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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 77 SE 143
Type of record:Monument
Name:Lodge Hill Magazine establishment, near Deangate Wood, Hoo St. Werburgh

Summary

Ordnance depot dating to 1899 and used for storing cordite, guncotton and other mateirals for the army. The site consisted of 12 small magazines, each surrounded by an earth bank with woodland planted between them to minimize explosive potential. The site was originally developed by the navy to compensate for the loss of the Chattenden magazines to the army but by 1903 was united with the Chattaeden magazines under the navy to form Royal Naval Ordnance Depots. The site was used for ammunition storage until 1961. From this time on the complex was used as a training area and barracks for the Royal School of Military Engineering and bomb disposal school. The site continued to be used for training with the construction of Cupar Street. The street included houses (fully fitted and decorated) and gardens on both its sides and contained cars and phone boxes to simulate a real environment. The houses were intended to replicate a typical Northern Ireland street to train soldiers in how to search houses, and included sectarian murals on the side of the houses at the end of each row.


Grid Reference:TQ 7648 7370
Map Sheet:TQ77SE
Parish:HOO ST WERBURGH, MEDWAY, KENT

Monument Types

  • BARRACKS (Post Medieval to Unknown - 1899 AD)
  • MAGAZINE (Post Medieval to Unknown - 1899 AD?)
  • ORDNANCE DEPOT (Post Medieval to Unknown - 1899 AD)
  • MILITARY TRAINING SITE (Modern to Unknown - 1961 AD)
  • MURAL (Modern to Unknown - 1961 AD?)

Full description

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Ordnance depot dating to 1899 and used for storing cordite, guncotton and other mateirals for the army. The site consisted of 12 small magazines, each surrounded by an earth bank with woodland planted between them to minimize explosive potential. The site was originally developed by the navy to compensate for the loss of the Chattenden magazines to the army but by 1903 was united with the Chattaeden magazines under the navy to form Royal Naval Ordnance Depots. The site was used for ammunition storage until 1961. From this time on the complex was used as a training area and barracks for the Royal School of Military Engineering and bomb disposal school. The site continued to be used for training with the construction of Cupar Street. The street included houses (fully fitted and decorated) and gardens on both its sides and contained cars and phone boxes to simulate a real environment. The houses were intended to replicate a typical Northern Ireland street to train soldiers in how to search houses, and included sectarian murals on the side of the houses at the end of each row.(1,2)

Features surviving by the Second World War identified during English Heritage Hoo Peninsula Landscape Partnership project (2009-2012) (3,4)


David Evans, 01/01/06, Arming the Fleet (Article in monograph). SKE14445.

English Heritage, 2000, The Medway Magazines: The Development of the Buildings (Unpublished document). SKE29243.

<1> Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy, Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites (Index). SKE6445.

<3> English Heritage, 2013, Hoo Peninsula, Kent. Hoo Peninsula Historic Landscape Project (Bibliographic reference). SKE31432.

<4> Historic England, 2012, National Mapping Programme survey: Hoo Peninsula (Digital archive). SKE32442.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
---Article in monograph: David Evans. 01/01/06. Arming the Fleet.
---Unpublished document: English Heritage. 2000. The Medway Magazines: The Development of the Buildings.
<1>Index: Victor Smith and Ron Crowdy. Thames Gateway Assesment: Gazetteer of Defence Sites.
<3>Bibliographic reference: English Heritage. 2013. Hoo Peninsula, Kent. Hoo Peninsula Historic Landscape Project.
<4>Digital archive: Historic England. 2012. National Mapping Programme survey: Hoo Peninsula.