Riverside Leisure Area

Riverside Leisure Area is considered to be Gravesham Council’s premier open space – featuring a 19th century fort, play area, flower gardens and a waterfront promenade, it was also recently made the home of a new fitness zone in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

The park is made up of five separate and distinct elements – Fort Gardens, which was previously the New Tavern Fort, guarded the entrance to the Thames from 1870 and was converted into a garden in the 1930s.

The promenade area which has frontage onto the River Thames hosts a café and a newly built toilet block. There is also a play area, fitness zone and numerous benches that offer good views over the river. The Dell area has links to Gravesend’s military history as a defence ditch, while Gordon Memorial Gardens, dating from the 1890s, has formally laid out gardens with a statue of the celebrated General Gordon.

Finally, Gordon Pleasure Gardens has a lake which is available for fishing, a further play area, and paved walkways throughout. The site hosts regular events throughout the year, including Regattas, the Council run Big Day Out and a firework display. A commercially run fairground also visits several times a year. National Cycle Route 1 also passes through this area (along Gordon Promenade and past the Canal Basin), and then follows the route of the Thames and Medway Canal towards Higham.