Chatham (recorded in the Domesday Book as Ceteham) is a naval town on the River Medway in Kent. The town has a history of ship-building and was first used as safer anchorage than Portsmouth by Henry VIII and was later developed by Elizabeth I against the Spanish Armada, when a large dockyard and arsenal were built. The town prospered, but in 1667 the Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway and burnt the English fleet. In response forts were built along the river. The Napoleonic wars saw further dockyard expansion and Nelson's ship the Victory was launched here. When a child, the novelist, Charles Dickens, lived in Chatham where his father worked in the Navy Pay Office. Chatham remained England's prime naval dockyard throughout the 19th century and with the arrival of cement and engineering industries became the largest industrial centre in Kent.
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Gazetteer
Research Chatham
