Brompton, Kent

Kitchener Barracks was a British Army installation located in Chatham, Kent. The site has a long and varied history, spanning over two and a half centuries of military service before its closure in 2014. Originally known as Chatham Infantry Barracks, the site was renamed Kitchener Barracks in 1928 and continued to serve as a military base until its closure. It is now undergoing redevelopment for residential housing while preserving key historic structures.

Garrison 1 Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Chatham, Kent. The ground is owned by the Ministry of Defence and has been used by military teams throughout its history, being linked with the various military establishments at Chatham. It has been known as the Nore Command Cricket Ground and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Recreation Ground, the Nore Command being associated with the nearby Chatham Dockyard. It remains the main home ground used by the Royal Engineers Cricket Club. The ground is located immediately west of the outer defences of Fort Amherst, part of the 18th century military defences associated with the naval base, at the south-west corner of the Chatham Lines, an area of open space historically containing a number of military fortifications. It is overlooked by the Chatham Naval Memorial and is around 0.9 kilometres (0.56 mi) north-east of Chatham town centre and 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) west of Gillingham town centre. Although technically the ground is in Gillingham it, along with the military establishments nearby, is traditionally referred to as being located in Chatham.

Garrison Stadium is a running track and sports field in Gillingham, Kent. The stadium has also been known as the United Services Sports Club, was built on land owned by the Ministry of Defence and was associated with the military establishments in the area such as Chatham Dockyard and Royal School of Military Engineering. The stadium is built on the area known as the Chatham Lines, an area of open space extending between Gillingham and Chatham. A cinder running track runs around the stadium. This was used in the 1960s for athletics meetings and Kent county schools championships and from 1968 by the City of Rochester Athletics Club. The central area of the stadium was used for rugby league by the Medway Dragons. The club now uses the playings fields attached to the stadium which are also used for association football and field hockey and were used in the past for cricket. Kent County Cricket Club used Garrison Ground 2, which was situated to the east of the stadium, for first-class and limited overs cricket matches between 1937 and 1972. The club has also used other pitches on the Chatham Lines, including Garrison 1 Cricket Ground and New Brompton Cricket Ground.

Fort Amherst, in Medway, South East England, was constructed in 1756 at the southern end of the Brompton lines of defence to protect the southeastern approaches to Chatham Dockyard and the River Medway against a French invasion. Fort Amherst is now open as a visitor attraction throughout the year with tours provided through the tunnel complex

Chatham Naval Memorial is a large obelisk situated in the town of Chatham, Kent, which is in the Medway Towns. The memorial is a feature of the Great Lines Heritage Park. The huge expanse of the Great Lines was in its own right a layer of defence to protect Chatham Dockyard from attack.

The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Group provides a wide range of training for the British Army and Defence. This includes; Combat Engineers, Carpenters, Chartered Engineers, Musicians, Band Masters, Sniffer Dogs, Veterinary Technicians, Ammunition Experts, Bomb Disposal Operators, and Counter Chemical Warfare experts, as well as Command and Leadership.

Chatham Ragged School is a former ragged school in King Street, Chatham, Kent. Built in 1858, it served as a free school for poor and destitute children under the Victorian “ragged school” movement. The modest one-storey brick structure still bears its original “RAGGED SCHOOL” stone plaque above the entrance. On April 21, 2020, it was designated a Grade II listed building in recognition of its historical importance. Ragged schools were 19th-century charities providing free basic education to the poorest children. The movement began with individuals like John Pounds (who taught street children for free in Portsmouth from 1818) and was organized nationally by the Ragged School Union (founded 1844). By 1870 around 350 ragged schools operated in Britain. In Chatham, a lecture by the Field Lane Ragged School secretary in 1849 inspired local volunteers to open a school for destitute children. Chatham Ragged School began in April 1849 in a small house on Queen Street. It quickly outgrew this site as demand grew in the densely populated Brook-area slums. In 1856 local supporters raised subscriptions to build a permanent school on new land provided at the top of King Street. 1849: Chatham ragged school opens in a Queen Street cottage (inspired by a lecture at the Mechanics’ Institute). 1856: Fundraising begins for a purpose-built school; the War Office grants a site at King Street and £20 towards costs. 7 October 1858: Foundation stone is laid (by Lady Harriet Smith, wife of Sir Frederick Smith, local MP). £250 of the £400 cost had been raised, with a gala bazaar in 1860 clearing the remaining deficit. c. 1860: New school building completed and opened. Designed by architect John Young (who gave his services free). Late 19th/Early 20th century: The ragged school operates for several decades; its exact closing date is unknown. It appears on an 1898 map as a school, but by 1903 maps still label it as “school” and by 1932 as a “hall”. 1930s: Much of Chatham’s Brook-area slums are demolished in clearance programs. The ragged school building survives as a rare vestige of the pre-20th-century community.

The Gillingham bus disaster occurred outside Chatham Dockyard, Kent on the evening of 4 December 1951. A double-decker bus ploughed into a company of fifty-two young members of the Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps, aged between nine and thirteen. Twenty-four of the cadets were killed and eighteen injured; at the time it was the highest loss of life in any road accident in British history, until it was surpassed by the 1975 Dibbles Bridge coach crash which killed 33.

Chatham Town Hall is a municipal building in Dock Road in Chatham, Kent, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of Chatham Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building.

The Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham was a military installation occupied by the Royal Marines and located at the Gun Wharf at Chatham in Kent. The barracks were situated immediately to the south of the Dockyard, just above the Ordnance Wharf. The barracks were closed in 1950 and demolished in 1960.

The Great Lines Heritage Park is a complex network of open spaces in the Medway Towns, connecting Chatham, Gillingham, Brompton and the Historic Dockyard. The long military history of the towns has dominated the history of the site and the park. The Great Lines Heritage Park, consists of Fort Amherst, Chatham Lines, the Field of Fire (later known as the Great Lines), Inner Lines, Medway Park (sports centre) together with the Lower Lines. The Lines, were constructed in Napoleonic times. They were never used (during the wars) but they have been used to be a barrier to development, keeping the fort and the Lines mostly untouched. Most of the park is accessible to all at most times. It has many pedestrian and cycle links for residents of the two towns of Gillingham and Chatham.

HMS Cavalier is a retired C-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by J. Samuel White and Company at East Cowes on 28 March 1943, launched on 7 April 1944, and commissioned on 22 November 1944. She served in World War II and in various commissions in the Far East until she was decommissioned in 1972. After decommissioning she was preserved as a museum ship and currently resides at Chatham Historic Dockyard.