Chatham

Town in Medway Towns unitary authority, southeast England, on the River Medway, between Rochester to the west and Gillingham to the east; population (2001) 73,500. Until 1998 the town was part of Kent. From 1985, as a focus of revival for the whole Medway area, the Royal Dockyard (1588–1984) was converted to an industrial area, marina, and museum, with part of the docks being preserved as the Chatham Historic Dockyard. The University of Greenwich has had a campus here since 1996. Industries include tourism, and the manufacture of electronics and cement.

Features Chatham Historic Dockyard, covering a 34 ha/85-acre site, includes displays illustrating nautical crafts and the history of the yard. The Ropery, the dockyard's rope-making centre, is the longest brick building in the UK, extending for approximately 402 m/1,320 ft. The campus of the University of Greenwich was formerly HMS Pembroke, a Royal Navy training base for officers and ratings; the buildings were constructed in 1904 and are Grade II listed. St Bartholomew's Chapel, partly Norman, was formerly attached to a hospital for lepers founded by Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, in 1070. Other features of the town include almshouses built in 1592 by the navigator John Hawkins for disabled seamen; the dwellings were rebuilt between 1789 and 1790.

History First established by Henry VIII, the dockyard was developed by Elizabeth I and, by the reign of Charles II, Chatham had become the largest naval base in England. Following an attack on the docks by Dutch ships in 1667, the defences were strengthened, firstly by guardships and booms and later by lines of fortification. The Victory, later the flagship of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, was launched here in 1765. Fort Pitt was built in 1779 and the dockyards were further expanded during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15). Chatham remained the principal naval dockyard in England in the 19th century. Charles Dickens lived at Chatham between 1817 and 1821 when his father worked in the naval offices, and the area is featured in many of his novels.

Chatham

City and administrative headquarters of Kent County, Ontario, eastern Canada, situated on the Thames River, 19 km/12 mi from its mouth, 103 km/64 mi southwest of London and 290 km/180 mi west of Toronto; population (1991) 43,600. The city is the commercial and industrial centre of an agricultural (fruit, grain, tobacco, and dairy goods) and natural gas producing region. Textiles, lumber, auto parts, plastics, and fabricated metals are manufactured. Tourism is also important to the local economy.

Chatham was settled in 1799 and incorporated as a city in 1895. Before the American Civil War it was the northern terminus of the Underground Railroad for escaped slaves. The city was the site of a convention held by the US slavery abolitionist John Brown before his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry.