Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1767 to 1832

Summary from record TQ 76 NE 109 :

Wheelwrights shop

Monument Types

• SITE (Post Medieval - 1767 AD to 1832 AD)
• WHEELWRIGHTS WORKSHOP (WHEELWRIGHTS WORKSHOP, Post Medieval to Modern - 1786 AD to 2050 AD) + Sci.Date

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 76 NE CHATHAM MAIN ROAD
(East side) Chatham Dockyard
762-1/8/80
Former Wheelwright's Shop
GV II*
Includes: Former Wheelwright's Shop, EAST ROAD CHATHAM DOCKYARD
Mast house, later wheelwright's shop, now museum and restaurant. Late C18-early C19. Timber-framed with weatherboarding and tiled roof. PLAN: 3 rectangular plan parallel ranges.
EXTERIOR: single storey; 3-gable range. Matching gables have double carriage doors and small-paned metal framed windows, the N end with 3 ground-floor windows to the left-hand end and wide attic windows over the doors, the S end with 3 ground-floor windows to the middle and tall attic windows. Rendered brick infill to west side.
INTERIOR: timber roof trusses with heavy former ships' knee braces and king posts.
HISTORY: mast houses were important parts of the sailing ship dockyard. The roofs are notable examples of the use of ship-wright's techniques in building construction in the Dockyard. After the end of sailing ships, used for various purposes, including wheelwright's shop.
Group value with the Mast House (qv), and part of a notably complete Georgian dockyard. (Sources: Coad J: Historic Architecture of Chatham Dockyard 1700-1850: London: 1982 ; Coad J: The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850: Aldershot: 1989: 158-162).
TQ 76 NE CHATHAM EAST ROAD
(West side) Chatham Dockyard
762-1/8/80
Former Wheelwright's Shop
GV II*
See under: Former Wheelwright's Shop, MAIN ROAD CHATHAM DOCKYARD
Listing NGR: TQ7606469398

Description from record TQ 76 NE 109 :
(TQ 7605 6940) SAM No. 231 [Wheelwrights' Shop: scheduled]. (1) A large timber framed building probably built in the third quarter of the 18th century. (2)

Documentary evidence suggests a construction date of 1786. Dendrochronology dating gave a date range of 1780-1789. (3)

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

<2> English Heritage SAM Record Description (J Coad) (OS Card Reference). SKE41626.

<3> Vernacular Architecture Group, ADS Dendrochronology Database, Vol. 29, Pg. 104 (Website). SKE17391.

Sources and further reading

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