Medway is the name given to a conurbation and unitary authority in north Kent, England. It was previously known as "The Medway Towns" , but the five towns on the River Medway that have gradually merged together. Because of its strategic location by the major crossing of the River Medway by Watling Street it has made a wide and historically significant contribution to Kent, and to the United Kingdom dating back thousands of years, as evident in the Norman Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral (the second oldest in Britain), and the Chatham naval dockyard. The five main towns involved in the conurbation are (from west to east in terms of geographical position): Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham. Many smaller towns and villages such as Frindsbury, Brompton, Walderslade, Luton, Wigmore etc, lie within the conurbation with a few villages outside the main urban area such as Hoo St Werburgh, Cliffe and Grain on the Hoo Peninsula to th