' He said: "It's proving difficult because they are not on social media. 1756 Chatham Lines built, to designs by Captain John Desmaretz (who also designed the Portsmouth fortifications). I became so attached to the place,(My Home Port!) Though I have been on visits it's just not the same!" The boys tell of their daily roles: clocking people in and out, checking employees were working, checking pay, doing the 'holiday rounds', and recording various bits of information. The oldest surviving barracks in the Chatham area is in Upnor; dating from 1718, it housed the detachment of 64 men responsible for guarding the gunpowder store in Upnor Castle. [20] The following year, John Rennie was engaged to build an entirely new dry dock (following his own recommendations) which was the first in the dockyard to be built entirely of stone; it was built on the site of the old smithery. [125], With the failure of Upnor Castle, it was seen necessary to increase the defences. And to celebrate their half-century landmark anniversary, they held a reunion at the former naval base in Medway. 20,900 were here. The following terms appear in the records of pay: Click on the links below to search for a yard name, for example Woolwich, within the following series: Try searching by name or, otherwise, keyword in the various Navy Board records held inADM 106(1650-1837). And to celebrate their half-century landmark anniversary, they held a reunion at the former naval base in Medway. Thanks seaJane. He says for the first three months of the apprenticeship he was given no tools and distinctly remembers the big 'awful sacks' [overalls] they used to wear. Alongside the four dry docks it now had a total of six shipbuilding slips (equalling Deptford and outnumbering the other yards in this regard), albeit three of the six were under 150ft (46m) in length and suitable only for building smaller warships. [46], The remaining 350 acres (1.4km2) were transferred to the government's urban regeneration agency (later English Partnerships). Charles Dickens (18121870), who had grown up in Chatham, returned in later life and described in 1861 the novel sight (and sounds) of a ship being built for the first time of iron (rather than wood): Twelve hundred men are working at her now; twelve hundred men working on stages over her sides, over her bows, over her sterns, under her keel, between her decks, down in her hold, within her and without, crawling and creeping into the finest curves of her lines wherever it is possible for men to twist. Both my Grandad and my Dad worked there. The military hospital at Chatham at Fort Pitt. [8], 1567 is generally seen as the date of Chatham's establishment as a Royal Naval Dockyard. Chatham Dockyard and its Defences is an outstanding example of a complete industrial military complex from the heyday of the age of sail (1700 - 1820) and the early period of the age of steam (1820- 1865). Chatham Dockyard - Wikipedia When Achilles, for example, had been completed and floated out of dry dock, she spent almost a year moored in Gillingham Reach, where not only her engines, boilers, funnels and a 2.5-long-ton (2.54t) propeller, but also masts, sails, rigging, guns, coal, food, ammunition and furnishings were either loaded or installed. Many homes have views of the River Medway. Prices may vary with room occupancy and attributes. We are currently exploring alternative, hidden histories within our collection and looking at broadening the range of voices we represent. [31] In 1897 a naval barracks was built on the site of the prison to provide crew accommodation for ships anchored in The Nore; for the next sixty years it served as the headquarters of Nore Command, whose Commander-in-Chief was accommodated in the adjacent Admiralty House. Some dockyards have changed their name so you may need to search using the alternative names or the dockyard locations provided in above and in the appendix (you can also browse seriesADM 42 to get an idea of what dockyards are covered by the records). Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust is committed to helping the public who have enquiries about our collections. For England this will usually mean one ofthe following six Royal Navy dockyards (the years in brackets are opening and closing dates): The Royal Navy also had dockyards in Wales, Scotland and Ireland: There were other Royal Navy dockyards and naval establishments overseas including: See the National Maritime Museum Caird Librarywebsite for another abridged list of dockyards. Brian and John remember their Devonport Dockyard wage: 2 6s 2d a week (about 2.32), with no overtime for apprentices, but said at the time they were well looked after. These are the first standardised industrial buildings. The group formed in 1990 as a six-monthly reunion for a group of nineteen Dockyard recorders who had retired and wanted to catch up with each other and share their stories, but some of the group only joined 18 months ago. After the abolition of the post of Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, Chatham's Admiral Superintendent took on the additional role of local Flag Officer (with local command responsibilities) and the title Flag Officer, Medway. They were the good old days,but,it is still a wonderful place to go and visit, I go often. Did you or your family, work there on the ships? Mike tells me that last year he won the top award in the Society for All Artists, Artist of the Year competition. Poland, 5 September 1950 May 1951, Rear-Admiral John Y. Thompson: October 1958 February 1961, Rear-Admiral I.William T. Beloe: February 1961 December 1963, Rear-Admiral George M.K. Something that really sets our city apart is our historic dockyard and the thousands of amazing and hard-working people that have worked there over the years, each contributing to the largest naval base in Western Europe in different ways. Along the southern edge of No 1 Basin four new dry docks were built (Nos 58), each 420ft (130m) long. I still sometimes wonder if my name I painted on a beam in the apprentice building with a 6" brush is still there. The officers and men employed in the yard had also increased, and by 1798 they numbered 1,664, including 49 officers and clerks and 624 shipwrights. The Establishment grew, and by 1856 the Artillery had moved out; Brompton Barracks remains in service as headquarters of the Royal Engineers. It made do with a single shipbuilding slip for much of the 17th century (a second slip, dating from the same period, had fallen out of use; it was replaced in the 1730s).