FOURTH PORTAL
THE PAST AND PRESENT ALWAYS MEET IN THE PRESENT
GRAVESEND
Fourth Portal at St Andrew's Waterside Mission Church, Gravesend, 2023-2024
The Past and Future always meet in the Present
Drilling For Oil | An Immersive Performance - Audience Snapshot, Saturday, 31 August 2025
Our beautiful, chilled-out Fourth Portal, nestled by the River Thames in Gravesend, ran from May 2023 until November 2024, gradually drawing out the town's innovators, creators, entrepreneurs, and the curious.
The former seafarers chapel was transformed into a relaxed social space and venue introducing advanced technologies surrounded by an eclectic array of furnishings, books and retro computers.
The Macs were free to use, fast internet, a licensed bar, coffee roasted in HMP Mount purchased directly from the growers, and much more, took place under stunning stained glass windows.
Rethinking how materials are made, adapted and recycled will be a prominent component of the emerging technological revolution and is central to public engagement at the Fourth Portal.
For summer and autumn 2023, the Fourth Portal focused on paper before moving on to textiles for winter and spring 2024.
Fourth Portal stimulated knowledge exchanges by bringing technology, social gathering and innovation to life.
Using specially selected objects that coalesce with local history, rich conversations have emerged, leading to collaborations and learning.
St. Andrew's Waterside Mission Church, Gravesend
The primary missionary purpose of the church was transferred to Tilbury when the docks were built, with services continuing until 1971 despite ongoing problems with damp. The Diocese of Rochester decided to close the church because of the cost of repairs, but it was rescued and purchased by Gravesham Borough Council in 1975 and transformed into an Arts Centre.
Ceiling
Representing the upturned hull of a ship
Windows
By Clayton and Bell around 1870, Regents St, London
Plaques
Various including Franklin, Singh and Beaufort
Notable history and architecture.
SIR FRANCIS BEAUFORT
The Beaufort Scale was created by Sir Francis Beaufort, an Irish-born Royal Navy officer and hydrographer, in the early 19th century. Beaufort developed the scale as a way to standardise the reporting of wind conditions for the British Navy, which he served in for many years
MAHARAJA SIR DULEEP SINGH
Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, GCSI (4 September 1838 – 22 October 1893), or Sir Dalip Singh, and later in life nicknamed the "Black Prince of Perthshire" was the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was Maharaja Ranjit Singh's youngest son, the only child of Maharani Jind Kaur.
JOHN FRANKLIN EXPEDITION
HMS Erebus and Terror were two Royal Navy ships captained by Sir John Franklin during his ill-fated expedition to find the Northwest Passage in the Arctic in the mid-19th century.
The expedition is notable for the innovative technology and equipment onboard the ships, some of which were groundbreaking for their time, including steam power, air-tight food containers, a portable observatory and desalination apparatus.
CHARLES DICKENS
Charles Dickens had many connections to Gravesend and lived nearby.
He may have based Great Expectations on the town and possibly made a significant donation to the building of St Andrews.
The Fourth Portal offers real-world and virtual spaces to meet, work, socialise, learn and enjoy events.
Join us on the journey