Local history

The presence of the river has always been a major factor in the story of the Medway area. Its quiet but accessible lower reaches proved to be a useful safe anchorage as the size of the English navy increased. The storehouse set up by Henry VIII in 1547 to serve the large number of ships moored in "Jillingham Water" was just the beginning. Within a hundred years Chatham Dockyard and its facilities for building, refitting and provisioning warships were firmly established. The first ship, the Sunne, was launched in 1585.

Even during this early period of its history, the dockyard employed hundreds of people. In peacetime, however, work could be hard to come by and many Commissioners refer to the near-starving condition of the men. Relations were not always cordial and there were disputes over the payment of wages, as well as complaints about the behaviour of the workers. “I used to think those at Portsmouth the worst in the world,” wrote Sir Thomas Middleton in 1668, “but they are saints compared to those at Chatham.”

At the beginning of the 18th century many improvements and additions were made to the dockyard, the majority of which may still be seen today. Lines of complex fortifications were also constructed in the Medway area to protect this vital naval base from attack by sea or land. Many survive to this day, with the most extensive example, Fort Amherst, now restored and open to the public.

In 1759, the keel of HMS Victory was laid down at Chatham. The ship was launched six years later in 1765. Victory lay at her moorings for thirteen years before she was commissioned and Admiral Nelson took the vessel as his flagship in 1803.

An enormous extension into St Mary’s Island was begun in 1864. This was planned to add 380 acres to the yard’s existing 97. It cost £1.75 million and was finally finished in 1885. By this time the dockyard at Woolwich had closed and some of the machinery and workshops had been moved to Chatham. The maximum total number of workers was reached during the Second World War, when 11,000 men and 2,000 women were employed.

During the period of adjustment after the war, Chatham Dockyard was restricted to building submarines and refitting ships. Despite the opening of facilities for nuclear submarines, the dockyard closed in 1984, putting many thousands of people out of work.

(Photograph copyright Kent Messenger and appears with kind permission. For viewing only.)

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