Chatham in Kent County England History and Geography

CHATHAM, a market town and parish, adjoining the city of ROCHESTER, but chiefly in the hundred of CHATHAM and GILLINGHAM, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 8 miles (N. by E.) from Maidstone, and 30 (E. by S.) from London, containing 15,268 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Ceteham and Cettham, derives its name from the Saxon Cyte, a cottage, and Ham, a village, and till it rose into importance as the seat of one of the principal naval arsenals in the kingdom, was, as its name implies, only an inconsiderable village of cottages. Previously to the Conquest, the lord of the manor espoused the cause of Harold, and for his loyalty to that prince was, after the accession of William, deprived of his possessions, which were conferred upon Crevec'ur, one of the Normans who accompanied the Conqueror to England. The town is situated on the south-east bank of the river Medway, and on the north side of Chatham hill, and, though extensive, is irregularly built, partly from the nature of the ground, and partly from the large space occupied by its vast naval establishments. The dock-yard for the royal navy was commenced in the reign of Elizabeth; it then occupied the site of the present ordnance wharf, and was protected by Upnor castle, which that queen caused to be erected for its defence. In 1622, it was removed to its present situation, and greatly enlarged by Charles I., who erected capacious store-houses, and constructed new docks, to enable ships to float in with the tide: it was still farther improved by Charles II., in whose reign the Dutch Admiral de Ruyter, having cast anchor at the Nore with fifty sail of the line, sent his vice-admiral, Van Ghent, with seventeen of his lightest vessels, and eight fire-ships, to destroy the shipping in the river Medway. The vice-admiral attacked and took Sheerness, though gallantly defended by Sir Edward Spragge, blew up the fortifications, burnt the store-houses, and, sailing up the Medway with six of his men of war and five fireships, destroyed three vessels in the river, and came in front of Upnor castle, at that time defended by Major Scot, whose warm reception of the assailant frustrated his attempt on Chatham.

The dock-yard occupies an extensive area, nearly a mile in length, enclosed on the land side by a high wall, and defended by strong fortifications, principally of modern erection; the entrance is through a spacious gateway, flanked by two embattled towers. The houses of the commissioner and the principal officers are spacious and handsome buildings, and the various offices in the several departments of the yard are neat and commodiously arranged: the numerous store-houses, one of which is six hundred and sixty feet in length, contain an immense quantity of every article necessary for the building and equipment of ships of the largest dimensions, all arranged with such order and exactness, that upon any emergency a first-rate man of war may be equipped for sea in a few weeks. The masthouse is two hundred and forty feet in length, and one hundred and twenty feet wide; many of the masts deposited in it are three feet in diameter and forty yards in height; the timber for making them is constantly kept floating in two capacious basins. The new ropehouse is one thousand one hundred and ten feet in length, and fifty feet wide; by the aid of powerful machinery, cables of great dimensions are twisted here, some of them being one hundred fathoms in length, and twenty-five inches in circumference: the sail-loft is two hundred and ten feet long: the smith's shop, where anchors of the largest size are made, of which some weigh five tons, contains forty forges, for the manufacture also of the ironwork necessary for ship-building. At the north-eastern extremity of the dock-yard are the saw-mills, recently erected on a very extensive scale, under the superintendence of Mr. Brunel, and worked with powerful machinery propelled by steam; in the sawing-room, which is ninety feet square, are fixed eight saw-frames, each capable of carrying from one to thirty saws, and two circular saw benches, with windlasses and capstans for supplying them with wood, the whole set in motion by an engine which produces eighty strokes of the saws in a minute. To the north of the mills, where the ground is appropriated to the stowage of timber, is a canal, which, on entering the rising ground, passes under a tunnel, three hundred feet long, into an elliptie basin, forty-four feet deep, of which the longer diameter is ninety, and the shorter seventy-two feet, from which the timber, having been floated into the basin from the river by means of the canal, is raised by machinery with extraordinary velocity. Connected with the steam-engine of the saw-mills are extensive water-works, for the supply of the dock-yard; and on the iron pipes laid down for that purpose in various parts of the yard are fire plugs, from which, when opened, rises a jet d'eau above the summits of the highest buildings. There are four wet docks sufficiently capacious for first-rate men of war; and a new stone dock upon a still larger scale has been recently constructed. There are six slips or launches for building ships of the largest dimensions. Among the many fine vessels launched from this dock-yard, may be noticed, the Royal Sovereign, of one hundred guns, built just before the Restoration of Charles II.; the new Royal George, of one hundred guns, built in 1788; the Royal Charlotte, of one hundred guns; the Ville de Paris, of one hundred and ten; the Howe, of one hundred and twenty guns; the Trafalgar, of one hundred and four guns; and the Prince Regent, of one hundred and twenty guns: the Waterloo, of one hundred and twenty guns; the London, of ninety-two, and the Monarch, of eighty-four, are now on the slips. The principal officers of the establishment are, a commissioner (who is now the commissioner belonging to Sheerness), a master in attendance, master shipwright, clerk of the cheque, storekeeper, clerk of the survey, clerk of the rope-yard, a master rope-maker, a master sail-maker, a master boatbuilder, a master joiner, a master blacksmith, a master mason and bricklayer, a master house-carpenter, a master painter, boatswain, warden, and surgeon. In time of war the number of artificers and labourers employed in this dock-yard exceeds three thousand: within the walls is a neat brick chapel, erected in 1811, at an expense of £9000, for the accommodation of the families resident within the limits of the yard. The ordnance wharf occupies a narrow site of land between the church and the river, to the west of the dock-yard, and still called the old dock: the guns belonging to each ship are deposited in separate tiers, with the weight of metal and the name of the ship to which they belong marked on them; the gun-carriages are laid up under cover, and immense quantities of balls (technically termed shot) are piled up pyramidally in various parts of the wharf: the armoury contains hostile weapons of every kind, ranged in admirable order. The principal officers of this establishment are, a store-keeper and deputy storekeeper. A large building has lately been erected for the grinding of paint, and the rolling and smelting of lead by steam.

Prior to the year 1760, the defence of the arsenal was entrusted principally to guard-ships in the river, to forts erected on its banks, especially at Sheerness, which, after the attempt made by the Dutch in 1667, had been enlarged, with new fortifications, mounted with heavy ordnance; to Upnor castle, built by Queen Elizabeth; and to a small fort below Gillingham, erected by Charles I. In 1758, an act of parliament was passed for the purchase of land, and for the construction of such works as might be requisite for the perfect security of this important arsenal, under the provisions of which act, the extensive fortifications called the Lines were erected: these works commence above the ordnance wharf, on the bank of the Medway, and are continued round an area one mile in extent from east to west, and half a mile from north to south, including the church of Chatham, the village of Brompton, which is principally inhabited by the artificers in the yard, the barracks, magazines, &c.; to beyond the western extremity of the dock-yard, where they again meet the river. These fortifications were enlarged during the American war, and strengthened by the erection of a strong redoubt on the summit of an eminence commanding the river. In 1782, another act was passed, for their farther improvement, under which considerable additions have been made to the lines. Fort Pitt, a strong redoubt flanking the western extremity of the lines, is situated on an eminence overlooking the town, and commanding the upper part of the river; since the conclusion of the war it has been used as an hospital for invalids. The lower, or marine barracks, are a spacious and uniform range of brick building, enclosing a spacious quadrangle: the upper barracks, in Brompton, are also neatly built of brick, and are extensive and commodious: the new artillery barracks, built in 1804, are a fine range, forming three sides of a quadrangle, and containing apartments for the officers, lodgings for one thousand two hundred men, and requisite stabling; the open side of the quadrangle, commands a fine view of the Medway in the fore-ground, and of the Thames in the distance: the artillery hospital, a neat building crected in 1809, contains wards for one hundred patients, with convenient apartments and offices for the medical establishment. Near the entrance into the town from Rochester are the premises formerly used as a victualling-office, for supplying with provisions ships lying at Chatham, Sheerness, and the Nore; they were leased by government of the Dean of Rochester, and at the expiration of the lease were converted to private purposes. The town was much improved under the provisions of an act passed in 1772, for paving it, and for lighting it, but the streets are still very narrow and inconvenient for carriages. A Philosophical and Literary Institution was established in 1827, the members of which are about to erect a building for the reception of their library, and the collection of natural curiosities, antiquities, &c.: the expense of its erection is estimated at £2000. There are two subscription libraries, one the United Service library, and the other the Marine library. Races are held annually in August. The market is on Saturday: fairs, for three days each, are held, May 15th and September 19th. Chatham is partly within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, and partly within the limits of the city of Rochester: it is also within the jurisdiction of a court of requests held at Rochester, for the recovery of debts under £5.

The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Rochester, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a neat plain structure of brick; the original edifice having been destroyed by fire at the commencement of the fourteenth century, a new one was built under the sanction of a bull from the pope, who granted an indulgence of one year and forty days to all who should contribute to the work; in 1635, it was repaired and enlarged for the increased population arising from the dock-yard, and the steeple was rebuilt by the commissioners of the royal navy; in 1788, the body of the church was taken down, and rebuilt of brick upon a larger scale, and the church-yard being found too small, the board of ordnance gave three acres of ground, at a short distance from the church, for a cemetery, which was consecrated in 1828. A new church was completed in 1821, at an expense of nearly £15,000, which was defrayed by the parliamentary commissioners. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Perpetual Curate of Chatham. The living of the dock-yard chapel is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Lords of the Admiralty. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. An edifice for a school was built in 1828, at an expense of £1600, defrayed by one hundred shareholders of £15 each, who have each the privilege, on payment of £6 per annum, of sending one boy to be instructed in the classics and in modern languages: the head master has a salary of £300, the second one of £150, and the third one of £100. A National school chiefly supported by subscription, has a small endowment of about £6. 13. 4., arising from tenements bequeathed by Mrs. Elizabeth Petty, in 1723. Melville, or Marine hospital, is a handsome range of building at a short distance from Chatham, begun in 1827, and finished in the following year, at an expense of £70,000, for the use of the whole naval department; it is built of brick and stuecoed; the front consists of three pavilions containing apartments for the accommodation of three hundred and forty patients; a colonnade extends the whole width, which is three hundred and twenty-two feet; and at the back are neat houses for the officers of the establishment. In 1078, Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, founded and endowed an hospital for lepers, which he dedicated to St. Bartholomew, of which the chapel only is remaining; the estate has been vested in the Dean of Rochester, who is governor and patron; there are at present four brethren, two of whom are in holy orders, and officiate as chaplains. An hospital for decayed mariners and shipwrights was founded by Sir John Hawkins, in 1592, in which twelve pensioners have cach a separate house, an allowance of eight shillings per week, and an annual supply of coal; the management is vested in twenty-six governors, of which number five are elective. A fund, commonly called the chest, for the relief of sailors who have been disabled in the service, was established by Sir Francis Drake, and Sir John Hawkins, Knts., in 1588, when, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the seamen of the royal navy agreed to contribute a portion of their pay for the relief of their distressed brethren; this chest was removed to the royal hospital at Greenwich in 1802, and the management of the funds, which was vested in the principal naval officers, has been transferred to the first lord of the admiralty, the comptroller of the navy, and the governor of Greenwich hospital. Numerous Roman remains were discovered in forming the fortifications. Chatham gives the title of earl to the family of Pitt.

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale