Description

GILLINGHAM

TQ7669NW DOCK HEAD ROAD, Chatham Dockyard
686-1/1/56 (South side)
06/06/84 Boilershop

GV II*

Dry dock cover, now boilershop, disused. 1847, by Fox
Henderson & Co at Woolwich Dockyard, re-erected at Chatham
c1876. Cast- and wrought-iron frame with corrugated-iron
cladding and roof.
PLAN: rectangular with lower aisles.
EXTERIOR: single-storey; 11-bay range and 3-bay W extension.
Gabled ends with raking aisles, frame expressed externally,
with louvred ridge and moulded gutters. Irregular scattering
of small windows to sides. Lower side brick additions along
sides. A decorative square clock tower at the W end with
clocks to each face, and a louvred octagonal cupola and
finial.
INTERIOR: a rigid iron frame has cast-iron columns to
wrought-iron roof trusses, and aisles with segmental-arched
cast-iron braces with pierced spandrels.
HISTORY: covers for ship-building dry docks were introduced in
c1814 to protect wooden ships during construction against the
weather. The original building was cast and erected at No.4
slip, Woolwich, and re-erected at Chatham by convict labour
after Woolwich closed in 1865. It represents a significant
step forward in the development of rigid metal-framed
structures, and 'established the principal of (portal) bracing
through stiff joints',(Sutherland).
A fine group with the No.8, Machine Shop (qv), moved at the
same time from Woolwich, and the timber and metal slip covers
in Chatham Dockyard (qv).
(The Buildings of England: Newman J: West Kent and the Weald:
London: 1976-: 207; The Newcomen Society: Sutherland R J M:
Shipbuilding & the Long-Span Roof; Paper read at Science
Museum: 1989-: 16).

Listing NGR: TQ7639969945

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17551391

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)