Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham

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.

Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham
Chatham, Kent
WRNS officers and ratings drilling at the Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham
Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham
Location within Kent
Coordinates51.388°N 0.5245°E / 51.388; 0.5245
TypeRoyal Marines Base
Site history
Built1779
Built forAdmiralty
In use1779-1950
Garrison information
OccupantsChatham Division, Royal Marines

History

While there was a Royal Marine presence at Chatham Dockyard during the eighteen century, no barracks were available to house them, marines often being billeted at local inns and hotels. After an Admiralty decision in 1764 to provide accommodation for 500 marines, a site at Gun Wharf next to Chatham Dockyard was purchased in 1777, with buildings completed and first occupied by the Royal Marines in September 1779. The barracks were not large enough to accommodate all Chatham-based marines, and in the early 1860s the site was extended.[1] By February 1894 a total of 7 officers and 1,049 non-commissioned officers and men were quartered there.[2] A further expansion took place in 1906 when the adjacent Melville Royal Naval Hospital, originally built between 1827 and 1828 and now closed, was acquired. This was reconstructed for use by the Royal Marines and functioned as a barracks extension known as Melville Barracks,[1][3] specialising in physical training and gunnery.[4]

Accommodation was in long barrack rooms, heated by a central stove. Originally the stove was also used for cooking, but a separate mess hall was introduced in the early years of the twentieth century. The site also housed a theatre, known as The Globe, used for lectures, concert parties and plays.[4]

The Royal Marine Barracks remained in use until 1950 when the Chatham Group, Royal Marines was disbanded,[5] although the adjacent Melville Barracks continued to house parts of the Royal Marines Pay and Records Office until these barracks were closed in 1960. Both the Royal Marine and Melville Barracks were demolished in 1960. The site of the Royal Marine Barracks was subsequently sold to Lloyd's of London who built new offices,[1] which were later acquired by Medway Council for their main offices and car park.[6] The site of Melville Barracks was developed as council housing and is now known as Melville Court.[1]

References
  1. MacDougall, Philip (1983). Old Chatham. Meresborough Books, Rainham, Kent. pp. 36–37. ISBN 0905270754.
  2. "Chatham Division Royal Marines". Hansard. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  3. "The History of Brompton" (PDF). pp. 11–17. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  4. MacDougall, Philip (1987). Old Chatham, A Third Picturebook. Meresborough Books, Rainham, Kent. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0948193190.
  5. "Royal Marines, closing of Chatham Group, Royal Marines and Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham" (PDF). Royal Marines. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  6. "Chatham Royal Naval Division Barracks". Roll of Honour. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
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