Chatham Dockyard and its Defences

Just as the pandemic hit in early 2020 a new £20 note entered circulation in the UK. The portrait on the reverse of the banknote is of the 19th century artist JMW Turner and behind him can be seen details of his 1839 work The Fighting Temeraire, Tugged to her Last Berth to be Broken Up, 1838. This picture depicts a once-grand ship of the line, famed for its performance at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, masts bare, being hauled away for dismantling by a low dark churning paddle-steamer. It represents the replacement of the age of sail with that of steam. More generally, it represents the passing away of greatness. It provided a sombre leitmotif to my visit to Chatham Historic Dockyard. The Temeraire was constructed in the Chatham shipyards on the River Medway, and it was from Sheerness at the mouth of the river that it departed for its final voyage. And at the dockyard itself visitors can view the last remains of the similarly-feted HMS Namur, broken up just six years before the Temeraire and its timbers used to support the floor of a workshop. Chatham reached its apogee in constructing these romantic warships of the age of sail. But as sail turned to steam and then oil and ships became larger and more complex Chatham Dockyard was outmatched. In the 1980s she, too, was broken up, sold off and built over.

The core remains in the form of the Chatham Historic Dockyard, however, …

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 …

I went to Chatham Dockyard (and the nearby city of Rochester) in June 2016. As Nan Mungard says, it's shockingly expensive, at £24! I had a National Art Pass, however, which allows free access.

The site is large and was very undervisited for a Saturday in June (hint to management: it might have something to do with the price). We enjoyed the submarine tour but the rest of the museum site verged on the dull. Huge buildings full of vehicles and model ships. A modern art gallery, some of which's works give the Saatchi Gallery a run for its money in terms of absurdity.

To be fair though I must withhold full judgement because I didn't go in the exciting-sounding "rope making experience" as several buildings closed an hour before the overall dockyard's closing time.

We did Chatham on a day trip from London. It was terrible spring weather (cold, wet, windy), so our general inclination was not to stay long. Surprisingly, we ended up staying for hours; there was a lot to see and enjoy.

The shipyard itself is quite a site when you pull in. Large halls from the 19th century greet you. The site shows you how ships were built in the British empire and how these ships looked over time. There are even a few steam trains running to show how they transported goods. Quite impressive. And very enjoyable for kids who fancy "tuc tuc" trains, one of them travelling with us ;)

Included in the site are also fortifications. Given we already ran out of time visiting the shipyard we skipped on these.

OUV

Looking at the shipyard connection, it seems rather probable that the site will be added. It doesn't look as if industrial shipyards from the 19th century are present at all on the WHS list. And this is a shipyard of the prime naval power at the time. I think they should remove some clutter from the site, e.g. a parking space in a key site structure, but otherwise this should be fine.

Logistics

We went by car. It was a 1.5h ride. On the site you can move by foot. Not sure how you would get there by public transport, but it should be possible.

Things to do

…