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It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

HER Number:TQ 87 NE 1089
Type of record:Building
Name:Coast Guard Cottages, Isle Of Grain

Summary

Former Coast Guard service cottages (1900), later let to War Department to accommodate Warrant Officers and NCOs from Grain Fort.


Grid Reference:TQ 8889 7621
Map Sheet:TQ87NE
Parish:ISLE OF GRAIN, MEDWAY, KENT

Monument Types

  • COASTGUARDS COTTAGE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1900 AD to 1956 AD?)
  • RADIO STATION (Modern - 1914 AD? to 1918 AD?)

Full description

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Row of 13 cottages facing the sea front at Grain village, now in private hands.
Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : Yes
How accessed for survey : From Chapel Road.
Tourism Potential : Limited
Condition : poor
Date of visit : 01/07/07

There was formerly a Wireless Station located here, possibly in the small building at the north-east end of the row of cottages. A photograph from 1918 shows a small building and mast at this location.(1)

An Admiralty Order (OA35) of May 1917 confirms the use of wireless equipped aircraft in a spotting capacity for coastal gun batteries and confirms this site as one of the ground receiving stations. (National Archive Reference: ADM137/4680) A small structure attached to the north-eastern end of the coastguard cottages survives and there is a possibility that this relates to the use of the wireless station. This building is now in use as residential housing. The residential use has decreased the possibilty of surviving archaeology relating to the buildings use as a wireless station although there is some possibility of below-ground archaeology within the garden plots. (2)

The Coastguard station, Chapel Road, Isle of Grain was built by the Admiralty in 1900. The larger northernmost house, with its attached single-storey watch room was for the Chief Officer, the other twelve cottages were for the coastguards and their families.(3)

Mentioned in Isle of Grain Historic Area Assessment conducted by English Heritage in 2014. "In 1900 the Admiralty built a new Coastgurad Station on the eastern edge of the village. This replaced a watch vessel, Roebuck, which had been moored near Elphinstone Point, in the south west of the island, until the flood of 1897…". From c. 1915-1924 the cottages were used as accommodation for officers and men emplyed at Grain Air Station. Has "the typical arrangement of a row of cottages and a watch room, orientated towards the riverside. The two-storey brick houyses have red brick detailing and rendered panels on the first floor, high slate roofs and an abundance of chimneys. The larger northermost house, with front and rear gables and attached single-storey watch room, was for the Chief Officer; theb other twelve cottages for the coastguards and their families". (4)


none, 01/01/50, Map Royal Enginers Library. (Collection). SKE14290.

none, 01/01/50, Map Royal Enginers Library. (Collection). Ske14290.

MMRG, 01/07/07, Coast guard cottages (Photograph). SKE14514.

MMRG, 01/07/07, Coast guard cottages (Photograph). Ske14514.

<1> English Heritage, 2015, First World War Wireless Stations in England (Bibliographic reference). SKE31542.

<2> Oxford Archaeological South, 2016, First World War Wireless Stations in England. (Bibliographic reference). SKE31551.

<3> Historic England, 2012, Coastguard Stations: Introductions to Heritage Assets (Monograph). SKE31746.

<4> English Heritage, 2014, Isle of Grain, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: Historic area assessment (Monograph). SKE29397.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
---Collection: none. 01/01/50. Map Royal Enginers Library..
---Photograph: MMRG. 01/07/07. Coast guard cottages.
<1>Bibliographic reference: English Heritage. 2015. First World War Wireless Stations in England.
<2>Bibliographic reference: Oxford Archaeological South. 2016. First World War Wireless Stations in England..
<3>Monograph: Historic England. 2012. Coastguard Stations: Introductions to Heritage Assets.
<4>Monograph: English Heritage. 2014. Isle of Grain, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: Historic area assessment.