I visited this WHS in May 2019. It was a very convenient stopover from London en route to Canterbury. The entrance ticket is expensive but considering the Historic Dockyard's size and other industrial WHS already on the list it's quite reasonable. Parking is also included in the ticket and if you visit on a quiet morning like I did, most probably you'll be parking inside the 1848 No. 5 Covered Slip.

Even though I'm not an industrial heritage fan, I was pleasantly surprised with this tentative WHS. To a certain extent its OUV is justified and it might even fill in some maritime heritage gaps if inscribed. It is at least as deserving as the other industrial WHS in the UK. All the fortifications built to defend this strategic dockyard are included and can be easily viewed for free if you're travelling by car. The best examples are Fort Amherst and Upnor Castle even though all in all the Lower Lines and Great Lines Heritage Parks are a bit neglected.

The Historic Dock information video at the visitor centre gives a very good overview of how the bygone age of sails, industrialisation, the new iron age, steam power, underwater warfare are all represented in one ensemble of over a hundred buildings and structures, some of which are Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The dockyard is run on the principle of preservation through reuse. Some of the buildings are open to visitors, while others are occupied by residential tenants, businesses and faculties of the University of Kent.

The buildings, places and 'monuments' I enjoyed most were definitely the interesting Victorian ropery, HM Submarine Ocelot, HMS Cavalier, HMS Gannet, the lifeboats and the contrast between restored wooden administrative buildings and mast houses, and the red brick smithery, commissioner's house and main gate (full of old graffiti!).