Princess Pocahontas Gardens - Church Street, Gravesend, Kent, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The wooden board is located to the left of the church's entrance and reads:

Parish Church of St George
Princess Pocahontas Gardens
Princess Pocahontas, the first North American Indian Christian, who had be received at the court of King James I, died as she began her return journey to Virginia and was buried in the chancel of the church on 21st March 1617. That church built circa 1485, was destroyed by fire in 1727 and was rebuilt in 1732 with revenues obtained after an Act of Parliament signed by King George II.

These Royal links have been extended, strengthened through the gracious gift by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of a Chalice and Paten presented to her by the people of Jamestown Virginia to commemorate their tricentennial in 1957. These were delivered to the Church by the Bishop of Norwich on 2nd August 1958.

The statue of Princess Pocahontas, a replica of that in Jamestown was unveiled by the Governor of Virginia on 5th October 1958.

The church's website tells us about Pocahontas:

"Princess Pocahontas was a native American who in the year 1607 intervened to save the life of pioneer Captain John Smith. Later she left her home in Virginia to travel to England, where she married an Englishman and became a regular in the court of King James. She became the first of her nation to convert to Christianity.

Pocahontas died on a ship anchored off Gravesend before she was able to return to the country of her birth. It is popular belief her remains are interred somewhere in the vicinity of the church, having been removed for reburial after the previous church was destroyed by fire.
The Story of Princess Pocahontas

Pocahontas was born about 1595-96, a daughter of the Chief over some forty Algonkian Indian villages; these were spread about the shores of the rivers now called the James and the York, which flow into Chesapeake Bay. Her father called Powhatan after his chief village named her Meto-aka and later "Pocahontas", meaning "Playful little Girl".

Powhatan’s rule was threatened by the arrival of the Spanish, French and English mariners, exploring for a Northwest Passage to the (East) Indies. After the death of Elizabeth 1, the end of England’s struggles with Spain and Scotland released capital and manpower for trade, and the conversion of the "savages". The English claim to North America was split between two companies; one based in Bristol, took North Virginia. In spring 1607, three London ships appeared in Chesapeake Bay and though permitted to land, Powhatan discouraged their would-be settlers from staying. When they started to build a fort the Indians attacked, but were repulsed by ship’s cannon. The ships sailed home before the winter, leaving 105 men – no women having been brought – who were only saved from starvation by the success of Captain John Smith in obtaining corn from more distant Indians."