Chatham Historic Dockyard facts for kids
The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a special museum in Chatham, Kent, South East England. It's built on part of what used to be a huge naval dockyard. This dockyard was a very important place for the Royal Navy for hundreds of years.
The original Chatham Dockyard was enormous, covering 400 acres (about 1.6 square kilometers). It was one of the Royal Navy's main bases until it closed in 1984. After it closed, the land was split into three parts. One part became a commercial port. Another part was turned into shops, homes, and fun places. The most historic part, about 80 acres, became a museum run by a charity called the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. This museum is now open to visitors and is known as one of the most complete old dockyards from the "age of sail" (when ships used sails).
Contents
What You Can See and Do
The Historic Dockyard Chatham has many exciting things to explore. Here are some of the main attractions:
Historic Warships
You can go aboard and explore three amazing historic warships:
- HMS Gannet (built in 1878)
- HMS Cavalier (a destroyer from World War II)
- HMS Ocelot (a submarine)
The Ropery
This is a very old factory where ropes were made. It's a Grade I listed building, which means it's very important historically. You can see how ropes were made during the Georgian and Victorian times.
Steam, Steel and Submarines
This exhibit tells the story of Chatham Dockyard. It shows how the Royal Navy used the River Medway in the 1800s and 1900s.
Lifeboat Museum
This museum is all about the RNLI, which saves lives at sea. It has 17 different historical lifeboats.
3 Slip – The BIG Store
This used to be a huge covered area where ships were built. Now, it's a giant display space. You can see large objects from the dockyard and from the nearby Royal Engineers Museum.
No 1 Smithery
This building was once used for working with iron. It's a Grade II listed building and a scheduled ancient monument. It was restored and reopened in 2010. It now stores thousands of ship models from the National Maritime Museum and Imperial War Museum. It also has galleries for special exhibitions.
Command of the Oceans
This exciting project opened in 2014. It has a new entrance and a discovery center. This area connects the old naval base with other important historical sites nearby. This project was made possible after parts of the Namur warship were found under a building in 1995. In 2017, the Command of the Oceans display was even nominated for a special award for its amazing architecture.
Workers at the dockyard also spent eight years restoring the MV Havengore. This is the special boat that carried Winston Churchill's body during his state funeral. The dockyard also looked after parts of famous ships like the Cutty Sark and the Medway Queen while their main bodies were being fixed elsewhere.
Famous Ships Built at Chatham
Chatham Dockyard built hundreds of warships. Records of ships built here go all the way back to 1646! Some of the famous ships built at Chatham that you can still see today include:
- HMS Victory (launched in 1765, now in Portsmouth, England). This was Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar.
- HMS Unicorn (launched in 1824, now in Dundee, Scotland).
- HMS Ocelot (launched in 1962, now at Chatham).
Dockyard Railway
The dockyard also has its own railway! It has a collection of old trains and carriages. You can sometimes see them running throughout the year.
Steam Locomotives
| Builder | Wheel arrangement |
Number and name | Build date | Notes | Photograph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Stephenson and Hawthorns | 0-4-0ST | 7042 Ajax | 1941 | This train has always been at Chatham Dockyard. |  |
| Andrew Barclay | 0-4-0ST | 2220 Invicta | 1946 | This train is currently being fixed up. It also spent its whole working life at Chatham Dockyard. |  |
Diesel Locomotives
| Builder | Wheel arrangement |
Number and name | Build date | Notes | Photograph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Barclay | 0-4-0DM | 357/WD42 Overlord | 1941 | This train is often on display in the military exhibit. |  |
| F.C. Hibberd | 4wDM | 3738 Rochester Castle | 1955 | This train has always been at Chatham Dockyard. |  |
| Drewry | 0-4-0DM | 2503 Thalia | 1954 | This train is ready to run. |  |
Filming Location
The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a popular place for filming movies and TV shows. It has over 100 old buildings from different time periods. This makes it perfect for scenes set in the past.
Some of the popular shows and films that have used Chatham Dockyard include:
- Call The Midwife (for outdoor scenes)
- SS-GB
- Amazing Grace
- The Halcyon
- The Crown
- Future Tense: The Story of HG Wells
- Mr Selfridge
- Victor Frankenstein
- Jekyll and Hyde
- Suffragette
- The Man From UNCLE
- Grantchester
- Muppets Most Wanted
- Downton Abbey (Season 4)
- Les Misérables
- Great Expectations
- Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
- Loki
In 2020, some scenes for the TV series Belgravia (TV series) were also filmed at the dockyard.
