Chatham Historic Dockyard

HMS Gannet.

HMS Ocelot on display, with an anti-aircraft gun to the right as part of a display on the Dockyard and the V1 rocket.

Model of HMS Victory, on display in the Museum of the Royal Dockyard.

No.1 Smithery, Chatham Historic Dockyard

Chatham Historic Dockyard is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England.

Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main facilities for several hundred years until it was closed in 1984. After closure the dockyard was divided into three sections. The easternmost basin was handed over to Medway Ports and is now a commercial port. Another slice was converted into a mixed commercial, residential and leisure development. 80 acres (324,000 m²), comprising the 18th century core of the site, was transferred to a charity called the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and is now open as a visitor attraction. It claims to be the world’s most complete dockyard of the Age of Sail.^[1]

Exhibits and displays

The attraction has seven main elements:

Three historic warships:
The Ropery: a Grade I listed building,^[2] Georgian and Victorian rope factory.
Wooden Walls: a recreation of the working life of the dockyard in 1758, centred on the construction of HMS Valiant.
Steam, Steel and Submarines: tells the story of Chatham Dockyard and the Royal Navy’s use of the River Medway in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Lifeboat: a museum about the work of the RNLI which has 17 historic vessels.
3 Slip – The BIG Store: Originally a covered slipway, now a display of large objects from the dockyard and the nearby Royal Engineers Museum.
No 1 Smithery: The structure is a Grade II listed building^[3] (formerly for iron-working) and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It was restored by van Heyningen and Haward Architects and re-opened as a visitor and exhibition centre in July 2010. The new building provides dedicated storage and curatorial facilities for the National Maritime Museum and Imperial War Museums' 4,000 ship models as well as a regional Touring Exhibition Gallery, and museum quality permanent Exhibition Galleries. The first touring exhibition to be shown was Stanley Spencer's Shipbuilding on the Clyde series.^[4]
A new project for 2014 is 'Command of the Oceans'. This is possible due to £4.53m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Also the project got a £3m contribution from the Homes and Communities Agency. A new entrance on the north side of the visitor attraction will be built and a discovery centre linking the former naval base with other significant heritage sites including Fort Amherst, the Great Lines Heritage Park (between Gillingham and Chatham) and Upnor Castle. This all became possible after the remains of the Namur warship was discovered under the floor of the Wheelwrights’ Shop in 1995.^[5]

Workers at the dockyard performed eight years of restoration work on the MV Havengore, the ceremonial vessel that carried the body of Winston Churchill during his state funeral. In addition the dockyard is acting as custodian of artefacts, masts and rigging from the Cutty Sark and the Medway Queen, while their hulls are being restored elsewhere.

The interior of the ropery

Records of the ships built at Chatham go back to 1646.^[6]
Chatham Dockyard had one of the best technical schools in England, it housed the first Dockyard School followed by Devonport and Portsmouth. It accepted students from Overseas Dockyards as Gibraltar and H.M. Dockyard, Malta
Some of the hundreds of warships built at the Chatham Royal Dockyard may still be seen. These preserved ships include:
- HMS Victory (100-gun first rate, i.e. ship of the line" launched 1765, preserved in dry dock at Portsmouth, England, UK; Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar)
- HMS Unicorn (54-gun fifth rate – launched 1824, preserved afloat at Dundee, Scotland, UK)
- HMS Ocelot (S17) ("O" class submarine – launched 5 May 1962, preserved in dry dock at Chatham.

Dockyard Railway

The site is also home to a Dockyard Railway that has a diverse collection of locomotives and rolling stock, some of which can be seen in operation throughout the year.

Steam Locomotives

Builder	Wheel arrangement	Number and name	Build date	Notes
Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns	0-4-0ST	7042 Ajax	1941	Operational, boiler ticket expires in 2022. Has spent all of its life at Chatham Dockyard
Andrew Barclay	0-4-0ST	2220 Invicta	1946	Undergoing restoration. Spent all of its working life at Chatham Dockyard.
Peckett and Sons	0-4-0ST	1903	1936	Operational, boiler ticket expires in 2020.

Diesel Locomotives

Builder	Wheel arrangement	Number and name	Build date	Notes
Andrew Barclay	0-4-0DM	357/WD42 Overlord	1941	Operational. Often on display in the military exhibition.
F.C. Hibberd	4wDM	3738 Rochester Castle	1955	Operational, has spent all of its life at Chatham Dockyard.
Drewry	0-4-0DM	2503 Thalia	1954	Operational

References

↑ Chatham World Heritage Archived 1 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Good Stuff IT Services. "The Ropery and Spinning Room – Medway – Medway – England". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
↑ Good Stuff IT Services. "Number 1 Smithery – Medway – Medway – England". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
↑ The Dockyard: News
↑ Hughes, Rebecca (29 November 2013). "Major cash boost for Chatham's Historic Dockyard Command of the Oceans project". www.kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
↑ The Historic Dockyard Chatham Guide Book

External links

Official website
Meridian Tonight at the dockyard Did you know that the iconic White House desk which sits in the Oval Office was made at the dock?
A World Heritage Site application for Chatham Dockyard and its defences
RNLI Chatham Museum – official site

Museums in Kent

List of museums in Kent - includes location, type

Agricultural Museum Ashford Museum Belmont House and Gardens Blue Town Heritage Centre Brattle Farm museum Bredgar and Wormshill Light Railway Brenzett Aeronautical Museum British Cartoon Archive Chantry Heritage Centre Chart Gunpowder Mills Chartwell Chatham Historic Dockyard Chiddingstone Castle Chillenden Windmill C M Booth Motor Museum Colonel Stephens Railway Museum Court Hall Museum Crabble Corn Mill Crampton Tower Museum Cranbrook Museum Dartford Borough Museum Davison's Mill Deal Castle Deal Maritime & Local History Museum Deal Timeball Tower Museum Dickens House Museum, Kent Dover Castle Dover Museum Dover Transport Museum Draper's Windmill Dymchurch Martello Tower East Kent Light Railway Eastgate House Eden Valley Museum Elham Valley Railway Museum Finchcocks Fleur de Lis Museum and Gallery Folkestone Museum Fort Amherst Godinton House Gravesend's Secret Cold War Bunker Guildhall Museum, Queenborough Guildhall Museum, Rochester Herne Windmill Herne Bay Museum and Gallery Hever Castle Hop Farm Country Park Hythe Library and Museum Ightham Mote Kent & Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum Kent Battle of Britain Museum * Kent Life Kent Museum of Freemasonry Kent Police Museum Knole House Lashenden Air Warfare Museum Leeds Castle Lullingstone Roman Villa Lydd Town Museum Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery Maison Dieu Manston Fire Museum Margate Old Town Hall Local History Museum Mascalls Gallery Meopham Windmill Minster Abbey Gatehouse Museum Museum of Canterbury New Hall Museum New Mill Norman Museum New Tavern Fort Old Brook Pumping Station Old Soar Manor Otford Heritage Centre Owletts Penshurst Place Powell-Cotton Museum Princess of Wales Royal Regiment Museum Quebec House Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment Museum RAF Manston History Museum Restoration House Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case Roman Museum Roman Painted House Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway Royal Engineers Museum Royal Museum and Art Gallery Salomons Museum Sandwich Guildhall Museum Sarre Windmill Scotney Castle Sevenoaks Museum Sheerness Heritage Centre Shoreham Aircraft Museum Sittingbourne Heritage Museum Six Poor Travellers House Smallhythe Place South Foreland Lighthouse Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Building St Augustine's Abbey St Margaret's Museum Stocks Mill Stoneacre Swanton Mill Teapot Island Temple Manor Tenterden & District Museum Tonbridge Castle Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery Turner Contemporary Tyrwhitt-Drake Museum of Carriages Union Mill, Cranbrook Upnor Castle Walmer Castle Walpole Hotel & Museum West Gate Towers Westenhanger Castle White Mill Rural Heritage Centre Whitstable Museum and Gallery Woodchurch Mill Woodchurch Village Life Museum

See also: Visitor attractions in Kent

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Coordinates: 51°23′48″N 0°31′46″E / 51.39680°N 0.52940°E / 51.39680; 0.52940

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