About Us
The closure of HM Naval Base Chatham in 1984 left behind a 400 acre site containing the most important concentration of historic naval architecture anywhere in the world.
This huge site was divided into 3 areas. The easternmost basin was handed over to the Medway Ports Authority and is now a successful commercial port. The other two basins, together with the adjoining land (the main 19th and 20th Century dockyard) were taken by English Partnerships, and subsequently the South-East England Development Agency, for mixed commercial, residential and leisure development. The 18th Century core of the old Royal Dockyard became the responsibility of an independent charitable trust.
The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust was established by government in March 1984 and is a registered charity and fully accredited museum.
The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust is an independent charitable trust which generates the majority of its operating income through its charitable and related trading activities.
The Trust gains its operating revenue through earned income from visitors, property rental and other trading and the remainder (approx 20%) by grants from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and MLA / Renaissance South East in support of its museum, conservation and education programmes.
In addition the Trust invests in The Historic Dockyard through a number of individual grant-funded programmes including the restoration, conservation and interpretation of the site’s historic buildings and ships, education and other visitor-related activities.
The Trust also maintains traditional rope making via a commercially orientated subsidiary charity which manufactures and sells substantial quantities of rope.
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust has two core charitable objectives:
- To secure for the public benefit the preservation and use of the Historic Dockyard at Chatham in the County of Kent in a manner appropriate to its archaeological, historical and architectural importance
- To promote and foster for the public benefit a wide knowledge and understanding of the archaeological, historical and architectural significance of the Historic Dockyard.
The Trust is a fully accredited museum that collects, preserves, studies and exhibits objects and material connected with the history of:
- The people who worked in, or were associated with the dockyard,
- The development of Royal Navy warship design and construction,
The Royal Navy’s use of the River Medway and its role in the development of the Medway area.