Place Name
Named in honour of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell (November 1650 – October 22/23, 1707), who was Lord of the Manor of Crayford. Shovell set up residence with his wife at May Place in Crayford in 1694 and was elected Member of Parliament for Rochester the following year. He was responsible for the restoration of St. Paulinus’ Church in Crayford. But it was in his naval role that he gained fame. Starting out as a lowly cabin boy he saw early action at the Battle of Solebay and later the Battle of Texel during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As an admiral he fought in the War of Spanish Succession. He died in the Scilly naval disaster of 1707, recorded as one of the greatest maritime disasters in British history when his ship struck rocks following a navigational error that cost the lives of 2,000 sailors.
