IHouse · listed 1971Former Commissioners House and Attached Staff AccomodationOn the list as Former Commissioner's House and Attached Staff AccommodationPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
Former Commissioner's House and Attached Staff Accommodation · Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5B+History Grade
History of Chatham · Historic England
103 listed buildings, 11 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Chatham’s built-up area, 13 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 46 scheduled monuments. We have photos of 36 of its listed buildings and 3 old views of the town. 18% of its homes were built before 1919. Chatham grades B+ for history: #32 of 87 in Kent.
Listed buildings
103
13 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
11
exceptional interest
Grade II*
28
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
46
2 registered parks & gardens
Homes built before 1919
18%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Chatham in 47 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
Former Lead and Paint MillGrade I listed
Former Officers Terrace and Attached Front Area Walls and OverthrowsGrade I listed
Chatham Dockyard, Main GateScheduled monument
The Ship InnGrade II listed
Former Town Hall and Medway Arts CentreGrade II listed+42See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.
Through time
Chatham from 1628 to 1927
An old map and 3 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1628
c. 1890
c. 1890
c. 1927Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Chatham’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monumentPark or garden400 m from Former Commissioners House and Attached Staff Accomodation
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
9 of 11Grade I buildings stand within 400 m of Former Commissioners House and Attached Staff Accomodation, a five-minute walk. So do 39 of the 103 listed buildings.
7 of 52neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 83% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
103 listed buildings by grade
11 Grade I28 Grade II*64 Grade II
Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).
Grade I
The 11 Grade I listed buildings in Chatham
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings; 9 of these stand within 400 m of Former Commissioners House and Attached Staff Accomodation. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
IInns & shops · listed 1999Former Lead and Paint MillPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
IWalls & gates · listed 1971Officers' TerraceOn the list as Former Officers Terrace and Attached Front Area Walls and OverthrowsPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
IHouse · listed 1999Former Mast House and Mould LoftPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
IHouse · listed 1999Former Storehouse Number 2 and Former Rigging StorePhoto: Elliott Simpson · CC BY-SA 2.0
IHouse · listed 1999Former Storehouse Number 3 and Former Chain Cable StorePhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
IWalls & gates · listed 1971Main Gate and Attached Dockyard Perimeter Wall to South WestPhoto: Dhowes9 · CC BY-SA 3.0
IHouse · listed 1999Number 3 Slip CoverPhoto: ClemRutter · CC BY 2.5
IInns & shops · listed 1999Number 7 Slip Cover and Machine Shop Number 3Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
IInns & shops · listed 1999Numbers 4 5 and 6 Slip Covers and Machine Shop Number 6Photo: Nilfanion · CC BY-SA 4.0
IHouse · listed 1971The Ropery and Spinning RoomPhoto: Diacius · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grade II*
The 28 Grade II* listed buildings in Chatham
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 23 are photographed.
II*Public · listed 1999Chatham Dock Pumping Station SouthPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
II*Church · listed 1985Chatham Memorial SynagoguePhoto: Nigel Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1952Church of St John the DivinePhoto: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1971Clock Tower BuildingPhoto: Dhowes9 · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*Walls & gates · listed 1971Former Admirals Offices and Forecourt Walls and Attached Iron RailingsPhoto: Elliott Simpson · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Public · listed 1999Former Assistant Queens Harbourmasters OfficePhoto: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1999Former Guard HousePhoto: Dhowes9 · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*House · listed 1971Former Hatchelling House and Engine RoomPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
II*House · listed 1999Former Hemp House, Spinning Room and OfficesPhoto: Chris Gunns · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Walls & gates · listed 1971Former Police Offices and Attached WallPhoto: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1999Former Tarred Yarn HousePhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
II*Inns & shops · listed 1999Former Wheelwrights ShopPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
Show the other 16
II*House · listed 1999Guard House West and StorePhoto: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Inns & shops · listed 1999Joiners ShopPhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
II*House · listed 1999Number 1 WorkbasePhoto: Clem Rutter, Rochester Kent · CC BY 2.5
II*House · listed 1999Number 2 Dry DockPhoto: Dhowes9 · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*House · listed 1999Number 3 Dry DockPhoto: Dhowes9 · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*Church · listed 1952St Bartholomews ChapelPhoto: Nigel Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1999The Bell MastPhoto: Dhowes9 · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*House · listed 1999The Customs HousePhoto: Oast House Archive · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1971The Royal Dockyard ChurchPhoto: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1999Timber Seasoning Store, NorthPhoto: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1991351, High StreetPhoto: Paul the Archivist · CC BY-SA 4.0
Public · listed 1971Former Cashiers Office
House · listed 1999Number 1 Smithery
Walls & gates · listed 1999Stable, South Range and Attached Wall to South
House · listed 1999The Guard House (Cafe)
House · listed 1999Timber Seasoning Store, South
What’s protected
The largest group of Chatham’s listed buildings is homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas49
Public & civic buildings13
Walls, gates & bridges13
Inns, shops & warehouses11
Churches, chapels & priories9
Street furniture5
Memorials, crosses & tombs3
49 entries (48%) are houses, terraces and villas. 9 are churches, chapels and priories.
Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
64 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
All 64 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
Bell MastChatham House (Number 14) and Attached Front Area and Step RailingsChatham Ragged SchoolChest Tomb Approximately 20 Metres South of Chancel, Church of St Mary the VirginChest Tomb Approximately 40 Metres South of Chancel, Church of St Mary the VirginChest Tomb Approximately 5 Metres South of South Aisle, Church of St Mary the VirginChest Tomb Approximately 5 Metres South of Tower, Church of St Mary the VirginCommand House and Attached Entrance Railings, Stable and Carriage House and Rear WallCottage to Rear of No 374 High StreetCrimea House Fort Pitt Grammar School for GirlsFigurehead Approximately 50 Metres South of Royal Dockyard ChurchFormer C18 barrack block, Kitchener BarracksFormer Galvanising Shed (Visitor Centre)Former House Carpenters Shop and Wall to Front YardFormer Ordnance StoreFormer Ordnance Store at Chatham Gun WharfFormer Town Hall and Medway Arts CentreFort Pitt Grammar School for Girls (Domestic Science Block)Gun Wharf, Dock Road, ChathamHulkes Lane Brewery BuildingsLamp Standards and Railings to Front of Commissioners HouseLord Duncan Public HouseMcCudden War Memorial and GraveMedway Heritage CentreMortuary of St Bartholemew's HospitalNational Westminster BankNumber 4 Dry DockNumber 58 and Attached Front Area and Step RailingsNumbers 1-12 (Consecutive) and Attached Basement Area RailingsNumbers 52 and 54 and Attached Front Area and Step RailingsOld Theatre RoyalPheasant House and Attached Front Garden WallsQueens Stairs with Overthrow ArchReliance House and Attached Wall, Piers, Railings and Gates to ForecourtRetaining Walls, Piers, Railings and Steps Between Nos 368 and 374 and Opposite No 351Snodhurst Farmhouse and Attached Former OutbuildingsStatue of Lord Kitchener Approximately 50 Metres West of Entrance to Kitchener BarracksStatue of Thomas WaghornThe CottageThe Cottage and Attached Front Garden WallsThe HomesteadThe Hospital of Sir John Hawkins and Attached Front RailingsThe Ship InnThorney LodgeTomb of Lazarus Magnus, Chatham Jewish Burial GroundWalls Surrounding Churchyard of St Bartholomews ChapelWater Pump 10 Metres South West of Crimea House Water Pump 10 Metres South West of Fort Pitt Grammar School for Girls1-4, New Road Avenue104 and 106, High Street19, Maidstone Road2, New Road248, High Street329, 331, 333 and 335, High Street343 and 345, High Street35, High Street359 and 361, High Street365 High Street367, 369 and 371, High Street373, 375 and 377, High Street4 Hammond Hill4 and 6, New Road5, New Road Avenue60, New Road8 and 10, New Road
Conservation areas
6 conservation areas cover 4.6% of Chatham
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Chatham Historic Dockyard 199922 ha
Brompton Lines 198117 ha
New Road Rochester 199511 ha
Star Hill to Sun Pier 19948 ha
Maidstone Road Chatham 20044 ha
New Road Chatham 19722 ha
64 hain conservation areas, of 1,403 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, New Road Chatham, was designated in 1972; the newest, Maidstone Road Chatham, in 2004. 90 of the 103 listed buildings stand in one.
Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
29 of Chatham’s 103 listed buildings were added in 1999
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1999 · 291971 · 161952 · 12
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 1 entry was listed in 1950. 29 came in 1999. Only 9 have been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
46 scheduled monuments
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
2 registered parks and gardens
History Grade
Chatham grades B+ for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (247 points, 32 per 10,000 residents)More than 70% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (18%)More than 57% of UK towns
Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.
Born here
39 notable people born in Chatham before 1900
The 20 best known on one timeline, earliest first.
Thomas Wyatt
Thomas Hodgskin
John Lee Archer
Henry Stephen Fox
Richard Thomas
Horatio Thomas Austin
Sir William Jenner, 1st Baronet
Richard Dadd
Nathaniel Barnaby
Joseph John Tucker
Elizabeth Ann Everest
Walter Fairbanks
Lilian Violet Cooper
Walter Norris Congreve
William Halse Rivers Rivers
Syd King
James Sutcliffe
Basil Hitchcock
William Whitworth
Raymond Love
1500165018001950
TH
Thomas Hodgskin1787–1869 · British writer (1787-1869)
Richard Dadd1817–1886 · British artist (1817-1886)
Thomas Wyatt1521–1554 · English rebel leader during the reign of Queen Mary I (1521-1554)
William Halse Rivers Rivers1864–1922 · English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist (18…
Horatio Thomas Austin1800–1865 · British Royal Navy officer and explorer (1800-1865)
Nathaniel Barnaby1829–1915 · British engineer (1829-1915)
Lilian Violet Cooper1861–1947 · British-born Australian medical doctor
Walter Norris Congreve1862–1927 · Recipient of the Victoria Cross (1862–1927)
Everyone born in Chatham → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Chatham has the 16th most Grade I buildings of 152 towns its size
Places of 46,000–123,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Chatham11
#87 of 152for listed buildings per resident (13 per 10,000). Bath, Canterbury and Salisbury lead.
15 have more. Chatham is level with Guildford and Wakefield. The typical town its size has 2.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Chatham
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatham | 76,956 | 103 | 11 | B+ |
| Gillingham | 108,485 | 130 | 4 | B+ |
| Rochester | 67,279 | 279 | 21 | A− |
| Burham | 1,293 | 1 | 0 | C |
| Cuxton | 3,039 | 5 | 1 | C− |
| Eccles | 1,706 | 3 | 0 | C+ |
| Halling | 2,926 | 4 | 1 | B− |
| Chattenden | 2,417 | 0 | 0 | D− |
In brief
Chatham in brief
Chatham has 103 listed buildings, 11 of them Grade I. Former Commissioners House and Attached Staff Accomodation sits at the heart of it all, with 9 of the town’s Grade I buildings within 400 m. Only 15 of the 152 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. High Street alone has 10 listed buildings.
Its older streets lie in 6 conservation areas, the first designated in 1972. Of the 39 people born here before 1900, the best known include Thomas Hodgskin (1787), Richard Dadd (1817) and Thomas Wyatt (1521). It also has 46 scheduled monuments, the archaeology and ruins the law protects. The rest is about typical: per resident it sits near the middle of UK towns; and 18% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Chatham’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Chatham?
Historic England lists 103 buildings inside Chatham’s built-up area: 11 Grade I, 28 Grade II* and 64 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Chatham?
11, including Former Commissioner's House and Attached Staff Accommodation, Former Lead and Paint Mill, Former Mast House and Mould Loft, Former Officers Terrace and Attached Front Area Walls and Overthrows, Former Storehouse Number 2 and Former Rigging Store and Former Storehouse Number 3 and Former Chain Cable Store.
Are there scheduled monuments in Chatham?
Yes, 46 scheduled monuments, including Brook Low Level Pumping Station, Chatham Dockyard, Assistant Queen's Harbour Master's office, Chatham Dockyard, Chain Cable shed and Chatham Dockyard, Customs House.
How many conservation areas are there in Chatham?
6, covering about 64 hectares of the town. The largest are Chatham Historic Dockyard and Brompton Lines.
When were Chatham’s buildings listed?
The first in 1950; the most, 29, in 1999.
Are there old photos of Chatham?
Yes: 3 public-domain photos and postcards from 1628 to 1890, and an old map from 1927, all on this page.
Who was born in Chatham?
Among people born before 1900: Thomas Hodgskin (1787), Richard Dadd (1817), Thomas Wyatt (1521), William Halse Rivers Rivers (1864) and Horatio Thomas Austin (1800).
How old are the homes in Chatham?
18% of homes were built before 1919 and 28% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.