Coordinates: 51.361041° 0.5362° Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

Chatham
Statistics
Population:	70,540 (2001 Census)
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	TQ765659
Latitude:	51.361041°
Longitude:	0.5362°
Administration
District:	Medway
Region:	South East England
Constituent country:	England
Sovereign state:	United Kingdom
Other
Ceremonial county:	Kent
Historic county:	Kent
Services
Police force:	Kent Police
Ambulance:	South East Coast
Post office and telephone
Post town:	CHATHAM
Postal district:	ME4, ME5
Dialling code:	01634
Politics
UK Parliament:	Chatham and Aylesford
European Parliament:	South East England

Chatham is an English town that developed around an important naval dockyard on the east bank of the River Medway to the east of London in the county of Kent. Together with Gillingham and Rochester it is today part of the Medway Towns conurbation. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 11 KB) Summary Description: A blank map of the United Kingdom, with country outline and coastline; contact the author for help with modifications or add-ons Source: Reference map provided by Demis Mapper 6 Date: 2006-21-06 Author: User... Image File history File links Red_pog. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter λ (lambda),[1][2] describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ... The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ... South East England is one of the nine official regions of England. ... Constituent countries is a phrase sometimes used, usually by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping; thus the OECD has used the phrase in reference to the former Yugoslavia (example here) and European institutions such as the Council of Europe... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... There are a number of policing agencies in the United Kingdom. ... Kent Police is the police force covering Kent in England, including the unitary authority of Medway. ... This is a list of ambulance services in the United Kingdom: Ambulance services in England, after July 1, 2006 are A few deviations from the above have been made for operational reasons. ... As of 1st July the NHS Ambulance Services Trusts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex are being joined together to form a new South East Coast Ambulance Service . ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). ... Chatham and Aylesford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Sign in the entrance of the European Parliament building in Brussels, written in all the official languages used in the European Union as of July 2006 The European Parliament building in Strasbourg The debating chamber, or hemicycle, in Strasbourg The European Parliament building in Brussels The European Parliament (formerly European... South East England is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ... The River Medway in England flows for 112 km from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it is the latters last tributary. ... Kent is a county in England, south-east of London. ... Gillingham is a town in Kent in the United Kingdom, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ... Rochester is a small city in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ...

History

Chatham Dockyard was established by Henry VIII and the small village of Chatham grew. At one point thousands of men were employed at the dockyard, and many hundreds of ships and submarines were launched there including HMS Victory which was built there in the 1760s. The dockyard was shut as an operational site 1984 by the Thatcher government; a large part of it became a historic site (operated by Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust) and the rest has been developed for housing, industrial sites and as a commercial marina. Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway in Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, and thus requiring added defences. ... For the play, see Henry VIII (play). ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Günther Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine Inside of the Argonaute, showing the typical obstructed, tiny space of a post-WWII diesel attack submarine. ... HMS Victory is a 104-gun ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built between 1759 and 1765. ... Events and Trends King George III ascends the British throne in 1760. ...

Chatham Dockyard, seen from Fort Pitt, ca. 1830. From W. H. Ireland's History of Kent.

Chatham is also the site of many of the fortifications built to protect the dockyard from invasion. The Great Lines (abbreviated from "great lines of defence") were built across the neck of the peninsula formed by the bend in the river. By 1758 this stretched for more than a mile from Fort Amherst (today a heritage site) to Gillingham Reach. Later, forts were built above the town, among them Fort Luton (also a heritage site), Fort Pitt (later used as a hospital by Florence Nightingale; the site is now a girls' grammar school), Fort Horsted and Fort Clarence. Many still exist; some have been converted into housing; others have been demolished. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (862x524, 433 KB) Summary Engraving of Chatham Dockyard from Fort Pitt from Irelands History of Kent, Vol. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (862x524, 433 KB) Summary Engraving of Chatham Dockyard from Fort Pitt from Irelands History of Kent, Vol. ... Fort Amherst was started in 1756 at the Southern end of the Brompton lines protecting Chatham Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, with the last works about 1820, the lower part is now opened to the public by the Fort Amherst and Lines Trust. ... Gillingham is a town in Kent in the United Kingdom, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ... Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... Fort Luton was built between 1876 and 1892 south of Chatham, Kent. ... Fort Pitt is a fort built between 1805 and 1819 on the high ground of the boundary between Chatham and Rochester, Kent. ... Fort Clarence is sited across St Margarets Street in Rochester, Kent. ...

The town was also the location for several military barracks, most of which have now shut. Although the postal address of Brompton Barracks (the headquarters of the Royal Engineers) indicates Chatham as its location, Brompton was an entirely separate village within Gillingham parish. The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ... Gillingham is a town in Kent in the United Kingdom, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ...

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. A borough is a political division originally used in England. ...

More recently, Chatham has been cited as the potential source for the derogatory term Chav (see below). Look up chav, charva in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Local Youth Organisations

• Medway Towns Sea Cadet Unit - T.S. Cornwallis. Originally located in the Naval Barracks at HMS Pembroke, the Royal Navy's Cookery School. The unit is now housed in what was the original Royal Naval shore establishment HMS Collingwood, now known as Collingwood Block in Brompton Barracks. As well as the standard nautical-based training provided by the SCC the Medway Towns unit trains young people to take part in Field Gun competitions and are proud to carry on the tradition of the Nore Command Field Gun Crew who trained in Chatham to take part in the Royal Tournament.

Communications

Roads

Chatham stood on Watling Street, the Roman road from London to the Kent Coast; the length of it from Chatham to Canterbury was turnpiked in 1730, to become the A2 main road in the 1920s. Now, the M2 motorway diverts all through traffic south of the Medway Towns. The central bus station for the towns is in Chatham, within walking distance of the railway station. On the 19th September 2006 the Ring Road in Chatham was made 2 way and the Sir John Hawkin flyover was closed except for buses, taxis and cycles as part of the regeneration of Medway. In 2007 the flyover will be removed to make way for the Pentagon Shopping Centre expansion to the river and a new bus station. The modern Watling Street crossing the Medway at Rochester near the Roman and Celt crossings Watling Street is the name given to a British ancient trackway which was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. ... Statistics Population: 42,258 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TR145575 Administration District: City of Canterbury Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and... A toll road, tollway, turnpike, pike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a toll (i. ... The A2 is a major road in the United Kingdom, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. ... There are also M2 motorways in Northern Ireland and Australia The M2 motorway is a motorway in England. ...

Railways

The railway came to Chatham in 1858: first when the East Kent Railway opened a line to Faversham; and later in the year when the short section to connect with the North Kent Line to London was opened. Chatham railway station is the main interchange for the Medway towns. Crest of the LCDR on the first Blackfriars Railway Bridge The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) was a railway company that operated in south-eastern England between 1859 and 1923 before grouping with three other companies to form the Southern Railway. ... Faversham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in north Kent, and serves the town of Faversham. ... The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway. ... The platforms at Chatham Chatham railway station is on the Chatham Main Line in Medway, north Kent, between Rochester and Gillingham, and is 34. ...

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

River Medway

The River Medway, apart from its use by warships to travel to and from the dockyard, was an important means of communication to the interior of Kent. Timber from the Weald for shipbuilding and agricultural produce were among the cargoes. Sun Pier in Chatham was one of many such along the river. The River Medway in England flows for 112 km from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it is the latters last tributary. ...

Sport

The town's Association Football club, Chatham Town F.C., plays in the Southern League Division One East. The striker (wearing red jersey) has run past the defender (in white jersey) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to stop the ball. ... Chatham Town are an English Association Football club, based in Chatham, Kent. ... The Southern League Division One East is a football league covering eastern England. ...

Notable residents

Charles Dickens lived in the town as a boy, both in the Brook and in Ordnance Terrace before the 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. He also attended Chatham Grammar School for Boys, a successful school that now approximately 1000 students attend. Others of note include the composer Percy Whitlock (1903-1946); the painter and killer Richard Dadd (1819-1887); and, in more modern times, the artist Billy Childish, the author and screenwriter Stel Pavlou (who also attended Chatham Grammar School for Boys), and boyband-singer Lee Ryan. Dickens redirects here. ... Higham is a small village bordering the Hoo Peninsula, in Kent, between Gravesend and Rochester. ... Chatham Grammar School for Boys is a grammar school in Chatham, Kent, England. ... Percy (William) Whitlock (Chatham, Kent, 1 June 1903 — Bournemouth, 1 May 1946) was an English organist and composer for his instrument. ... Richard Dadd. ... This is This album by Billy Childishs current band, the Buff Medways Billy Childish (real name William Charlie Hamper, or Steven John Hamper) (born December 1, 1959) is a British artist, author, poet, singer and guitarist. ... Stel Pavlou is the author of of the novel Decipher, which was released in 2002. ... Chatham Grammar School for Boys is a grammar school in Chatham, Kent, England. ... Lee Ryan (born June 17, 1983 in Chatham, Kent) is a former member of the British boy band Blue and is now pursuing a solo career. ...

Trivia

The town has recently become associated with chavs, a word taken from the Romany word chav meaning 'boy', describing a set of cheap fashions and taste associated with white, working-class young people, and commonly thought to be an abbreviation of "Chatham Average", or an approximation of "Chatham Girl". Chatham is often referred to "Chavham". The word has also been in use for several generations to describe a person on the dole. To be "on the dole" was to be "on the chat" or "on the chav". It was a local joke that people from Chatham dressed a certain way and were frequently on the dole, which led to the term "Chatham Chav". Chav fashion includes Burberry clothing and white tracksuits. This article needs cleanup. ... Romany (or Romani) relates to: The Roma: a people sometimes pejoratively called Gypsies. Their language Romany was the pseudonym of a broadcaster and writer of Roma descent, George Bramwell Evens. ...

Chatham sports a strong unsigned music scene, mainly thanks to the Post-Core Collective, Urban Fox Press and Rock 'N' Rant, and the movements they represent. // Mission Statement From the website: Controversial Material Rock N Rant gained a certain degree of recognition for the slogan, Burn Chatham to the Ground. This originated from a set by The Natural Born Ranter Brad Harmer in which he promoted the idea of the destruction of Chatham by fire. ...

See Also

• Gillingham
• Rochester
• Strood
• Medway

Gillingham is a town in Kent in the United Kingdom, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ... Rochester is a small city in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... Statistics Population: 33182 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ725695 Administration District: Medway Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South East Coast Post office and telephone Post town: ROCHESTER... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ...

External links

• Chatham News Index (1899–1965)
• 19th century map showing boundary of Chatham
• Fort Pitt Grammar School for Girls
• Medway Genealogy Services
• Chatham Model Railway Club, Chatham Show
• Chatham Grammar School for Boys
• Chatham Table Tennis Club
• Medway Towns Sea Cadet Unit - T.S. Cornwallis.]
• Webpage about Chatham's fortifications

References