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'Chatham Dockyard', located on the River Medway in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, and thus requiring added defences. 80 acres (324,000 m²) of the site now form a visitor attraction known as Chatham Historic Dockyard.

Contents

Outline history

Personalities

Descriptions

Significant buildings within the Georgian Dockyard

Defence of the dockyard

Upnor Castle

Chain defence

The Lines

Growth of the dockyard

References

See also

External links

Outline history

★ The Treasurer of the Navy's accounts of the King's Exchequer for the year 1544 identifies Deptford as the Dockyard that carried out all the major repairs to the King's Ships that year. That was soon to change, although Deptford remained a dockyard for over three centuries.

★ In 1547 ''Jillingham'' (Gillingham) ''water'', as Chatham Dockyard was then known, is mentioned as second only in importance to Deptford; followed by Woolwich, Portsmouth and Harwich. In 1550 ships that were then lying off Portsmouth were ordered to be harboured in Jillingham Water, “by reason of its superior strategic location” .

★ Chatham was established as a 'royal dockyard' by Elizabeth I in 1567. She herself visited the yard in 1573. By the late 17th century it was the largest refitting dockyard, important during the Dutch wars.

★ It was, however superseded first by Portsmouth, then Plymouth, when the main naval enemy became France, and the Western approaches the chief theatre of operations. In addition, the Medway had begun to silt up, making navigation more difficult.

★ Chatham became a building yard rather than refitting base. In 1622 the dockyard moved from its original location (now the gun wharf to the south) to its present site. Among many other vessels built in this Dockyard and which still exist are HMS ''Victory'', launched in 1765 - now preserved at Portsmouth Naval Base (i.e former the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard), and HMS ''Unicorn'', (a Leda class frigate) launched 1824 - now preserved afloat at Dundee (in Scotland) .

★ In the 1860s the yard had a large building programme and St Mary's basin was constructed for the steam navy.

★ When the yards at Deptford and Woolwich closed in 1869, Chatham again became relatively important and remained so until 1983 when it closed.

★ The site is now a museum, under the care of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. The Trust has applied for the Dockyard to become a World Heritage Site ^[1].

Personalities

★ Peter Pett, of the family of shipwrights whose history is so closely connected to the Chatham dockyard, was appointed first "Master Shipwright" for Chatham in about 1545.

★ King James I used Chatham dockyard for a meeting in 1606 with Christian IV of Denmark.

★ The 'Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard' held a seat and a vote on the Navy Board in London. Among the Commissioners were:

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★ Sir Edward Gregory, who was the last civilian to hold the office, and retired in 1703

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★ Captain Charles Cunningham, retired 1829. His retirement led to the dockyard being placed temporarily under the inspection of Captain J M Lewes, Resident Commissioner at Sheerness.

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★ Captain, (later Admiral), Sir Charles Bullen was the first Superintendent, being appointed in December 1831, and invested with the same power and authority as the former Commissioners, "except in matters requiring an Act of Parliament to be submitted by the Commissioner of the Navy".

★ Billy Childish, artist, was an apprentice stonemason at the yard in 1976/77

Descriptions

★ William Camden (1551-1623) described Chatham dockyard as

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★ ''stored for the finest fleet the sun ever beheld, and ready at a minute’s warning, built lately by our most gracious sovereign Elizabeth at great expense for the security of her subjects and the terror of her enemies, with a fort on the shore for its defence''.

★ From the will of Richard Holborne (1654), Shipwright, comes a description of the Dockyard area of Chatham :

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★ It talks about his ''ould house...as it is now fenced with the brewing house and garden joyning it with the belle now standing...and the wharfe in the millponde...unto the fence of James Marsh...to have ingresse, egresse, and regresse through that way unto the waterside or water gate...and...the greate Gate Westward...and the...pumpe''.

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★ The Chatham Churchwardens’ accounts show that Richard, a cousin of Phineas Pett, was Churchwarden from 1634 to 1643. Further details under Peter Pett.

★ Daniel Defoe visiting the yard in 1705, also spoke of its achievements with an almost incredulous enthusiasm:

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★ ''So great is the order and application there, that a first-rate vessel of war of 106 guns, ordered to be commissioned by Sir Cloudesley Shovell, was ready in three days. At the time the order was given the vessel was entirely unrigged; yet the masts were raised, sails bent, anchors and cables on board, in that time''.

Significant buildings within the Georgian Dockyard

The Historic Dockyard Chatham-where, legends were created. Guide Book. 2005. Jarrold Publishing




★ The Galvanising Shop c1890. Galvanising is a process of dipping steel in molten zinc to prevent it from rusting. There were baths of acid and molten zinc, the fumes vented through louvres in the roof. It is currently used as a visitors centre.

★ Wheelwright's shop c1780. This three bay building was built as a mast house using 'reclaimed' timber. The top bay was used by the wheel wrights who constructed and repaired the wheels on the dockyard carts, and may have made ships wheels. The middle bay was used by the pumpmakers and the coak and treenail makers. Pumps were simple affairs, made of wood with iron and leather fittings. Coaks were the bearings in pulley blocks, and treenails were the long oak pins, made on a lathe, or ''moot'' that were used to pin the planking to the frames. The west bay was used by the capstan makers, capstans were used to raise the anchor.

★ Masthouses and mould loft 1753-8. Masthouses were used to make and store masts. Here there are 7 interlinking masthouses. Above them is the mould loft where the lines of HMS ''Victory'' were laid down. The lines of each frame of a ship would be taken from the plan and scribed full size, into the floor by shipwrights. From this patterns or moulds would be built using softwoods, and from these the actual frames would be built and shaped. This building houses the 'Wooden Walls Exhibition'.

★ The covered slips 1838-55. It was on slipways that ships were built. The slipways were covered to prevent ships rotting before they had been launched. The earliest covered slips no longer exist. By 1838 the use of cast and wrought iron in buildings had become feasible. The oldest slip had a wooden roof, three had cast iron roofing and the last used wrought iron. They are of unique importance in the development of wide span structures such as were later used by the railways.

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★ No 3 Slip 1838. This had a linked truss structure and was originally covered in Tarred Paper, which was quickly replaced with a zinc roof. The slip was backfilled around 1900 and a steel mezzanine floor was added.It became a store house for ships boats.

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★ No 4, 5 and 6 Slips 1848. These were designed by Capt. Thomas Mould RE and erected by Bakers and Sons of Lambeth. Similar structures were erected at Portsmouth but these are no longer extant. They predate the London Train sheds of Paddington and King's Cross which were often cited as the countries first wide span metal structures.

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★ No 7 Slip, is one of the earliest examples of a modern metal trussed roof.. It was designed in 1852 by Col G.T.Green RE. It was used for shipbuilding until 1966, HMS ''Ocelot'' was launched from there 5th May 1962.

★ Dry Dock. The docks are filled by sluice gates set into the caissons, and emptied by a series of underground culverts connected to the pumping station.

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★ No 2 Drydock 1856 was built on the site of 'The Old Single Dock' where HMS ''Victory'' was constructed. In 1863, this dock constructed HMS ''Achilles'', the first iron battleship to be built in a Royal Dockyard.

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★ No 3 Drydock 1820 the first to be constructed of stone, was designed by John Rennie. It now houses HMS ''Ocelot''.

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★ No 4 Drydock 1840 now houses HMS ''Gannet''.

★ South Dock Pumping Station 1822, designed by John Rennie. It originally housed a beam engine, this was replaced by an electric pump in 1920. The building is still in use.

★ No 1 Machine Shop. This building retains it original structure and roof glazing. It was used to house the machine tools needed to produce HMS ''Achilles'', the first iron battleship built in a Royal Dockyard.

★ Clocktower building 1723. The oldest surviving naval storehouse in any Royal Dockyard. The ground floor was a 'present use store' and the upper floor was a mould loft. It was rebuilt in 1802- the timber cladding was replaced by brick. In the 20th century it was used for offices, and was adapted in 1996-7 to become the University of Kent's Bridge Warden's College.

★ Admiral's Offices 1808. Designed by Edward Holl as offices for the master shipwright. The roofline was low so it would not obstruct the view from the Officers' Terrace. Later it became Port Admiral's office and was extended. The northern extension became the dockyard's communication centre.

★ Commissioner's House 1704. This is the oldest surviving naval building in England. It was built for he Resident Commissioner, his family and servants. The previous building was built in 1640 for