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Chatham Maritime Trust



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CHATHAM NAVAL DOCKYARD

The history of the Royal Dockyard at Chatham dates back to 1547, with the first record of naval activity with the rental of two storehouses on “Jyllingham Water”. Half a century later Chatham had become a major base for the navy of Queen Elizabeth I, and it served many of the ships that fought against the Spanish Armada.  Over the next four centuries more than 400 warships were constructed during the working life of the yard, which included Nelson’s flagship Victory and Achilles, the first iron warship built for the Royal Navy. In 1667 Chatham was attacked by the Dutch fleet, which destroyed much of the fleet at anchor, and towed away the flagship Royal Charles.

During the 18th Century, Chatham became less important as a fleet base, as the emphasis of naval activity had switched to the Mediterranean and the New World, for which other ports such as Portsmouth and Plymouth were better situated. Chatham’s role became one of shipbuilding and maintenance, and many famous ships were built at the Dockyard, including HMS Victory, which was launched in 1765. The development of large steam powered iron warships led to the large-scale expansion of the Dockyard in the 1860s. This expansion took place around St Mary’s Island to the north of the original dockyard and involved the creation of three large basins and more dry docks. Originally unreclaimed marshland, the Island had to be drained and built up by eight feet before construction work could begin. Convicts from the local prison were used as labourers. By 1875, over 110 million bricks had been produced in the brickfields created on the Island. That this expansion took place on a greenfield site aided the survival of the remarkable collection of 18th and 19th century industrial, administrative and domestic buildings which now form The Historic Dockyard. In other Royal Dockyards, original 18th century structures had to be demolished to make way for the new buildings required by the ‘steam navy’.

CLOSURE & REGENERATION

Much of the ship building in the 20th century was of submarines and latterly the refitting of nuclear submarines became a major activity. An early product of the ‘peace dividend’, the dockyard closed in 1984. Estimates vary as to the number of job losses but around 7,000 were probably lost within the dockyard and with almost as many in supporting industries. Traditionally the dockyard workforce was drawn from a very small area and coupled with the closure of the Isle of Grain refinery, the impact on the Medway Towns was significant. The site was essentially divided into three. The southernmost 80 acres, very much the original dockyard of the Age of Sail, were passed to Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust | , which exists to restore, preserve and interpret this unique site as a visitor attraction. This site contains over 90 buildings and structures of which 47 are listed.

The easternmost of Basin (no. 3) passed to Medway Ports to become the Chatham Docks, now owned by (External) Peel Ports. | The remaining 140 hectares (350 acres) of the site, including the other two basins and much of the 1860s area of development became Chatham Maritime, under the responsibility of English Estates, later English Partnerships, the Government’s urban regeneration agency. Chatham Maritime was at the time one of the largest urban regeneration sites in Europe.

Chatham Maritime contained HMS Pembroke - the shore-based training establishment built in the early 1900s - and a number of notable individual buildings, but also many unremarkable Victorian and 20th Century additions, plus large open areas on St Mary’s Island which had been used as sports facilities by the Navy.
Whilst there was some early use of existing buildings, such as HMS Pembroke, and development such as the Compass Centre, one of the main constraints was the limited road access into the site. This was alleviated by the construction of the Medway Tunnel and Northern Relief Road in the late 1990’s. English Partnerships also carried out extensive work on flood defences, remediation, and the installation of new services, in order to make it possible to attract new development to the Estate.
In 1999 English Partnerships gave way to South East England Development Agency ( (External) SEEDA | ), who have subsequently been replaced by the HCA who continue to develop Chatham Maritime.

CHATHAM MARITIME TRUST

During the early 1990’s, English Partnerships started to address the issue of legacy – how would the residual public domain and common infrastructure be looked after in a way which would ensure the future of the Chatham Maritime Estate?

English Partnerships wanted to create an arrangement that would give effective long-term management, be financially sound, and responsive to local interests.
The solution was to create a charity that would take over and maintain the public domain and infrastructure.
This route had significant advantages over alternative solutions: This charitable solution was a completely original approach. There was no known precedent to copy, so much of the work on forming the Trust broke new ground.

Chatham Maritime Trust was launched on 1st April 1997, acquiring an initial tranche of completed infrastructure, and an endowment fund. The Trust has a subsidiary company, Chatham Maritime Estate Ltd, which acts as a management company for the Estate.
The originality of this solution, and the success in its implementation, was recognised in 2007 when Chatham Maritime Trust won the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Award | for Property Management Strategy & Delivery in the Public Sector.

By the time the Chatham Maritime Estate is fully developed, the Trust will be responsible for the flood defences, the Victorian dock basins, the bridge, various public parks and play areas, extensive landscaping, some ancient monuments and public art, and selected unadopted estate roads.
Until development is complete, some ownership remains with the HCA and individual housebuilders, giving a sometimes intricate jigsaw of land ownership.

Chatham Maritime Trust

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