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Chatham, Kent

Coordinates: 51°22′N 0°31′E / 51.37°N 0.52°E / 51.37; 0.52
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the municipality in Ontario, Canada, see Chatham-Kent.

Chatham
Town
Chatham Riverside from Sun Pier
Coat of arms of Chatham
Chatham is located in Kent
Chatham
Chatham
Location within Kent
Population80,596 (2020 ONS)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ765659
• London33 mi (53 km) WNW
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCHATHAM
Postcode districtME4, ME5
Dialling code01634
PoliceKent
FireKent
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Kent
51°22′N 0°31′E / 51.37°N 0.52°E / 51.37; 0.52

Chatham (/ˈtʃætəm/ CHAT-əm) is a town within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. In 2020 it had a population of 80,596.

The town developed around Chatham Dockyard and several army barracks, together with 19th-century forts which provided a defensive shield for the dockyard. The Corps of Royal Engineers is still based in Chatham at Brompton Barracks.

The dockyard closed in 1984, but the remaining naval buildings are an attraction for a flourishing tourist industry. Following closure, part of the site was developed as a commercial port, other parts were redeveloped for business and residential use, and part was used as the Chatham Historic Dockyard museum. Its attractions include the submarine HMS Ocelot.

The town has important road links and the railway and bus stations are the main interchanges for the area. It is the administrative headquarters of Medway unitary authority, as well as its principal shopping centre.

Toponymy

[edit]

The name Chatham is first attested in a charter of 880 (surviving in a twelfth-century manuscript); it appears again in a charter of 975 as Cætham, and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ceteham. The first element of the name comes from the Common Brittonic word that survives in modern Welsh as coed ("woodland"). The second element is the Old English word hām ("settlement"). At the point when the current name was coined, then, it meant "settlement at Chat". The Old English term for the settlement's inhabitants is also reconstructable from a twelfth-century copy of a charter of 995, as *Cēthǣmas.[2][3][4][5]: 316 

History

[edit]

The A2 road passes by Chatham along the line of the ancient Celtic route. It was paved by the Romans, and named Watling Street by the Anglo-Saxons. Among archaeological finds here have been the remains of a Roman-era cemetery.

Chatham was long a small village on the banks of the river. By the 16th century, warships were being moored at Jillingham water (Gillingham), because of its strategic sheltered location between London and the Continent. It was established as a Royal Dockyard by Queen Elizabeth I in 1568, and most of the dockyard lies within Gillingham. Initially a refitting base, it became a shipbuilding yard; from then until the late 19th century, further expansion of the yard took place. In its time, many thousands of men were employed at the dockyard, and many hundreds of vessels were launched there, including HMS Victory, which was built there in the 1760s. After World War I, many submarines were also built in Chatham Dockyard.

Looking from the river at Sun Pier along the Great Barrier Ditch, to the Gun Platforms at Fort Amherst

In addition to the dockyard, defensive fortifications were built to protect it from attack. Upnor Castle had been built in 1567, but had proved ineffectual; the Dutch raid on the Medway in 1667 showed that more defences were required. The fortifications, which became more elaborate as the threat of invasion grew, were begun in 1756 as a complex across the neck of the peninsula formed by the bend in the River Medway, and included Fort Amherst. The threat of a land-based attack from the south during the 19th century led to the construction of more forts.

The second phase of fort-building (1806-19) included Fort Pitt (later used as a hospital and the site of the first Army Medical School). The 1859 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom ordered, inter alia, a third outer ring of forts: these included Fort Luton,[6] Fort Bridgewoods, and Fort Borstal.[7]

These fortifications all required military personnel to man them and Army barracks to house those men. These included Kitchener Barracks (c 1750-80), the Royal Marine Barracks (c 1780), Brompton Artillery Barracks (1806)[8] and Melville Barracks (opened 1820 as a Naval hospital, RM barracks from 1905).[9] HMS Collingwood and HMS Pembroke were both naval barracks.

In response to the huge manpower needs, the village of Chatham and other nearby villages and towns grew commensurately. Trams, and later buses, linked those places to bring in the workforce.[10] The area between the High Street and Luton village illustrates part of that growth, with its many streets of Victorian terraces.

The importance of Chatham Dockyard gradually declined as Britain's naval resources were reduced or moved to other locations, and eventually, on 31 March 1984, it shut. The dockyard buildings were preserved as the historic site Chatham Historic Dockyard (operated by Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust[11]), which was under consideration as a World Heritage Site[12][13] the site is being used for other purposes. Part of the St Mary's Island section is now used as a marina, and the remainder is being developed for housing, commercial and other uses, branded as "Chatham Maritime".[14]

Governance

[edit]
Medway Council Building at Gun Wharf
Chatham Town Hall (opened in 1900) now serves as a theatre.

Chatham lost its independence as a borough under the Local Government Act 1972, by which, on 1 April 1974, it became part of the Borough of Medway, a non-metropolitan district of the county of Kent; under subsequent renaming the borough became the Borough of Rochester-upon-Medway (1979); and, from 1982, the City of Rochester-upon-Medway. Under the most recent change, in 1998, and with the addition of the Borough of Gillingham, the Borough of Medway became a unitary authority area, administratively separate from Kent.[15] It remains part of the county of Kent for ceremonial purposes.

Medway Council has recently moved its main administration building to Gun Wharf, the site of the earliest part of the dockyard,[16] a former Lloyd's office building.[17] It was built between 1976 and 1978 and is Grade II listed.[18]

Chatham is part of the parliamentary constituency of Chatham and Aylesford. Before 1997, Chatham had been included in the constituencies of Mid Kent, Rochester and Chatham and Chatham.

Chatham has proven to be a marginal parliamentary seat. Since 1945, the members of parliament for Chatham have been as follows:

Election Member Party
1945 Arthur Bottomley Labour
1959 Julian Critchley Conservative
1964 Anne Kerr Labour
1970 Peggy Fenner Conservative
Oct 1974 Robert Bean Labour
1979 Peggy Fenner Conservative
1983 Andrew Rowe Conservative
1997 Jonathan Shaw Labour
2010 Tracey Crouch Conservative
2024 Tristan Osborne Labour

Geography

[edit]
(1) Chatham Dockyard, seen from Fort Pitt, ca. 1830.[19]
(2) Chatham Town Centre from the Great Lines
(3) Luton Valley, from Darland Banks
Chatham Naval Memorial
The A2 road at Luton Arches. The New Road runs underneath the Luton Arches Footbridge.
Sir John Hawkins Flyover, which was demolished in 2009.
Chatham Waterfront bus station

Chatham is situated where the lower part of the dip slope of the North Downs meets the River Medway which at this point is flowing in a south–north direction. This gives the right bank, where the town stands, considerable advantages from the point of view of river use. Compared with opposite bank, the river is fast-flowing and deep; the illustration (1), an early print of the settlement, is taken from the point where Fort Pitt now stands. The town lies below at river level, curving round to occupy a south-easterly trending valley (The Brook), in which lies the High Street. Beyond the Chatham Dockyard was marshy land, now called St Mary's Island, and has several new developments of housing estates. The New Road crosses the scene below the vantage point of the illustration.

Illustration (2) is taken from the opposite side of the valley: the Pentagon Shopping Centre is to the right, with the building on the ridge left of centre, Fort Pitt and Rochester lies beyond that ridge; and Frindsbury is on the rising ground in the right distance.

The valley continues southeastwards as the Luton Valley, in which is the erstwhile village of that name; and Capstone Valley. The Darland Banks, the northern slopes of the Luton Valley above these valleys, are unimproved chalk grassland. The photograph (3), taken from the Banks and looking south, shows the village in the centre, with the rows of Victorian terraced housing, which unusually follow the contour lines. The opposite slopes are the ‘'Daisy Banks'’ and ‘'Coney Banks'’, along which some of the defensive forts were built (including Fort Luton, in the trees to the left)

Until the start of the 20th century, most of the south part of the borough was entirely rural, with a number of farms and large tracts of woodland. The beginning of what is now Walderslade was when a speculative builder began to build the core of the village in Walderslade Bottoms.[20]

Demography

[edit]

Chatham became a market town in its own right in the 19th century, and a municipal borough in 1890. By 1831 its population had reached more than 16,000. By 1961 it had reached 48,800.[21]

Economy

[edit]

The closure of the Royal Navy Dockyard on 31 March 1984 had the effect of changing the employment statistics of the town. About 7,000 people lost their jobs. The unemployment rate went up to 23.5%.[22] From early April 1984 to December 1985, and onwards, the Medway Towns began to have an increase in alcohol and drug-related, antisocial behaviour, which many residents then realized had largely been caused by the closure of the dockyard in 1984, and the resulting mass redundancies. There has been a concerted effort to revitalise the Thames Gateway area and one of the largest employers in Chatham is now Vanquis Bank Ltd, a subsidiary of Vanquis Banking Group.[23]

Landmarks

[edit]

The Chatham Naval Memorial commemorates the 18,500 officers, ranks and ratings of the Royal Navy who were lost or buried at sea in World War I and World War II. The Chatham Naval Memorial was constructed from March 1924 to October 1924. The addition of the obelisk and Portland stone plaque walls and surroundings were constructed between June 1952 to October 1952. It stands on the Great Lines, the escarpment ridge between Chatham and Gillingham.

The Grade II listed building Chatham Town Hall was built in January 1900;[24] it stands in The Brook, and is of a unique architectural design. With Chatham being part of the Medway Towns, it took on a new role as the Medway Arts Centre in April 1987, with the promotional motto "Putting The Arts Back into The Medway". There were many events held within the Medway Arts Centre, including many stage plays, themed nights and snooker tournaments. Likewise during May 1990, the Medway Arts Centre organised a large parade, composed of dancers, musicians, artists and sculptors, who stood upon theatrical lorry floats. The vehicles were initially parked up next to the entrance into the Theatre Royal Cafe, a popular restaurant in the Chatham Town Hall, on Whiffens Avenue, and then started to travel into Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Frindsbury, where sweets, chocolate, posters, badges, leaflets, stickers and T-shirts were handed out to the crowds, to promote the Medway Arts Centre. In April 1997, the Medway Arts Centre became the Brook Theatre.[25]

The Pentagon Shopping Centre stands in the town centre and serviced the old Pentagon Bus Station that was closed in September 2011.[26] Chatham Waterfront bus station opened in October 2011, replacing the town's previous Pentagon Bus Station which was opened in 1970, before the Pentagon Shopping Centre was opened in 1975, and was considered an unwelcoming environment for passengers. This was because of the diesel fumes from the buses, coaches and minibuses, and because the waiting areas would sometimes become very crowded, whenever large groups of customers from the Pentagon Shopping Centre used the stairs and escalators, to get on board the green buses, coaches and minibuses that were managed by Maidstone & District Motor Services.

Transport

[edit]
Main article: River Medway

The Medway, apart from Chatham Dockyard, has always had an important role in communication: historically it provided a means for the transport of goods to and from the interior of Kent. Stone, timber and iron from the Weald for shipbuilding and agricultural produce were among the cargoes. Sun Pier in Chatham was one of many such along the river. By 1740, barges of forty tons could navigate as far upstream as Tonbridge.[21] Today its use is confined to tourist traffic; apart from the marina, there are many yacht moorings on the river itself.

The position of the road network in Chatham began with the building of the Roman road (Watling Street, which passed through the town. Turnpike trusts were established locally, so that the length from Chatham to Canterbury was turnpiked in 1730; and the Chatham to Maidstone road (now the A230) was also turnpiked before 1750. The High Street was bypassed in 1769, by the New Road (see illustration (1)) leading from the top of Star Hill Rochester, to the bottom of Chatham Hill at Luton Arches. This also became inadequate for the London cross-channel traffic and the Medway Towns Bypass, the M2 motorway, was constructed to divert through traffic south of the Medway Towns.

Chatham is the hub of the Medway Towns. This fact means that the existing road system has always proved inadequate for the amount of traffic it has to handle, and various schemes have been tried by Rochester-Upon-Medway City Council, to alleviate the congestion. The High Street itself is traffic free, so all traffic on Best Street and Railway Street has to skirt around it. The basic west–east routes are The Brook to the north and New Road to the south, but the additional problems caused by the situation of the Pentagon Bus Station meant that conflicting traffic flows were the result, from 1975 and onward. From April 1986 and onward until October 1987, the town centre remodelling of Chatham began, and Railway Street was realigned into becoming part of an inner ring road, that became a one-way system. This redevelopment included the demolition of the House of Holland department store in January 1987, and the construction of the Sir John Hawkins Flyover in Chatham, that was opened in February 1989, so the traffic could be carried from south to north over the High Street.

In September 2006, the one-way system was abandoned and two-way traffic reintroduced on most of the ring-road system.[27] Further work on the road system commenced early in 2009, and as of early 2010, the demolition of the Sir John Hawkins Flyover has been completed. It was replaced by a street-level, buses only, road coupled with repositioning of the bus station. The new Waterfront bus station opened in October 2011.[28]

Medway Towns Rail
Legend
High Speed 1
to London St Pancras
Chatham Main Line
to London Victoria
North Kent Line
to London Charing Cross
Bromley South
Dartford
London Boro' of Bromley
Borough of Dartford
Ebbsfleet
International
Longfield
Borough of Dartford
Borough of Gravesham
Borough of Dartford
Borough of Gravesham
Meopham
Gravesend
Sole Street
Hoo Junction
Staff Halt
Borough of Gravesham
Borough of Medway
The
Hundred of
Hoo Railway
Medway Valley Line
to Maidstone
Higham
Halling
Borough of Gravesham
Borough of Medway
Cuxton
Higham and
Strood Tunnels
3931 yd
3595 m
High Speed 1
M2 motorway
Strood
(Old Terminus)
 Strood
Rochester
Bridge
(LCDR)
River Medway
Rochester Bridge
Goods station
Rochester Common
Rochester
Chatham Central
Fort Pitt Tunnel
428 yards (391 m)
River Medway
 Chatham
Chatham Tunnel
297 yards (272 m)
Gillingham Tunnel
897 yards (820 m)
Gillingham
to Chatham Dockyard
Gillingham EMU depot
Rainham
Chatham Main Line
to Dover & Ramsgate

Chatham railway station, opened in 1858, serves both the North Kent and the Chatham Main Lines, and is the interchange between the two lines. It lies in the valley between the Fort Pitt and the Chatham Tunnels. There are three trains an hour to London Victoria, two trains an hour to London Charing Cross, two trains an hour to Luton (via London Bridge, St Pancras and Luton Airport Parkway) and two services an hour to St Pancras via High Speed 1. The former services run to Dover and Ramsgate; the Charing Cross services terminate at Gillingham and the High Speed services terminate at Faversham.

Part of the industrial railway in what is now Chatham Historic Dockyard is still in operation, run by the North Kent Industrial Locomotive Society.[29]

Buses are operated by Arriva Southern Counties and Nu-Venture to various destinations. They serve other towns in Medway including Gillingham, Grain, Strood and Rochester and also to other towns in Kent including Maidstone, Gravesend, Blue Bell Hill and Sittingbourne. There is also an express bus via Strood and Rochester and A2 to Bluewater in Greenhithe.

Religion

[edit]

In the 19th century the ecclesiastical parish of Chatham included Luton and Brompton and also Chatham Intra (land on the river that was administered by the City of Rochester).[30] Chatham's parish church, St Marys, which stood on Dock Road, was rebuilt in 1788. St John's was a Waterloo church built in 1821 by Robert Smirke, and restructured in 1869 by Gordon Macdonald Hills;[31] it ceased being an active church in 1964, and is currently used as an art project.[32] St Paul's New Road was built in 1854; declared redundant in 1974, it has been demolished. St Peter's Troy Town was built in 1860. Christchurch Luton was built in 1843, replaced in 1884. The Royal Dockyard church (1806) was declared redundant in 1981.

St Michael's is a Roman Catholic church, that was built in 1863. There is a Unitarian Chapel built in 1861.

Chatham is reputed to be the home of the first Baptist chapel in north Kent, the Zion Baptist Chapel in Clover Street. The first known pastor was Edward Morecock who settled there in the 1660s. During Cromwell's time Morecock had been a sea-captain and had been injured in battle. His knowledge of the River Medway is reputed to have preserved him from persecution in the reign of King Charles II. A second Baptist chapel was founded about 1700. The Ebenezer Chapel dates from 1662.

Chatham Memorial Synagogue was built by Simon Magnus in 1867 on the Chatham end of Rochester High Street in Rochester.[33]

Education

[edit]

For a full list of schools serving Chatham visit List of schools in Medway

Sports

[edit]

The town's Association Football club, Chatham Town F.C., plays in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League having gained two successive promotions in the 21/22[34] and 22/23[35] seasons. Lordswood F.C. plays in the Southern Counties East Football League. The defunct Chatham Excelsior F.C. were one of the early pioneers of football in Southern England.[36] Football league side Gillingham F.C. are seen to represent Medway as a whole.[citation needed] Holcombe Hockey Club is one of the largest in the country, and are based in Chatham. The men's 1st XI are part of the England Hockey League.[37]

Kite Flying is possible, especially power kiting on the Great Lines Heritage Park (between Gillingham and Chatham) and at Capstone Farm Country Park.[38]

Skiing is also possible near Capstone Farm Country Park at Capstone Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre.[39]

[edit]
Panorama of the River Medway

On a cultural level, Chatham gave birth to several movements in literature, art and music. In the period from 1977 until 1982 the Medway Delta Sound emerged. The term was coined as a joke by the Chatham-born writer, painter and musician Billy Childish after Russ Wilkins's Medway-based record label, Empire Records, used the phrase "From The Medway Delta". Several Medway Delta bands gained international recognition, including The Milkshakes, The Prisoners (see also James Taylor Quartet) and The Dentists.[citation needed]

Out of the Kent Institute of Art & Design (KIAD), now the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) came the band known as Wang Chung. The vocalist and guitarist with Wang Chung, Jeremy Ryder, who is better known as Jack Hues attended KIAD. Alongside such individuals was Alan Denman, who became a well established lecturer at KIAD, and who founded The Flying Circuits in 1984, which became an urban theatre movement in the Medway Towns. Many students from KIAD played various acting roles within The Flying Circuits, in Chatham, Gillingham and London. The scenes performed by The Flying Circuits were entirely based upon excerpts from the Electronic Town, a screenplay written by Alan Denman between January and October 1984, which concerned a futuristic science fiction dystopia. Denman also helped to form The Medway Poets with Billy Childish, Robert Earl, Bill Lewis, Sexton Ming and Charles Thomson. The Medway Poets met regularly at the York Tavern & Railway Inn, in Ordnance Street, Chatham, from 1974 to 1985, near KIAD at Fort Pitt in Rochester, and Chatham railway station. Chatham has always had a strong musical and creative arts heritage that has remained centred on local groups, many of whom were also part of the KIAD. Charles Thomson and Billy Childish went on to create the artistic movement known as Stuckism in 1999.[40][41]

There was a resurgence in the live music scene in early 2001, with an initial focus on the Tap 'n' Tin venue in Chatham. The essence of the original greatness of the Medway Delta Sound was revived by music and poetry evenings promoted by David Wise's Urban Fox Press, which also published several books by Medway poets and artists. In 2008. the independent arts organisation Medway Eyes was founded, specialising in music and photography. It had promoted several arts exhibitions and gigs at The Barge, at 63 Layfield Road, in Gillingham (now closed) and the Nag's Head at 292 Rochester High Street, but disbanded in 2013.[42]

The Medway Poets were formed in 1975 and disbanded in 1982 having performed at the Kent Literature Festival and many others in South East England and on TV and Radio. They became a major influence to writers in the Medway Towns. From the core of this group the anti conceptual/pro painting movement of Remodernism came into being.[citation needed]

Recent Medway artists of note include Kid Harpoon, Crybaby Special and The Monsters, Red Light, Underground Heroes, Tyrannosaurus Alan,[43] Pete Molinari, Lupen Crook, Brigadier Ambrose, Stuart Turner and Theatre Royal.[44]

The term 'Chav', research suggests, does not derive from Chatham's name ("Chatham Average"), but is derived from the Romany word for 'youngster'. Before the Chatham Dockyard was closed down on 31 March 1984, the cultural idea of the Chav did not exist in the Medway Towns.[45][46]

Local media

[edit]

Newspapers

[edit]

Local newspapers for Chatham include Medway News and Medway Standard, both published by Kent Regional News and Media; and the Medway Messenger, published by the KM Group. The town also has free newspapers in the Medway Extra (KM Group) and yourmedway (KOS Media).

Radio

[edit]

The local commercial radio station for Chatham is KMFM Medway, owned by the KM Group. Medway is also served by community radio station Radio Sunlightbased in Richmond road between the high street and the River Medway. The area can also receive the county wide stations BBC Radio Kent, Heart and Gold, as well as many radio stations in Essex and Greater London.

Television

[edit]

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian from the Bluebell Hill TV transmitter, supplemented by a low power relay transmitter in the town centre.[47]

Notable people

[edit]
Ordnance Terrace in October 2007

Charles Dickens lived in the town as a boy, both in 'The Brook, Chatham' and in Ordnance Terrace before Chatham railway station was built just opposite. He subsequently described it as the happiest period of his childhood, and eventually returned to the area in adulthood when he bought a house in nearby Gad's Hill. Medway features in his novels. He then moved to Rochester, a nearby town, also part of the Medway Towns.

Others who were born or who lived or live in Chatham:

Entertainers

[edit]

Sportsmen

[edit]

Twin towns

[edit]

Chatham is twinned with Valenciennes, France.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Population figures for all major UK towns and cities https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/populationfiguresforallmajoruktownsandcities
  2. ^ A. D. Mills, A Dictionary of British Place-Names, 2003, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852758-6
  3. ^ Judith Glover, The Place Names of Kent, 1976, Batsford. ISBN 0-905270-61-4
  4. ^ Watts, Victor, ed. (2004). The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521168557., s.v. Chatham.
  5. ^ Coates, Richard; Breeze, Andrew (2000). Celtic Voices, English Places: Studies of the Celtic Impact on Place-Names in Britain. Stamford: Tyas. ISBN 1900289415..
  6. ^ Now a heritage site
  7. ^ "Fortified Places > Fortresses > Chatham". fortified-places.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2007.
  8. ^ Although the postal address of Brompton Barracks (now the headquarters of the Royal Engineers) indicates Chatham as its location, Brompton village lies in Gillingham
  9. ^ "Medway lines website". Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  10. ^ Harley, Robert J. (1994). Maidstone and Chatham Tramways. Middleton Press. ISBN 1-873793-40-5.
  11. ^ "The Historic Dockyard Chatham – Your Big Day Out in Kent". Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
  12. ^ "Chatham Naval Dockyard". UNESCO. Archived from the original on 12 September 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  13. ^ Masters, Sam (9 January 2014). "Chatham dockyard's bid for Unesco World Heritage Site status is blocked". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Chatham Maritime" Archived 26 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine article on SEEDA website. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  15. ^ Rochester, The past 2000 years, Published Privately City of Rochester Society 1999.
  16. ^ "Character Area 5: Gun Wharf" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  17. ^ "Medway Matters" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  18. ^ Historic England https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/files/40D3AE7DD53D70776D16D4C755389B05/pdf/MC_22_0605-HISTORIC_ENGLAND_COMMENTS-5994336.pdf[permanent dead link]
  19. ^ From W. H. Ireland's History of Kent
  20. ^ Walderslade Online: A Short History of Walderslade Village Archived 25 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ a b Jessup, Frank W. (1966). Kent History Illustrated. Kent County Council.
  22. ^ "Can Sandwich learn from the Chatham Dockyard closure?". BBC News. 3 February 2011. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  23. ^ "Suspicious package containing white powder sent to Vanquis Bank call centre in Chatham Maritime". Kent Online. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  24. ^ "Former Town Hall and Medway Arts Centre, Chatham". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. 1 June 1990. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  25. ^ Selby, Jade. "Medway theatres". medway.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 February 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  26. ^ "Pentagon Shopping Centre". Pentagon Shopping Centre. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  27. ^ "Chatham two way". BBC. 2006. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2009.
  28. ^ "Town flyover demolition next month". Medway Messenger. 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009.[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ "Chatham Historic Dockyard Railway". Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  30. ^ John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72)
  31. ^ Macadam, Edwin and Sheila. "St John the Divine, Chatham, Kent – CHURCH FOR SALE". westgallerychurches.com. Archived from the original on 14 September 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  32. ^ "Church transformed into vineyard". BBC News. 25 October 2004. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
  33. ^ Rochester, The past 2000 years, (City of Rochester Society) 1999.
  34. ^ Cawdell, Luke (9 April 2022). "Chatham Town thrash Erith & Belvedere 10-1 to clinch promotion to the Isthmian League". Kent Online. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  35. ^ Reeves, Thomas (17 April 2023). "Chats crowned Isthmian South East champions with sixth win in a row". Kent Online. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  36. ^ "The Beautiful History of Club Crests, Club Colours & Nicknames". 9 January 2011. Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  37. ^ http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/fl/ehl/tables.asp?section=355 Archived 11 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine England Hockey League tables
  38. ^ "Powerkiting flying spots in and around Kent". Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  39. ^ "Capstone Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre". Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
  40. ^ Stuckism. "Charles Thomson essay, A Stuckist on Stuckism". stuckism.com. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  41. ^ Fitzgerald, Mary (December 2001). "Stuck like a Child". Fortnight (401): 27–28. JSTOR 25560476.
  42. ^ "Medway Eyes". wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 30 July 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  43. ^ "Tyrannosaurus Alan". guilfest.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  44. ^ "Theatre Royal Rochester, UK". bandcamp.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  45. ^ "Savvy Chavvy: social entrepreneurs engage gypsies". The Telegraph. London. 24 July 2008. Archived from the original on 26 January 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
  46. ^ Quinion, Michael. "Chav". Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  47. ^ "Chatham Town (Medway, England) Freeview Light transmitter". May 2004.
  48. ^ Riley, Malcolm (23 September 2004). "Whitlock, Percy William (1903–1946)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/55920. Retrieved 17 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  49. ^ Allderidge, Patricia H. (23 September 2004). "Dadd, Richard (1817–1886)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37337. Retrieved 18 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  50. ^ Mitchell, Rosemary (2004). "Benger, Elizabeth Ogilvy (1777–1827), historian and novelist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2093. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 18 March 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  51. ^ Fryer, Peter (23 September 2004). "Cuffay, William (bap. 1788, d. 1870), Chartist". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/71636. Retrieved 18 February 2019. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  52. ^ "Andrew Crofts – Midfielder – First Team – Newport County". newport-county.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.

Bibliography

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  • Hughes, David (2004), Chatham Naval Dockyard and Barracks, The History Press ISBN 0-7524-3248-6
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