House Carpenters Shop, 1740
Scheduled Ancient Monument & Grade II
Built for the carpenters who looked after the dockyard's own buildings, the House Carpenters shop was constructed to harmonise with the adjacent Officers terrace. The building now forms part of a series of craft workshops and is open to visitors
Timber Seasoning Sheds, 1774
Scheduled Ancient Monument & Grade II*
In May 1771, the Earl of Sandwich and other Commissioners of the Admiralty Board visited Chatham and were shown how ships constructed from poorly seasoned timber had rotted. Shortly afterwards plans were made to provide timber seasoning sheds in all the Royal Dockyards so that timber could be carefully stored and seasoned before use.
The sheds were to be of a standard design and built in sufficient quantity to provide a 3 year supply of seasoned timber for each yard, at Chatham this equated to 75 bays. All were completed by 1775 and as such the seasoning sheds are probably the first standardised industrial buildings to be erected in large numbers in Britain. Today only two survive - both at Chatham.
Joiners Shop, 1789
Scheduled Ancient Monument & Grade II
The warrant to construct this two-storey building was issued by the Navy Board in January 1789 to provide an workshop for the making of treenails, oak pins used to 'nail' ships' timbers together.
The building was heavily rebuilt in the mid 19th century with heavy cast iron beams introduced to support the upper floor, for use by the dockyard's joiners. The joiners, unlike the house carpenters worked on board ships making a wide range of timber fixtures and fittings.
Brunel Saw Mills, 1814
Scheduled Ancient Monument & Grade I
Until 1814 timber was sawn by hand, mostly by pairs of sawyers working in saw pits. In 1812 work commenced on the construction of this building that was to revolutionise timber preparation in the Dockyard. Designed by Marc Brunel it provided a mechanised approach to the whole process. Steam powered reciprocating sawing machines were linked by an overhead travelling crane system to timber storage yards and by underground canal to the South Mast Pond.
