Chatham Dockyard gets 16m Lottery money

A 16m project to renovate the historic Chatham Dockyard can go ahead, after a 5m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

No designers have yet been appointed to the project, but a number of contracts will be let next year when the first phase of the five-year-plus development programme gets underway.

“We will be putting the design aspects of the project, such as the galleries, the working environment and refurbishment work out to tender nearer the time,” says Antony Morse, marketing manager at the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust.

“We are now able to modernise the infrastructure, improve the landscape of the site and continue the preservation and adaptation of our buildings for new uses,” says Sir William Staveley, chairman of the trust.

The first phase of the work will concentrate on the smithery and dock covers, which form the heart of the dock. The dockyard dates back to the 18th century.