Chatham, Kent
Historical Description
Chatham, a municipal and parliamentary borough and a parish on the river Medway, in Kent, with stations on the L.C. & D.R. and S.E.R., 33 miles from London. The town was incorporated in 1890. The parliamentary borough comprises parts of the parishes of Chatham and Gillingham, and returns one member. Population of the municipal borough, 31,657; of the parliamentary, 59,210. Chatham has furnished numerous Roman remains, and was known to the Saxons as Coeddeham, and at Domesday as Ceteham. The manor belonged in the time of Edward the Confessor to Earl Godwin, was given by the Conqueror to Hamon de Crevecoeur, and passed to the Badlesmeres, the Despensers, the Wentworths, and others. A royal dockyard was formed here in the time of Elizabeth; was greatly enlarged by Charles I.; was the scene of a disastrous attack by a Dutch fleet in 1667; was materially improved by Charles II.; has been further enlarged from time to time; and is now one of the most important establishments of its kind in the kingdom. Many sovereigns have visited it, and Queen Victoria made a special visit in 1855, when she inspected the wounded soldiers from the Crimea.
The town forms a continuous line of buildings with Rochester, consists chiefly of a bustling street nearly 2 miles in length and several narrow streets, and presents the aspects of all large seaports. A steep lane, called Hamon Hill, leads to an elevated spot, commanding a fine view of the town and The environs. Many of the houses are old, and one with a carved front in High Street is pointed out as having been the residence of certain famous shipbuilders of the 16th and 17th centuries.
The chief public buildings are churches, chapels, hospitals, the dockyard, barracks, and the fortifications. St Mary's or the parish church was rebuilt in 1788; incorporates a doorway and three arches of a previous old Norman edifice; is Itself an ungainly structure; and contains several monuments preserved from the previous church, one of them a brass of Stephen Borough, the discoverer of the NW passage to Russia in 1553. In 1887 the chancel and side chapel were rebuilt. St John's Church was built in 1821 by the Parliamentary Commissioners at a cost of nearly £15,000, and was extensively altered in 1869. St Paul's Church was built in 1854, and is in the Norman style. There are Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Baptist, Bible Christian, and Congregational chapels. Hawkins' Hospital for decayed seamen and shipwrights has an income of £663. Paine's charity for widows has £324: a year. The Marine Hospital was built in 1828, and has accommodation for 340 patients. The artillery hospital is attached to the barracks, and has wards for 100 patients. There are a mechanics' institute and some other institutions. The Reform Club was opened in 1888. It is of red brick and stone in the Classic style, and cost over £5000. There is also a Conservative Club.
The dockyard is more than a mile long, walled round and fortified, and contains wet docks with capacity for the largest vessels. New works on marsh ground of about 320 acres to the NE of the dockyard were constructed from 1867 to 1871 at a cost of nearly £1,500,000, and include a repairing basin, sew docks, and extensive buildings. The greater part of these works was done by convicts, there being a large convict prison adjoining, though now unoccupied. The storehouses and workshops are admirably arranged, and can equip a first-rate man-of-war in a few days. The mast-house is 240 feet long and 120 wide; the rope-house is 1110 feet long and 50 wide; the smith's shop contains 50 forges; and the sawmills have ten saw frames, with capacity for 300 saws, and two circular-saw benches, with windlasses and capstans for supplying them with wood. The gun-wharf, adjoining the dockyard, is more a great storehouse than an arsenal, and contains a large park of artillery. The principal barracks extend along the Medway, and contain accommodation for upwards of 6000 men. Fort Pitt, on a hill overlooking the town, contains other barracks, a military hospital, and a military museum, and was constructed at the end of the 18th century. The fortifications, called the Chatham lines, enclose the dockyard and the principal barracks; include Brompton village, partly in Gillingham parish; run down to the Medway at the extremities of Chatham and Brompton; were commenced in 1758 and completed about 1807; and have since undergone extensive alterations and improvements. The fortress defending the dockyard ranks as one of the finest in England. There is a chain of very powerful forts around the town, to prevent any possibility of an enemy approaching the dockyard from land. Grand reviews and great military field operations take place about the lines, and attract great crowds to Chatham. There is a gymnasium for troops near the Brompton barracks. The Soldiers' and Seamen's Home and Institute was opened in 1887, and contains baths, recreation rooms, a large refreshment room, and a good library. The officers of the garrison have a good recreation and cricket ground.
The town has a head post office and two banks. A weekly market is held on Saturday. The town is supplied with water from large reservoirs on Chatham Hill. The chief trade arises from the dockyard and from shipbuilding. A pier was erected in 1886, and steamers touch at it several times a day on their way to Sheerness and Southend. The town gave the title of Earl to the family of Pitt.
The parish includes Chatham-Intra within the city of Rochester, the hamlet of Luton, and part of the village of Brompton. Acreage, 4444; population, 31,901. The livings of St Mary and St John are rectories, and that of St Paul a vicarage, in the diocese of Rochester; value of St Mary, £220 with residence; of St John, £320 with residence; and of St Paul, £176 with residence.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Kent | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Chatham St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Chatham and Gillingham | |
| Lathe | Aylesford | |
| Poor Law union | Medway |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register of St. Mary the Virgin dates fron the year 1552.
The register of St. John the Divine dates from the year 1821.
The register of St. Paul's dates from the year 1854.
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, All Saints: baptisms 1899-1915, marriages 1914-1935,
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, Ebenezer Chapel: baptisms 1816-1833,
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, Maidstone Road & Palmerston Road Cemetery : burials 1869-2007
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, Medway Crematorium: burials 1959-1980
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, New Jerusalem Church: baptisms 1845-1893
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, Royal Dockyard Church: baptisms 1867-1916
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, St George's Chapel: baptisms 1907-1916
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, St John: baptisms 1853-1915, marriages 1853-1935
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, St Mary: baptisms 1568-1915, marriages 1568-1935, burials 1568-1971
Findmypast have the following online for Chatham, St Paul: baptisms 1855-1915, marriages 1855-1935
Churches
Church of England
St. Bartholomew's Chapel
St. Bartholomew's chapel, situated in Chatham Intra and standing on the site of an ancient hospital for lepers, now serves as a chapel for the General Hospital, erected in 1863 in the adjoining road: the remains of the chapel, described by the late Sir Gilbert Scott R.A. as "a precious archaeological and historical relic," were brought to light in 1874, during the carrying out of some improvements in the High street and a committee was then formed to effect its restoration. This work, begun in July, 1880, was completed in April, 1881 and the building now consists of apsidal chancel, with north chapel, nave, north aisle, porch and a bell tower; the chancel has an open oak roof, dating from about 1350; original Norman windows and an ancient doorway, the windows of the north chapel, also Norman, have been re-opened, as well as three others in the nave, two of which retain their original wooden lintels: the north aisle, west front, porch and tower, are all new and have been wholly executed in stone: the chapel contains a fine organ, procured mostly at the cost of a former chaplain (the Rev. John Bailey M.A., LL.B.) and has received many other valuable gifts: the total cost of the restoration had been about £1,350: there are 120 sittings.
St. John the Divine
The church of St. John the Divine, erected in 1821 by a grant of the Parliamentary Commissioners and private subscriptions, at a cost of £16,000, is a building of the Grecian Doric order consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a tower containing a clock and 1 bell and was improved in 1859, at a cost of £3,000, and again in 1905 at a cost of £1,705, and affords 1,100 sittings.
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church or St. Mary the Virgin, standing close to the river, was originally Saxon, but was rebuilt by the Normans about 1120; it was subsequently destroyed by fire and again rebuilt at the beginning of the 14th century, but only to be a second time burnt in 1786, after which, in 1788, it was almost entirely rebuilt in the Debased Modern style then prevailing: the chancel and side chapel were rebuilt in 1889 of Kentish rag, in the Early English style, from designs by the late Sir A. W. Blomfield A.R.A. at a cost of £3,400, and in 1897 the Victoria tower, which contains 8 bells and a clock, was built at a cost of £3,600. The complete restoration of the rest of the fabric was effected in 1903, in accordance with the plans of the same architect, at a cost, including fittings, of £16,000. It still retains portions of Norman, Early English and Later work, including three Norman arches, discovered on taking down the west front, a narthex porch, and the rood loft stairs: in the church is the tomb of Stephen Borough, who discovered the passage to Archangel: there are 800 sittings.
St. Paul, New Road
St. Paul's church, in the New road, consecrated in January, 1854 is a building of Kentish rag with Bath stone dressings, in the Norman Transition style and consists of apsidal chancel, nave, transepts and tower at the south-east angle of the chancel, containing 1 bell: there are 600 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel, Cannon Street
Baptist Chapel, Clover Street
Baptist Chapel, Nelson Street
Congregational
Congregational Church, Clover Street
Methodist
Methodist Chapel, George Street
Wesleyan Chapel, James Street
Wesleyan Chapel, Ordnance Row
Wesleyan Chapel, High Street
Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church
The Presbyterian church, a building of galvanised iron, with slate roof, was erected in 1861, at the cost of £1,400, on ground near the railway station, granted by the War Department and will seat 500. This building was later replaced by St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, in 1903.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church of England, Victoria Gardens
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church of England, in Victoria gardens, was erected in 1903, to replace the former galvanised iron structure, at a cost of £7,000, and has 750 sittings; the site was given by the War Office.
Roman Catholic
St. Michael's Catholic Church, Hill's Terrace
St. Michael's Catholic church, Hills' terrace, erected in 1862 and 1863 by subscription, on a site purchased from the War Department for £375, was opened by the Right Rev. Dr. Grant on the 25th of June, 1863: the building characterised by rigid simplicity in its exterior, but has a fine internal effect and consists of nave and aisles under a continuous roof, the nave being separated from the aisles by lofty colonnades of Bath stone with double pillars: the cost of the structure was £3,000: it will seat 450 persons.
Unitarian
Unitarian Church, Hammond Hill
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Chatham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chatham (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Chatham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:
- Kent & Sussex Courier
- Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald
- Dover Express
- Kentish Gazette
- Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald
- Kentish Chronicle
- Maidstone Telegraph
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.