin Sailing Barge Museum Trust.

The inlet alongside the Museum usually contains at least one vessel brought to the yard for restoration, including the famous sailing barge Cambria.{{cite web |url=http://www.thamesbarge.org.uk/barges/charter/cambriadetails.html#done |title=The famous Sailing Barge Cambria |publisher=Thamesbarge.org.uk |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927145031/http://www.thamesbarge.org.uk/barges/charter/cambriadetails.html#done |archive-date=27 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

The town's links with water transport survive today, through a bronze statue of a bargeman in the town centre.

The Dolphin Sailing Barge Museum was destroyed by arson in 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.msep.org.uk/news-article.php?news_id=17 |title=Sailing Barge Museum suspected arson attack |publisher=Msep.org.uk |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123161940/http://www.msep.org.uk/news-article.php?news_id=17 |archive-date=23 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web |last=Jarrett |first=Ian |url=http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Sittingbourne-museum-destroyed-blaze/story-12009968-detail/story.html |title=Sittingbourne sailing barge museum destroyed in blaze |publisher=This is Kent |date=27 October 2008 |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105075438/http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Sittingbourne-museum-destroyed-blaze/story-12009968-detail/story.html |archive-date=5 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}

The museum is now awaiting relocation to a new site{{cite web |last=White |first=Joe |url=http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Barge-museum-rise-ashes/story-11983663-detail/story.html |title=Barge museum will rise from ashes |publisher=This is Kent |date=29 October 2008 |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105090833/http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Barge-museum-rise-ashes/story-11983663-detail/story.html |archive-date=5 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}

Plans to move to Whitstable Harbour were refused in 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.whitstablepeople.co.uk/news/Barge-museum-horizon/story-10090983-detail/story.html |title=Barge museum on the horizon |publisher=Whitstable People |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124194521/http://www.whitstablepeople.co.uk/news/Barge-museum-horizon/story-10090983-detail/story.html |archive-date=24 January 2012 |df=dmy-all }}{{cite news|last1=Crudgington|first1=Liz|title=It's a no to £300k plan for Dolphin Sailing Barge Museum|url=http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/s-pound-300k-plan-dolphin-sailing-barge-museum/story-18156197-detail/story.html|access-date=4 August 2016|work=Canterbury Times|date=15 February 2013}}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Paper mills and brickfields were fed by barges that brought in sand, mud and household waste such as cinders for brick making, and took away the finished product on the return journey.

Paper manufacture started in Sittingbourne in 1708, when Peter Archer was recorded as a Paper Maker. Sittingbourne Mill existed from circa 1769, which by 1820 had grown and was owned by Edward Smith. The Daily Chronicle owner Edward Lloyd bought the site in 1863. Using pulped straw from the local farmers and esparto (imported from Algeria and Southern Spain) as a replacement for expensive cotton rag which was becoming more expensive; the output supplied newsprint for his mills in Bow.{{cite web|url=http://sittingbournemill.co.uk/sittingbournemill/history.php|title=Sittingburne Mill - History|publisher=Sittingbourne Mill|access-date=8 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827085529/http://sittingbournemill.co.uk/sittingbournemill/history.php|archive-date=27 August 2011|df=dmy-all}}

To speed production, in 1904 Lloyd's son built a wharf on the tidal inlet at Milton Creek in 1904;a horse-drawn tramway to carry materials to the mill was also built. On what is now known as the Sittingbourne & Kemsley Light Railway, in 1906 the first of three steam locomotives, Premier, came into service, all 0-4-2 Brazil type tank engines sourced from Kerr Stuart. In 1913 the railway was extended to the new dock built at Ridham. In 1912, Sittingbourne Paper Mill was the largest producer of newsprint in the world, with its 1,200 employees using 17 machines to make over 2000 tonnes per week, supplying the demands of Fleet Street.

In 1924, Lloyd's son built a new factory at Kemsley, together with a model village for employees. He died in 1936, when the Lloyd group was taken over by Sir William Berry, who in 1936 formed the Bowater-Lloyd Group. After both plants were acquired by Metsa Serla in 1998, the decision was made to close the Sittingbourne Mill in October 2006, with the last reel produced on 23 January 2007.

Sittingbourne and the surrounding area have a number of primary schools.[https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/education-and-learning/school-education/finding%20the%20right%20school/Admissions/adm-prim-canterburyswale-11.pdf Admission to primary school in Kent, 2011: Canterbury and Swale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321071822/https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/education-and-learning/school-education/finding%20the%20right%20school/Admissions/adm-prim-canterburyswale-11.pdf |date=21 March 2012 }}, Kent County Council, 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2011. The main secondary schools in the town are Fulston Manor School, The Sittingbourne School, The Westlands School and two single sex Grammar Schools, Borden Grammar School (Boys) and Highsted Grammar School (Girls).[https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/education-and-learning/school-education/applying-for-school/19441%20Admission%20to%20Secondary%20School.pdf Admissin to secondary school in Kent, 2011] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321071915/https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/education-and-learning/school-education/applying-for-school/19441%20Admission%20to%20Secondary%20School.pdf |date=21 March 2012 }}, Kent County Council, 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2011. Pupils wishing to apply for a year 7 place at grammar school have to take the Kent Test (11+) to assess if grammar school is a suitable option for them.{{cite web|title=Kent Test|url=http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test|website=kent.gov.uk|publisher=Kent County Council|access-date=18 September 2015|archive-date=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910190020/http://www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/schools/school-places/kent-test|url-status=live}}

Sittingbourne Adult Education Centre provides some post-16 and adult training in the town and there is an Adult Skills centre located in the town centre.[http://www.kentadulteducation.co.uk/about-us/where-to-find-us/swale.aspx Sittingbourne Adult Education Centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008061004/http://www.kentadulteducation.co.uk/about-us/where-to-find-us/swale.aspx |date=8 October 2011 }}, Kent Adult Education. Retrieved 26 April 2011.[http://www.kentadulteducation.co.uk/pages/common/KentAdultEducation.aspx?pg=2206 Skills Plus in the Forum, Sittingbourne] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008061017/http://www.kentadulteducation.co.uk/pages/common/KentAdultEducation.aspx?pg=2206 |date=8 October 2011 }}, Kent Adult Education. Retrieved 26 April 2011. In May 2015 a post-16 technical college opened in the town.{{cite web|title=New post-16 Technical College comes to Sittingbourne|url=http://www.swaleskillscentre.co.uk/new-post-16-technical-college-comes-sittingbourne/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807074916/http://www.swaleskillscentre.co.uk/new-post-16-technical-college-comes-sittingbourne/|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 August 2020|website=Swale Skills Centre|access-date=19 October 2015|date=14 May 2015}}

File:Sittingbourne station - east end - geograph.org.uk - 1108230.jpg unit at Sittingbourne railway station.]]

The town is served by Sittingbourne railway station which is located approximately 44 miles from {{stn|London Victoria}} and located on the Chatham Main Line, close to the junction where it meets the Sheerness Line.{{cite web|url=https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/more-travel-help/station-information/stations/sittingbourne|title=Sittingbourne Station Information|work=Southeastern|access-date=12 February 2023}} Opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1858, the station is now managed by Southeastern who operate all services. The station is served by regular mainline and high speed services to {{stn|London Victoria}}, London St Pancras International (via High Speed 1), The Medway Towns, Canterbury, Dover and Ramsgate as well as by an hourly shuttle service to {{stnlnk|Sheerness-on-Sea}}.{{cite web|url=https://timetables.southeasternrailway.co.uk/#/timetables/1693/Table%202|title=Train times from Sittingbourne station|work=Southeastern|access-date=3 February 2023}}

Most bus services in Sittingbourne are provided by Chalkwell Coaches who operate services 326, 327, 347 and 349 to Chatham, Gillingham, Rainham, Upchurch, Newington, Kemsley and Murston.{{cite web|url=https://chalkwell.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Swale-Route-Map-2023.jpg|title=Swale Buses Network|work=Chalkwell Coaches|access-date=12 February 2023}} Sittingbourne is also served by the Arriva Southern Counties route 334 to Maidstone, Iwade, Minster and Sheerness and by the Stagecoach South East route X3 to Maidstone, Teynham, Faversham and Canterbury.{{cite web|url=https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/find-a-service/334-maidstone-to-sheerness?gclid=CjwKCAiAuaKfBhBtEiwAht6H73oaiun-m_OzSuWlvijYxkQEEE0rHGDSw1KKgeqZXt5LaDBNplZBlxoChCYQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds|title=Route 334: Maidstone to Sheerness|work=Arriva Southern Counties|access-date=3 February 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/south-east/3/canterbury-maidstone/xfbo003.o&ved=2ahUKEwjysYjM5ZD9AhUHhlwKHe-jBK8QFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0XLAPzGhgtrKg51d4Z0YEO|title=Route X3: Maidstone to Canterbury|work=Stagecoach South East|access-date=12 February 2023}} The towns bus services all serve Sittingbourne Bus Hub which opened in 2019.Arriva https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/kent-and-surrey/updates/sittingbourne-bus-hub-to-open-from-14th-october-2019/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016135709/https://www.arrivabus.co.uk/kent-and-surrey/updates/sittingbourne-bus-hub-to-open-from-14th-october-2019/ |date=16 October 2019 }}

Sittingbourne is geographically located midway between the major port of Dover and London. The first significant transport connection to the town was the Roman construction of Watling Street, now the A2 main road. The M2 motorway bypasses the town to the south. The A249 passes the town on the west, heading between Maidstone and Sheerness.

File:SKLR Triumph1.JPG

{{main|Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway}}

The preserved former paper mill railway the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway still exists today. In 1965 it was decided that the railway was uneconomic, so lorries were more commonly used for transporting produce. Consequently, by 1969 the Bowater Light Railway, much loved as it was by the firm (and with assistance of Capt Peter Manisty) was handed over to the Locomotive Club of Great Britain to be preserved and operated as the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway.

It has since become a significant feature in the town's tourist industry, and provides the only method of transport to the annual Sittingbourne Beer Festival. However, it has been under threat of closure since 2008 when M-real sold the site to a property developer.

Local television news programmes are BBC South East Today and ITV News Meridian.

The local radio station for Sittingbourne is 106.9 SFM - who provide a full local radio service and have been broadcasting since Thursday 26 July 2012.

The local newspaper is called KM Sittingbourne Messenger and the mid-week edition KM Sittingbourne News Extra, published by the KM Group. In December 2011, the East Kent Gazette, the town's other local newspaper, closed down with the loss of 39 jobs, having been the town's local news outlet since 1856.{{cite web|title=East Kent Gazette newspaper closes after sale collapses|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-16074680|website=BBC News Kent|publisher=BBC|access-date=18 September 2015|date=7 December 2011|archive-date=2 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102193852/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-16074680|url-status=live}}

• Wilfred Andrews (1892-1975), RAC Chairman
• Roger Moate (1938–2019), Conservative politician
• Eileen Greenwood (1915–2008), principal of Sittingbourne College of Education
• Dave Whitcombe, former darts player
• Thomas Lushington, theologian
• Shane Byrne, six times British Superbike Champion.

The town has one senior football team, Sittingbourne F.C. (nicknamed "The Brickies"). Sittingbourne F.C. currently play their games at Woodstock Park, part of the Kent Science Park complex. The club play in the Isthmian League Division One South.

The town has two hockey clubs: Sittingbourne Hockey Club based in the heart of town at Borden Grammar School.{{cite web |title=Old Bordenians Hockey Club |url=http://www.oldbordenianhc.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010202062300/http://www.oldbordenianhc.co.uk/ |archive-date=2 February 2001 |access-date=16 March 2013}} and Gore Court Hockey Club, who play at Westlands School and share the clubhouse at Gore Court;{{cite web|url=http://www.gorecourthc.co.uk|title=Gore Court Hockey Club|access-date=16 March 2013|archive-date=23 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123084000/http://www.gorecourthc.co.uk/|url-status=live}}

Motorcycle speedway racing has been staged near Sittingbourne for a number of years. The track was originally used for training alone but since 1994 the Sittingbourne Crusaders took part in the Conference League and other competitions. The track remains today as a popular speedway training facility open to riders all over the country.{{cite web|url=http://www.sittingbourne-speedway.co.uk|title=Sittingbourne Speedway Website|access-date=16 March 2013|archive-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518081056/http://sittingbourne-speedway.co.uk/|url-status=live}}

Sittingbourne is also home to Bayford Meadow's Kart Circuit. The 1100m MSA licensed circuit and the 300m leisure circuit are set within a 12-acre landscaped site.{{cite web|url=http://www.bayfordmeadows.co.uk/|title=Bayford Meadows Kart Circuit Website|access-date=5 January 2018|archive-date=4 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104032130/http://www.bayfordmeadows.co.uk/|url-status=live}}

Sittingbourne Rugby Club was established in 1976. SRUFC run three regular men's senior teams. The 1XV are currently competing in Counties 3 Kent (Level 9). {{cn|date=October 2024}}

• Ypres, Belgium (Since 1964)

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• D. L. Sattin: Barge building and barge builders of the Swale, 1990.
• Alan Major: Hidden Kent, 1994

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• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Sittingbourne|short=x}}

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Category:Towns in Kent

Category:Former civil parishes in Kent

Category:Borough of Swale