Chatham Historic Dockyard
Chatham, Kent
The Dockyard, run by the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, is a site of international maritime heritage significance on over 80 acres. It contains approximately 100 buildings and structures, with 47 scheduled as Ancient Monuments. It is the most complete example in the UK, and arguably the world, of an eighteenth century dockyard equipped to build, repair and maintain the ships of the Royal Navy. It includes an important group of later historic buildings which chart the increasing use of iron and steam in warship construction through the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries. The variety of buildings and structures contributes to the site’s historic and architectural importance.
At other dockyards such structures were mostly demolished to make way for newer facilities, or destroyed during the Second World War. Chatham is a unique survival. The Royal Dockyard at Chatham had two distinct roles; as a fleet base and as a naval dockyard charged with the building and maintenance of the ships of the Royal Navy. As Chatham’s role as a fleet base diminished in the mid-eighteenth century, her importance as a centre for naval shipbuilding grew, culminating in her role in submarine construction.
The narrative conveys certain key aspects: the seventeenth century fleet base; the centre for naval shipbuilding, refit and repair from the eighteenth century and for building major ships from 1586 to 1991; fostering naval technology and the social impact on the local and wider community. The Dockyard tells the complex story through its collections. There are three main exhibitions directly related to the history of the Dockyard, and historic ships, several of which can be boarded.
Many of the eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings are accessible because they house exhibits or facilities or are intrinsic to exhibits. They include the Mast Houses, the Ropeyard with its Double Rope House and Hemp Houses, the Wheelwright’s shop, housing the restaurant, and the Boat Stores. The use of other maritime structures, such as a flooded-up dry-dock, can also be studied.
The educational programme is ambitious. The department uses the Dock’s materials in a cross-curricular way to stimulate historical, geographical and scientific interest and involvement through creative writing, art and design, role play and information technology. Curriculum-based work is facilitated by a teacher’s guide, themed resource packs and led sessions. Visits can be adapted for each group. Teacher packs, relevant to KS1-4, involve children in a range of subjects, such as science, technology and geography within over-arching themes such as the Victorian dockyard (KS2), or address more specific skills such as numeracy ( History Countsfor KS3) or the use of historical sources (at KS4).
In 2003 themed days, such as the World War II Day, encouraged role playing: dancing to wartime tunes; trying ration-book recipes; enacting a specific event, e.g. identifying injured colleagues and the associated administration. Another day tackled the problem of literacy through creative writing and comprehension of experiences on board two historic vessels. The history of the Dockyard was explored out of hours through a season of evening Ghost Walks, mainly aimed at adults and older children.
The historic ships can be appreciated at several levels, through exploring a real ship or studying its operation.
The Dockyard offers one of the country’s largest and most sophisticated range of educational activities and offers a unique opportunity to study the scope and technology of a complete working naval base. The holistic approach is particularly valuable. In addition, the site has become a community focus involving volunteers and events unrelated to the history of the site. EW
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