Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Site of the former naval airship station constructed before World War I (c.1912 - 1920). It was used as an experimental base for the design and testing of airships and later became a training school for airship captains and technical staff. At its height the site included two airship sheds, workshops, barracks and facilities for perhaps over 600 personnel, gas-holders and a hydrogen gas generating station. The site was linked to a pier on the Medway by a narrow gauge railway. The site was abandoned by 1920 - later uses included wood pulping and as a small oil and petrol refinery in the 1930’s. The site is now largely demolished.

Monument Types

• AIRSHIP STATION (Demolished, Modern - 1912 AD? to 1920 AD?)
• BARRACKS (Demolished, Modern - 1912 AD? to 1920 AD?)
• GAS HOLDER (Demolished, Modern - 1912 AD? to 1920 AD?)
• GAS HOUSE (Demolished, Modern - 1912 AD? to 1920 AD?)
• WORKSHOP (Demolished, Modern - 1912 AD? to 1920 AD?)
• AIRSHIP STATION (Demolished, Modern - 1913 AD to 1920 AD?)

Full description

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Kingsnorth was one of a handful of British experimental airship facilities begun before WWI. Constructed 1912/1913 it was initially used for the design and testing of airships including the SS (Submarine), C (Coastal), NS (North Sea) and SSP (Pusher) types, and later became a training school for airship captains and technical staff. The site, at its height, included two large sheds to house the airships, workshops, barracks and facilities for over 170 naval, army and civilian personnel, Gas-holders and hydrogen gas generating station. The technical buildings were linked to the airship sheds and to a pier on the Medway by a narrow gauge railway and a standard gauge lined the station to the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway near Sharnal Street Station. By 1920 the station had been abandoned with some of the builidngs later used for wood pulping and the site also used for a small oil and petrol refinary in the 1930’s. It is around this time that the airship sheds were demolished. Some of the remaining buildings were incorporated into an industrial estate and at least one building may still survive.(1)

The extraction of foundations in the area of the former sheds prior to documentary survey may have left potentially significant features unrecorded. Structural remains recorded during survey appeared to be those of the southern shed, but little of what remained was comprehensible. Features were apparently seen and recorded by Archaeology South-East, date and details not known. Exact location unclear: source records subsequent absorption into an industrial estate (1).

However, the Fleet Air Arm Museum has an aerial photograph of the site showing all the features including railway lines, gas production and storage facilities, accomodation blocks, garages, and the last farm building "Sparow Castle" which was used by the Air Station right up to the end. (4)

The training of Airship Pilots and ground crew was taking place at the same time as the SS Airships were being designed and built. Training began at Kingsnorth around March 1915, once the remaining design staff and equipment arrived from Farnborough, and continued till the end of 1916, when training was moved to RNAS Cranwell. (4)

Regarding the number of staff catered for on the site, on the 4th August 1914 the Station Commander, N F. Usborne, sent in a report on personnel listing 200 men, not including the 30 building the block house. Meanwhile, a panoramic photograph taken in December 1918 has just over 900 people on it, including civilian workers. Although not all of them will have lived on site the 618 uniformed men probably did. (4)

<1> Smith, V., 1999, The Site of the Former Naval Airship Station at Kingsnorth, Near Hoo St. Werburgh, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12368.

<3> Whitstable and Herne Bay Museums, Catalogue of accessions (Index). SWX9398.

<4> Tina Bilbe, 2013, Kingsnorth Airship Station: In Defence of the Nation (Bibliographic reference). SKE53521.

Sources and further reading

Related thematic articles

• Aviation in Kent (Thematic Essay)