Exploring Kent's Past

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

Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1771 to 1771.

Summary from record TQ 76 NE 108 :

Iron store, former timber seasoning shed

Monument Types

• SITE (Post Medieval - 1771 AD to 1771 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 76 NE CHATHAM EAST ROAD
(East side) Chatham Dockyard
762-1/8/57
Timber seasoning store, North
GV II*
Timber seasoning store. Designed 1771. Weather-boarded timber-frame on brick plinth with corrugated asbestos roof. Rectangular plan 45 feet long.
EXTERIOR: single storey; 16-gable roof. Regular range has double doors in the gables, louvred above, and louvred sides with 5 metal-framed windows.
INTERIOR: 3 bays deep with bracketed posts, with racks for stacking sawn timber, and timber trusses.
HISTORY: seasoning sheds were introduced by order of the Earl of Sandwich because of the problem of using green timber in the Navy's ships, which were incurring massive expenditure on maintenance. They were designed by the Navy Board, and are a notable example of an early modular design, built in large numbers in all the naval yards. Obsolete by 1860, the two at Chatham are the last to survive (see Timber seasoning store, South (qv)). (Sources: Coad J: Historic Architecture of Chatham Dockyard 1700-1850: London: 1982: 155 ; Coad J: The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850: Aldershot: 1989: 127-129).
Listing NGR: TQ7611569363

Description from record TQ 76 NE 108 :
(TQ 7617 6931) SAM No. 230 [Iron stores: Southern shed scheduled]. (1) The problems of using unseasoned timber for ship construction lead in the 1770's to the Navy Board issuing a standardised design for timber seasoning sheds to be erected at all Navy yards. The last two surviving examples are at Chatham where the sheds were converted for use as iron rod stores. One shed is now used fro seasoning timber for HBMC. (2)

In 2009 a watching brief was undertaken by Alan Ward on works in the northernmost bay of the building. The well-preserved wooden block floor was lifted revealed a series of brick dwarf walls which support the timber-frame. Outside the building, to the north, digging of service trenches exposed a brick-lined pit. This is probably a water closet but was not fully explored at this time. (3)

Coad, J., 1982, Historic Architecture of Chatham Dockyard 1700-1850 (Article in serial). SWX7760.

<1> English Heritage 1:1250 SAM location maplet (OS Card Reference). SKE41612.

<2> Jonathan G Coad, 1989, The royal dockyards 1690-1850: architecture and engineering works of the sailing navy. No.1, Page Nos. 128, Plate Nos. 103,105 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6362.

<3> Alan Ward, 2011, An archaeological watching brief at the Timber Seasoning Sheds, Historic Dockyard, Chatham (Unpublished document). SKE16981.

Sources and further reading

Related records