St George's Centre, Chatham | |
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General information | |
Location | Medway, United Kingdom |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°23′50″N0°32′05.0″E / 51.39722°N 0.534722°E |
Current tenants | Medway Council |
Construction started | 27 April 1905 |
Inaugurated | 19 December 1906 |
Client | Medway Council |
Owner | Medway Council |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 1 |
Other information | |
Parking | Car park |
Website | |
www |
St. George's Chapel at Chatham, Medway, Kent is a chapel in an area that used to be Chatham Dockyard known as HMS Pembroke, used by the Royal Navy for centuries. It is notable for its naval connections.
It is Grade II listed and is built to a similar design to the chapel at HMS Drake, Plymouth. Now known as HMNB Devonport. [1]
The foundation stone of St. George's Chapel, Chatham within the Barracks was laid on 27 April 1905 and on completion, was dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Rochester John Harmer, as St George's Church on 19 December 1906. [2]
St. George's remains a naval memorial centre, managed by the Local Authority, and is rich with windows and memorials dedicated to naval personnel. One example is a stained glass window that was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth (then Princess Elizabeth) on 29 October 1950, to commemorate Chatham-based ships that were lost in World War II.
On 29 March 2013, BBC Radio 4's Any Questions? was broadcast from the chapel. It was presented by Ritula Shah and guests include; Tom Newton Dunn, the political editor of The Sun newspaper, Clare Gerada (GP and medical director of the NHS Practitioner Health Programme), Lord Trimble (Irish Politician) and Angela Eagle (Labour Party MP). [3]
Meetings of Medway Council are now held in the chapel.
Chatham is a town located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.
Rochester is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. Rochester was a city until losing its status as one in 1998 following the forming of Medway and failing to protect its status as a city. There have been ongoing campaigns to reinstate the city status for Rochester.
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in Kent, South East England. It had a population in 2019 of 278,016. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County Council.
Gillingham is a large town in the county of Kent in South East England. For local government purposes it is in the unitary authority of Medway.
HMS Chatham was a Batch 3 Type 22 frigate of the British Royal Navy. She was decommissioned on 8 February 2011.
Rainham is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. Historically, Rainham was a separate village until, in 1928, it was added to the Municipal Borough of Gillingham, which was originally created in 1903 and was grouped into the latter's built-up area in analysis of the 2011 census by the Office for National Statistics. It became part of the Medway authority when Gillingham was incorporated with the other towns to form Medway Unitary Authority in 1998. It has its own leisure and retail hub and unlike Gillingham has a traditional area broadly to the south and which since the late 20th century is largely residential housing.
BBC Radio Kent is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Kent.
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham.
The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England.
Admiral Sir Richard Hussey Bickerton, 2nd Baronet, KCB, was a British naval officer. He was born in Southampton, the son of Vice-admiral Sir Richard Bickerton and first served aboard HMS Medway in June 1774, in the Mediterranean. His first command came in March 1779 when he was given HM Sloop Swallow as a reward for his part in an engagement with a much larger opponent. Bickerton later joined Rodney's squadron in the West Indies where he took part in the capture of Sint Eustatius in 1781. Making post captain on 8 February 1781, he took temporary command of HMS Invincible and fought in her at the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 April 1781.
St Mary's Island, is part of the Chatham Maritime development area in Medway, South East England. It is located at the northern end of Chatham, adjacent to Brompton and Gillingham. Once part of the Royal Dockyard, Chatham, the area had consisted of a mixture of sports fields and warehousing during the later years of the Royal Navy's time in occupation.
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.
Medway Maritime Hospital is a general hospital in Gillingham, England within the NHS South East Coast. It is run by Medway NHS Foundation Trust. It is Kent's largest and busiest hospital, dealing with around 400,000 patients annually. It was founded as the Royal Naval Hospital in 1902 for the Naval personnel at the Chatham Dockyard. The hospital was where the Piano Man was taken after being found wandering in a soaking wet suit and tie.
Sheerness Dockyard also known as the Sheerness Station was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960.
HMS Princess Irene was a 5,394 GRT ocean liner which was built in 1914 by William Denny and Brothers Ltd, Dumbarton, Scotland for the Canadian Pacific Railway. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy on completion and converted to an auxiliary minelayer. On 27 May 1915, she exploded and sank off Sheerness, Kent, while being loaded with mines prior to a deployment mission, with the loss of 352 lives.
The Drill Hall Library in North Road, Chatham in Kent, England, was built as a military drill hall in 1902, for the Royal Navy as part of HMS Pembroke shore establishment and barracks. The barracks closed in 1984. The Grade II listed buildings of the barracks, which include the Captain's House, a Mess block, the Pilkington Building, the four barrack blocks, the Gymnasium, and the surrounding walls of barracks were then redeveloped as part of the Universities at Medway, a tri-partite collaboration of the University of Greenwich, the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University on a single campus. The three universities share use of the Drill Hall Library.
The Church of St Nicholas in Norton in Hertfordshire is the parish church for what was originally the village of Norton but which today has become a suburb of Letchworth Garden City. The present building dates from about 1109 to 1119, with additions in the 15th century including the tower. Before the Reformation it was a stopping point on the pilgrim route to the Abbey of St Albans and the shrine there.
Benjamin Rosewell (c.1665–1737) was a master shipwright at Harwich, Plymouth, Chatham and Sheerness Naval Dockyards, and Governor of Hawkins Hospital, Chatham.
St John the Baptist Church at Penshurst, Kent is a Grade I listed Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Rochester in England. Those buried or commemorated here include Knights, Earls, Viscounts, a Viceroy of India, a Governor-General of Australia, a Private Secretary to two Kings, two Field Marshals and two winners of the Victoria Cross. Through its courtiers, soldiers, statesmen, politicians or priests whose lives appear on memorials or through its changing architecture, brasses, carvings, effigies and windows, the church helps tell a country's story through the eyes of single village.
St Michael's Church at Chenies, Buckinghamshire, is a Grade I listed Anglican parish church in the Diocese of Oxford in England. It is not of great architectural interest but stands in an attractive position in the Chess Valley near the Chenies Manor House. The church is famous for its Bedford Chapel, the mausoleum of the Russell family which is private and not open to the public.