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Antonia Fortress

2025-06-26T13:22:25Z

47.248.233.98: /* History */

{{Short description|Ancient hill-top citadel in Jerusalem}}
{{Infobox ancient site|name=Antonia Fortress|alternate_name={{langx|he|מבצר אנטוניה}}
{{langx|arc|קצטרא דאנטוניה}}|image=File:The Antonia Fortress.jpg|alt=|caption=Proposed reconstruction of the Antonia Fortress at the [[Holyland Model of Jerusalem]]|map_type=|map_alt=|location=[[Jerusalem during the Second Temple period|Jerusalem]]|coordinates={{Coord|31|46|33.42|N|35|14|10.38|E|type:landmark_scale:5000|display=inline}}|type=[[fortress]]|builder=[[Herod the Great|Herod]]|material=|built=First century BCE|abandoned=First century CE|epochs=[[Judaea|early Roman period]]|excavations=|archaeologists=|condition=|public_access=Limited}}The '''Antonia Fortress''' ([[Aramaic]]: קצטרא דאנטוניה){{efn|Based on Josephus' use of the word 'citadel' or 'fortress' when referring to the Antonia Fortress}} was a [[citadel]] built by [[Herod the Great]] and named for Herod's patron [[Mark Antony]], as a fortress whose chief function was to protect the [[Second Temple]]. It was built in [[Jerusalem]] at the eastern end of the Second Wall, at the north-western corner of the [[Temple Mount]], and was connected to the Temple by [[Portico|porticoes]].

==History==
Herod (r. 37 – c. 4 [[Common Era|BCE]]) built the fortress to protect the [[Second Temple#Herod's Temple|Temple]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

He named it for his patron [[Mark Antony]] (83–30 BCE).<ref name="dk">{{cite book |title=Jerusalem, Israel, Petra & Sinai |publisher=[[DK (publisher)|DK]] |isbn=978-1-4654-4131-7 |year=2016 |orig-year=2000 |page=48}}</ref>

The fortress was one of the last strongholds of the [[Jews]] in the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)]], when the Second Temple was destroyed.<ref name="dk" />

===Construction date controversy===
The construction date is controversial because the name suggests that Herod built Antonia before the [[Last war of the Roman Republic|defeat]] of Mark Antony by [[Augustus|Octavian]]<ref name="Benoit1971" /> in 31–30 BCE and Mark Antony's suicide in 30 BCE. Herod is famous for being an apt diplomat and pragmatist, who always aligned himself with the winning side and the "man in charge" of Rome. It is somewhat difficult to bring this date in accordance with the presumed date for the construction of the Herodian Temple.

==Christian tradition==
Traditionally, [[Christians]] have believed for centuries that the vicinity of the Antonia Fortress was the site of [[Pontius Pilate]]' ''[[praetorium]]'', where [[Jesus]] was [[Pilate's court|tried]] for [[high treason]]. This was based on the assumption that an area of Roman flagstones discovered beneath the [[Church of the Condemnation]] and the [[Convent of the Sisters of Zion]] was '[[Gabbatha|the pavement]]' which {{bibleverse||John|19:13|}} describes as the location of Jesus' trial.

===Antonia pavement: archaeological counter-arguments===
[[Pierre Benoit (archaeologist)|Pierre Benoit]], former professor of New Testament studies at the [[École Biblique]], reexamined the results of all previous surveys of the north-western escarpment of the Haram, of the archaeological studies of the sites owned by the Catholics in the area (Convent of the Sisters of Zion, [[Church of the Flagellation|Flagellation Monastery]] and [[Church of Saint Anne, Jerusalem|St Anne Convent]] of the [[White Fathers]]), as well as the digs north of the [[Struthion Pool]] area,<ref name="Benoit1971" /> and published in 1971 his conclusions: Archaeological investigation indicates that about a century after the presumed time of Jesus' death, this area was rebuilt as the eastern of two [[Roman Forum|forums]] belonging to the new city initiated by [[Hadrian]] in around 130 CE, the [[Aelia Capitolina]],<ref name="Benoit1971">{{cite journal |last= Benoit |first= Pierre |author-link= Pierre Benoit (archaeologist) |title= L'Antonia d'Hérode le Grand et le forum oriental d'Aelia Capitolina |journal=[[Harvard Theological Review]] |publisher= Cambridge University Press |location= Cambridge, U.K. |volume= 64 |issue= 2–3 |pages= 135–167 [155–156, 159–161] |year= 1971 |doi= 10.1017/S0017816000032478 |jstor= 1509294 |s2cid= 162902370 |issn= 0017-8160 |language= fr |url= http://www.jstor.org/stable/1509294 |access-date= 8 September 2020 |url-access= subscription }}</ref> and it is conceivable that following the destruction of the Antonia Fortress during the siege of 70 CE, its pavement tiles were reused at Hadrian's forum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jerusalemexperience.com/tour/ecce-homo-arch-notre-dame-de-sion-convent-via-dolorosa/|title=Ecce Homo Arch Video|website=Jerusalem Experience|year=2012}}</ref> However, he also considers the possibility that the pavement is from Hadrian's time altogether.<ref name="Benoit1971" /> The eastern forum of the Aelia Capitolina was built over the Struthion Pool, which was mentioned by first-century historian [[Josephus]] as being adjacent to the fortress (Josephus, ''Jewish War'' 5:11:4).{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

===Praetorium at royal palace, not at Antonia===
There are textual and archaeological arguments against the [[Pilate's court|trial of Jesus]] being carried out at the Antonia Fortress. Like [[Philo]], Josephus testifies that the Roman governors stayed in [[Herod's Palace (Jerusalem)|Herod's Palace]] while they were in Jerusalem,<ref>Benoit (1976), p. 87</ref> and carried out their trials on the pavement immediately outside it (Josephus, ''Jewish Wars'', 2:14:8). Josephus indicates that Herod's Palace is on the Western Hill (''Jewish Wars'', 5:2) and in 2001 some of its vestiges were rediscovered under a corner of the [[Tower of David]].<ref>Jacqueline Schaalje, "Israeli Archaeologists Discover Herod's Palace", The Jewish Magazine (October 2001).</ref> Archaeologists therefore conclude that in the first century, the ''praetorium''—the residence of the ''[[praefectus]]'' (governor)—was in the former royal palace on the Western Hill, rather than at the Antonia Fortress, on the opposite side of the city.<ref name="Benoit1971" /> However, as the tradition retained its power in associating the fortress with Jesus' trial, the place where it once stood serves as the starting point of the ''[[Via Dolorosa]]'' commemorating the [[crucifixion of Jesus]].

===Two arguments for Antonia as the place of judgement===
1. During the greatest pilgrimage feast, when hundreds of thousands came to the Temple, Pilate naturally had to be with his garrison next to the Temple mount as a potential focus of the uprising, and certainly the favorite place of religious and national zealots who wished independence from Rome.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dannythedigger.com/via-dolorosa/|title=The Via Dolorosa|website=Danny the Digger|year=2023}}</ref>

2. According to Luke's Gospel ({{bibleverse-nb|Luke|23:6{{ndash}}13|ASV}}), Pilate found out that Christ was from Galilee, "and when he knew that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him unto Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem in these days" (23:7). Herod Antipas, who came for the holiday from Galilee to Jerusalem, disappointed and angry because of Jesus’ silence, "sent him back to Pilate" (23:11), who then "called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people" (23:13). It seems that Pilate was not in Herod's castle. If the trial had taken place in Herod's castle, he could have simply asked Herod to come to the courtroom, as he summoned the chief priests and the leaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.holylandsite.com/via-dolorosa/|title=The Via Dolorosa|website=Holy Land Site|year=2023}}</ref>

==Description==
[[File:P8170045.JPG|right|thumb|254x254px|A model of the Antonia Fortress—currently in the [[Israel Museum]]]]
Although modern reconstructions often depict the fortress as having a tower at each of four corners, Josephus repeatedly refers to it as "the tower Antonia", and states that it had been built by [[John Hyrcanus]] and later by [[Herod the Great|King Herod]], and used for a [[vestry]], in which were reposited the vestments of the [[High Priest of Israel|high priest]].<ref>Josephus, ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' 18:4:3; [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D15%3Asection%3D403 15.403]</ref> Josephus states:

<blockquote>The general appearance of the whole was that of a tower with other towers at each of the four corners; three of these turrets were fifty [[cubits]] high, while that at the south-east angle rose to seventy cubits and so commanded a view of the whole area of the temple.<ref>Josephus, The Jewish War, Book V, v. [https://archive.org/details/L487JosephusIIITheJewishWar47/page/n284/mode/2up 238], pp. 275 & 277, translated by [[Henry St. John Thackeray]], The Loeb Classical Library, William Heinemann Ltd (London) and Harvard University Press, 1961 (reprint of 1928 first edition). Accessed July 2020.</ref></blockquote>

Some archaeologists are also of the opinion that the fortress consisted only of a single tower, located at the south-east corner of the site.<ref>Benoit (1976), p. 89</ref>{{dubious|Sentence is nonsensical: if only a tower, the SE of WHAT site? SE of itself?|date=September 2020}} For example, Pierre Benoit writes that there is absolutely no archaeological support for there having been four towers.<ref name="Benoit1976">{{cite book |last= Benoit |first= Pierre |author-link= Pierre Benoit (archaeologist) |title= The Archaeological Reconstruction of the Antonia Fortress |work= Jerusalem Revealed: Archaeology in the Holy City, 1968–1974 |editor=Yigael Yadin |editor-link=Yigael Yadin |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] and [[Israel Exploration Society]] |location= [[London]] & [[New Haven]] |year= 1976 |language= en |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp5tAAAAMAAJ&q=benoit |access-date= 9 September 2020}}</ref>{{dubious|Unless he had processed findings from excavations undertaken in the area in the 5 years between the 1971 and the 1976 publication (and work was done there by the IAA at the N end of the W Wall tunnel), he couldn't say what is claimed here; only that opposes the theory the reconstruction of the Antonia as stretching NORTH of the Flagellation and "Lithostrotos" monasteries, and there is no trace of the supposed two northern towers over there. The 1976 book is not available online, I can only go by the 1971 article, and in that one he didn't say in that there hadn't been 4 towers, period. Unless proven by reachable source, I tend to believe he is misquoted here, as he was elsewhere too until now.|date=September 2020}}

Josephus attests to the importance of the Antonia: "For if the Temple lay as a fortress over the city, Antonia dominated the Temple & the occupants of that post were the guards of all three." Josephus placed the Antonia at the northwest corner of the colonnades surrounding the Temple. Modern depictions often show the Antonia as being located along the north side of the Temple enclosure.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==Other theories==
Some researchers and academics, including Marilyn Sams (M.A. in American Literature, Brigham Young University) and Dr. [[Robert Cornuke]] (Ph.D. in Bible and Theology, Louisiana Baptist University), have expanded on research by Dr. [[Ernest L. Martin]] (1932–2002, meteorologist, college professor, amateur archeologist), who offered evidence that the compound on what is commonly called the Temple Mount did not house the Jerusalem Temple, but is instead the remnants of a more massive Antonia Fortress, and that the rock inside the [[Dome of the Rock]] is not the [[Foundation Stone]], but was inside the [[Praetorium]] of [[Pontius Pilate]] where Jesus was judged.<ref name="Sams">{{cite journal |last= Sams |first= Marilyn |title= A Proposal for the Configuration of Solomon's Temple Mount |website= academia.edu |url= https://www.academia.edu/35235638 |access-date= 9 December 2020}}</ref>

[[Jerome Murphy-O'Connor]], however, argued that this theory "cannot be sustained", as it cannot be reconciled with Josephus' description, and it "does not account for the archaeological remains in the western section of the north wall".<ref name="Connor">{{cite journal |last= Murphy-O'Connor |first= Jerome |author-link= Jerome Murphy-O'Connor |title= Where was the Antonia Fortress? |journal= Revue Biblique |pages= 78–89 |publisher=[[École Biblique]] |location= Jerusalem |volume= 111 |number= 1 |year= 2004 |jstor= 44824413 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/44824413 |access-date= 9 December 2020}}</ref> Josephus and archaeology don't leave much space for doubt in regard to the fact that the Temple Mount was indeed the site of the Herodian Temple, nor for the location of the Antonia near its north-western corner.<ref name="Connor" />[[File:P8170052.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Model of the fortress and the Tedi Gate (small gate with triangular top)]]

Both Josephus and archaeology concur that the Roman military camp after the 70 CE destruction was centered on the [[Tower of David#Herod's towers|three towers]] next to [[Herod's Palace (Jerusalem)|Herod's royal palace]] on the Western Hill, and not on the Temple Mount, whose protective walls had been thrown down by the Romans, with the resulting debris visible until today along the [[Western Wall]] near [[Robinson's Arch]].<ref name="Connor" /> Roman military camps had rounded corners and four gates, one in each wall – the Herodian compound had angular corners and nine gates.<ref name="Connor" /> Permanent camps were much larger, 50 acres on average; the Haram esplanade only contains 36 acres.<ref name="Connor" /> There is no Roman camp explanation for the Hebrew inscription marking the [[Trumpeting Place inscription|Trumpeting Place]].<ref name="Connor" /> The Temple compound was surrounded by porticos (roofed [[colonnade]]s following the inner walls of the compound), while military camps never were.<ref name="Connor" /> Augustus trusted Herod and would not have built a controlling fortress towering over his capital and Temple, but no emperor would have gone so far as to entrust a legion to a client king.<ref name="Connor" />

Remains of a 4-metre thick wall and Herodian-style [[ashlar]]s are still observable inside the [[Mamluk Egypt|Mamluk]] buildings in the north-west corner of the Haram and the adjacent area along its northern wall.<ref name=Connor/> Together they suggest the dimensions of the Antonia: 112 by 40 metres on the outside, signifying a 3300 square metre floor area, absolutely enough for a small garrison, but certainly not for the entire legion suggested by Martin.<ref name=Connor/>

Antonia did stand on a rocky outcrop, as written by Josephus, but here, as elsewhere in his writings, he did exaggerate its elevation above the surrounding ground.<ref name=Connor/> This still meant that the fortress dominated the Temple courts and porticos, the latter by over ten metres, matching Josephus' words: "the tower of Antonia lay at the angle where the two porticos, the western and the northern, of the first court of the Temple met" ([[The Jewish War|JW]] 5:238), and "[a]t the point where the Antonia impinged on the porticos of the temple there were stairs leading down to both of them by which the guards descended" (JW 5:243; cf. {{bibleverse|Acts|21:40}}).<ref name=Connor/> The position and dimensions of those porticos can still be in part discerned, thanks to three surviving roof beam sockets carved out of the living rock of the rocky outcrop which once held the Antonia, north-west of the esplanade.<ref name=Connor/> Josephus' statement that all the porticos surrounding the Temple complex measured six stadia "including the Antonia" (JW 5:192) is off by a large margin (six stadia represent about 1.11 km, whereas the sides of the Haram esplanade today measure together about 1.55 km), but it clearly suggests that the fortress was contiguous with the Temple complex with no need for a "double causeway" to connect the two by spanning a distance of one ''[[stade (unit)|stade]]'' (c. 150 m), as claimed by Martin.<ref name=Connor/>

==See also==
*[[Bezetha]]
*[[Convent of the Sisters of Zion|Church of Ecce Homo]]
*[[Hasmonean Baris]]
*[[Herodian architecture]]

==References==
'''Footnotes'''
{{Notelist}}

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|33em}}

==External links==
*{{Jewish Encyclopedia|article=Antonia|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1614-antonia|author=Lieut.-Col. Claude R. Conder}}

{{Temple Mount}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|31|46|48|N|35|14|03|E|region:IL_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=title}}

[[Category:19 BC]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC]]
[[Category:Establishments in the Herodian kingdom]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Ancient sites in Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Architectural history]]
[[Category:Former buildings and structures in Israel]]
[[Category:Forts in Israel]]
[[Category:Herod the Great]]
[[Category:Ancient history of Jerusalem]]
[[Category:Temple Mount]]
[[Category:1st-century BC fortifications]]
[[Category:Pontius Pilate]]

Chatham, Kent

2025-05-28T05:29:23Z

47.248.233.98: /* Notable people */

{{Short description|Town in Kent, England}}
{{For|the municipality in Ontario, Canada|Chatham-Kent}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Chatham
| type = Town
| static_image_name = ChathamMedway2644.JPG
| static_image_caption = Chatham Riverside from Sun Pier
| static_image_2_name = CoA of Chatham.svg
| static_image_2_caption = Coat of arms of Chatham
| static_image_2_width = 180
| coordinates = {{coord|51.37|0.52|region:GB-ENG|display=inline,title}}
| population = 80,596
| population_ref = (2020 ONS)<ref>Population figures for all major UK towns and cities https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/populationfiguresforallmajoruktownsandcities</ref>
| os_grid_reference = TQ765659
| london_distance = {{convert|33|mi|km|abbr=on}} [[Points of the compass|WNW]]
| unitary_england = [[Medway]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Kent]]
| region = South East England
| country = England
| post_town = CHATHAM
| postcode_area = ME
| postcode_district = ME4, ME5
| dial_code = 01634
| constituency_westminster = [[Chatham and Aylesford (UK Parliament constituency)|Chatham and Aylesford]]
}}
'''Chatham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|æ|t|ə|m}} {{respell|CHAT|əm}}) is a town within the [[Medway]] unitary authority in the ceremonial county of [[Kent]], England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns [[Gillingham, Kent|Gillingham]], [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]], [[Strood]] and [[Rainham, Kent|Rainham]]. In 2020 it had a population of 80,596.

The town developed around [[Chatham Dockyard]] and several [[barracks]] for the [[British Army]] and the [[Royal Navy]], together with 19th-century forts which provided a defensive shield for Chatham Dockyard. The [[Corps of Royal Engineers]] is still based in Chatham at [[Brompton Barracks]].

Chatham Dockyard closed on 31 March 1984, but the remaining naval buildings are an attraction for a flourishing tourist industry. Following closure, part of the site was developed as a commercial port, other parts were redeveloped for business and residential use, and part was used as the [[Chatham Historic Dockyard]] museum. Its attractions include the submarine {{HMS|Ocelot|S17|6}}.

The town has important road links and the [[Chatham railway station, Medway|railway]] and bus stations are the main interchanges for the area. It is the administrative headquarters of [[Medway Council]]. which is a Unitary Authority, as well as its principal retail and shopping location.

==Toponymy==
The name ''Chatham'' is first attested in a [[charter]] of 880 (surviving in a twelfth-century manuscript); it appears again in a [[charter]] of 975 as ''Cætham'', and in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Ceteham''. The first element of the name comes from the [[Common Brittonic]] word that survives in modern Welsh as {{lang|cy|coed}} ("woodland"). The second element is the [[Old English]] word {{lang|ang|hām}} ("settlement"). At the point when the current name was coined, then, it meant "settlement at Chat". The Old English term for the settlement's inhabitants is also reconstructable from a twelfth-century copy of a charter of 995, as *{{lang|ang|Cēthǣmas}}.<ref name=mills>A. D. Mills, ''A Dictionary of British Place-Names'', 2003, Oxford University Press (OUP). {{ISBN|0-19-852758-6}}</ref><ref name=glover>Judith Glover, ''The Place Names of Kent'', 1976, Batsford. {{ISBN|0-905270-61-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names, Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780521168557 |editor-last=Watts |editor-first=Victor |location=Cambridge}}, s.v. ''Chatham''.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Coates |first=Richard |title=Celtic Voices, English Places: Studies of the Celtic Impact on Place-Names in Britain |last2=Breeze |first2=Andrew |publisher=Tyas |year=2000 |isbn=1900289415 |location=Stamford}}.</ref>{{rp|316}}

==History==
The [[A2 road (Great Britain)|A2 road]] passes by Chatham along the line of the ancient [[Celts|Celtic]] route which the [[Druids]] used for ceremonial purposes. It was paved by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]], and named [[Watling Street]] by the Anglo-Saxons. Among certain archaeological finds here have been the remains of a Roman-era cemetery.

Chatham was long a small village on the banks of the [[River Medway]]. By the 16th century, warships were being moored at Jillingham Water ([[Gillingham, Kent|Gillingham]]), because of its strategic sheltered location between [[London]] and the [[European continent]]. It was established as a Royal Dockyard by Queen [[Elizabeth I]] in 1568, and most of Chatham Dockyard lies within Gillingham. Initially a refitting base, it became a shipbuilding yard; from then until the late 19th century, further expansion of the yard took place. In its time, many thousands of personnel in the [[Royal Navy]] were employed at Chatham Dockyard, and many hundreds of vessels were launched there, including ''[[HMS Victory]],'' which was constructed from 23 July 1759 to 30 April 1762. After [[World War I]] ended on 11 November 1918 numerous [[submarine]]s were also built in Chatham Dockyard.

[[File:ChathamMedway2654.JPG|thumb|right|Looking from the [[River Medway]] at Sun Pier along the Great Barrier Ditch, to the Gun Platforms at Fort Amherst]] In addition to Chatham Dockyard, defensive fortifications were built to protect it from attack. [[Upnor Castle]] had been built in 1567, but had proved ineffectual; the Dutch [[raid on the Medway]] from 19 June 1667 to 24 June 1667, during the [[Second Anglo-Dutch War]], showed that more defences were required along the banks of the River Medway. The fortifications, which became more elaborate as the threat of invasion grew, were begun during 18 October 1756 as a complex across the neck of the Medway Peninsula formed by the bend in the River Medway, and included [[Fort Amherst]]. The threat of a land-based attack from the south during the 19th century led to the construction of more Napoleonic Forts.

The second phase of fortress-building happened from September 1806 to February 1819, and included [[Fort Pitt, Kent|Fort Pitt]] (later used as a hospital and the site of the initial Army Medical School). The 1859 [[Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom]] ordered, ''Inter Alia'', a third outer ring of Napoleonic Forts: these included [[Fort Luton]],<ref>Now a heritage site</ref> [[Fort Bridgewood|Fort Bridgewoods]], and [[Fort Borstal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fortified-places.com/chatham.html|title=Fortified Places > Fortresses > Chatham|website=fortified-places.com|access-date=4 January 2007|archive-date=17 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217125827/http://www.fortified-places.com/chatham.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

These fortifications required military personnel to man them and Army Barracks to house those men. These included Kitchener Barracks (c 1750-80), the [[Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham|Royal Marine Barracks]] (c 1780), [[Royal School of Military Engineering|Brompton Artillery Barracks]] (1806)<ref>Although the postal address of Brompton Barracks (now the headquarters of the [[Royal Engineers]]) indicates Chatham as its location, Brompton village lies in Gillingham</ref> and Melville Barracks (opened 1820 as a Naval Hospital, RM Barracks from 1905).<ref>{{cite web|title=Medway lines website|url=http://www.medwaylines.com/medwaymaritimehospital.htm|access-date=15 January 2015|archive-date=11 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211162921/http://www.medwaylines.com/medwaymaritimehospital.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> HMS Collingwood and HMS Pembroke were both Naval Barracks.

In response to the huge manpower needs, the village of Chatham and other nearby villages and towns grew commensurately. [[Chatham and District Light Railways Company|Trams]], and later buses, linked those places to bring in the workforce.<ref name="trams">{{cite book| author=Harley, Robert J.| year=1994| title=Maidstone and Chatham Tramways| publisher=Middleton Press|isbn=1-873793-40-5}}</ref> The area between the High Street and Luton village illustrates part of that growth, with its many streets of Victorian terraces.

The importance of Chatham Dockyard gradually declined as the resources of the [[Royal Navy]] in the [[United Kingdom]] were reduced or moved to other locations, and eventually, on 31 March 1984, it shut. The buildings of Chatham Dockyard were preserved as the historic site [[Chatham Historic Dockyard]] (operated by Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chdt.org.uk/|title=The Historic Dockyard Chatham – Your Big Day Out in Kent|website=Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust|access-date=12 December 2007|archive-date=8 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100608071952/http://www.chdt.org.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref>), which was under consideration as a [[World Heritage Site]]<ref name="unesco">{{cite web | title = Chatham Naval Dockyard | url = https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1309/ | publisher = UNESCO | access-date = 21 September 2007 | archive-date = 12 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070912033305/http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1309/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Sam |last=Masters |date=9 January 2014 |title=Chatham dockyard's bid for Unesco World Heritage Site status is blocked |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chatham-dockyards-bid-for-unesco-world-heritage-site-status-is-blocked-9049750.html |work=The Independent |access-date=17 November 2014 |archive-date=2 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202014126/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/chatham-dockyards-bid-for-unesco-world-heritage-site-status-is-blocked-9049750.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the site is being used for other purposes. Part of the [[St Mary's Island, Kent|St Mary's Island]] section is now used as a marina, and the remainder is being developed for housing, commercial and other uses, branded as "Chatham Maritime".<ref>[http://www.seeda.co.uk/what-we-do/seeda-in-action/kent-medway/kent-keyactivities/thames-gateway/chatham-maritime "Chatham Maritime"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091126202400/http://www.seeda.co.uk/what-we-do/seeda-in-action/kent-medway/kent-keyactivities/thames-gateway/chatham-maritime |date=26 November 2009 }} article on [[SEEDA]] website. Retrieved 25 August 2010.</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:ChathamMedway2663.JPG|thumb|right| Medway Council Building at Gun Wharf]]
[[File:Old Town Hall, The Brook, Chatham, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 891430.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Chatham Town Hall]] (opened in 1900) now serves as the Brook Theatre for Medway Council.]]
Chatham lost its independence as a borough under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], by which, on 1 April 1974, it became part of the Borough of Medway, a [[non-metropolitan district]] of the county of [[Kent]]; under subsequent renaming the borough became the [[City of Rochester-upon-Medway|Borough of Rochester-upon-Medway]] (1979); and, from 1982, the [[City of Rochester-upon-Medway]]. Under the most recent change, in 1998, and with the addition of the Borough of Gillingham, the Borough of Medway became a [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority area]], administratively separate from Kent.<ref name="roch2000">Rochester, The past 2000 years, Published Privately City of Rochester Society 1999.</ref> It remains part of the county of Kent for [[Ceremonial counties of England|ceremonial purposes]].

Medway Council has recently moved its main administration building to Gun Wharf, the site of the earliest part of the dockyard,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.medway.gov.uk/pdf/06_ca_5_gun_wharf_6_kitchener_barracks1.pdf |title=Character Area 5: Gun Wharf |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928020423/http://www.medway.gov.uk/pdf/06_ca_5_gun_wharf_6_kitchener_barracks1.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a former [[Lloyd's of London|Lloyd's]] office building.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://medway.gov.uk/pdf/med_matters_issue15.pdf |title=Medway Matters |access-date=8 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111104112853/http://medway.gov.uk/pdf/med_matters_issue15.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was built between 1976 and 1978 and is Grade II listed.<ref>Historic England https://publicaccess1.medway.gov.uk/online-applications/files/40D3AE7DD53D70776D16D4C755389B05/pdf/MC_22_0605-HISTORIC_ENGLAND_COMMENTS-5994336.pdf{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Chatham is part of [[Chatham and Aylesford (UK Parliament constituency)|the parliamentary constituency of Chatham and Aylesford]]. Before 1997, Chatham had been included in the constituencies of [[Mid Kent (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Kent]], [[Rochester and Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)|Rochester and Chatham]] and [[Chatham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chatham]].

Chatham has proven to be a marginal parliamentary seat. Since 1945, the members of parliament for Chatham have been as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member!!Party
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1945 United Kingdom general election|1945]]
| [[Arthur Bottomley]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959]]
| [[Julian Critchley]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964]]
| [[Anne Kerr (politician)|Anne Kerr]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970]]
| [[Peggy Fenner]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|Oct 1974]]
| [[Robert Bean (politician)|Robert Bean]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979]]
| [[Peggy Fenner]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983]]
| [[Andrew Rowe]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]
| [[Jonathan Shaw (politician)|Jonathan Shaw]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}" |
| [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]
| [[Tracey Crouch]]
| [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024]]
| [[Tristan Osborne]]
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|-
|}

==Geography==
[[File:ChathamMedway.jpg|thumb|right|(1) Chatham Dockyard, seen from Fort Pitt, ca. 1830.<ref>From ''W. H. Ireland's History of Kent''</ref>]]
[[File:GillinghamGreatLines2718.JPG|thumb|right| (2) Chatham Town Centre from the Great Lines]]
[[File:ChathamDarland3029.JPG|thumb|right|(3) Luton Valley, from Darland Banks]]
[[File:GillinghamNavalWarMem2711.JPG|thumb|upright| Chatham Naval Memorial]]
[[File:ChathamA2LutonArches2784.JPG|thumb|The A2 road at Luton Arches. The New Road runs underneath the Luton Arches Footbridge.]]
[[File:ChathamHighSt2676.JPG|thumb|right|Sir John Hawkins Flyover, which was demolished in 2009.]]

[[File:Chatham Bus Station 0271.JPG|thumb|right|[[Chatham Waterfront bus station]]]]

Chatham is situated where the lower part of the [[dip slope]] of the [[North Downs]] meets the [[River Medway]] which at this point is flowing in a south–north direction. This gives the right bank, where the town stands, considerable advantages from the point of view of river use. Compared with opposite bank, the river is fast-flowing and deep; the illustration (1), an early print of the settlement, is taken from the point where Fort Pitt now stands. The town lies below at river level, curving round to occupy a south-easterly trending valley (The Brook), in which lies the High Street. Beyond the [[Chatham Dockyard]] was marshy land, now called St Mary's Island, and has several new developments of housing estates. The New Road crosses the scene below the vantage point of the illustration.

Illustration (2) is taken from the opposite side of the valley: the [[Pentagon Shopping Centre]] is to the right, with the building on the ridge left of centre, Fort Pitt and Rochester lies beyond that ridge; and [[Frindsbury]] is on the rising ground in the right distance.

The valley continues southeastwards as the Luton Valley, in which is the erstwhile village of that name; and Capstone Valley. The ''Darland Banks'', the northern slopes of the Luton Valley above these valleys, are unimproved chalk grassland. The photograph (3), taken from the Banks and looking south, shows the village in the centre, with the rows of Victorian terraced housing, which unusually follow the contour lines. The opposite slopes are the ‘'Daisy Banks'’ and ‘'Coney Banks'’, along which some of the defensive forts were built (including Fort Luton, in the trees to the left)

Until the start of the 20th century, most of the south part of the borough was entirely rural, with a number of farms and large tracts of woodland. The beginning of what is now [[Walderslade]] was when a speculative builder began to build the core of the village in ''Walderslade Bottoms''.<ref>[http://www.walderslade.kevinarrowsmith.co.uk/localhistory.php Walderslade Online: ''A Short History of Walderslade Village''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225195848/http://www.walderslade.kevinarrowsmith.co.uk/localhistory.php |date=25 December 2008 }}</ref>

==Demography==
Chatham became a market town in its own right in the 19th century, and a [[municipal borough]] in 1890. By 1831 its population had reached more than 16,000. By 1961 it had reached 48,800.<ref name="KHI"/>

==Economy==
The closure of the Royal Navy Dockyard on 31 March 1984 had the effect of changing the employment statistics of the town. About 7,000 people lost their jobs. The unemployment rate went up to 23.5%.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/kent/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9386000/9386381.stm|title=Can Sandwich learn from the Chatham Dockyard closure?|publisher=BBC News|date=3 February 2011|access-date=26 April 2012|archive-date=6 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806172129/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/kent/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9386000/9386381.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> From early April 1984 to December 1985, and onwards, the Medway Towns began to have an increase in alcohol and drug-related, antisocial behaviour, which many residents then realized had largely been caused by the closure of the Royal Navy Dockyard on 31 March 1984, and the resulting mass redundancies. There has been a concerted effort to revitalise the [[Thames Gateway]] area and one of the largest employers in Chatham is now [[Vanquis Bank]] Ltd, a subsidiary of [[Vanquis Banking Group]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/white-powder-sent-to-credit-122158/|title=Suspicious package containing white powder sent to Vanquis Bank call centre in Chatham Maritime|date=13 March 2017|newspaper=Kent Online|access-date=16 March 2023}}</ref>

==Landmarks==
The [[Chatham Naval Memorial]] commemorates the 18,500 officers, ranks and ratings of the [[Royal Navy]] who were lost or buried at sea in [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. The Chatham Naval Memorial was constructed from March 1924 to October 1924. The addition of the [[obelisk]] and [[Portland stone]] plaque walls and surroundings were constructed between June 1952 to October 1952. It stands on the Great Lines, the escarpment ridge between Chatham and [[Gillingham, Kent|Gillingham]].

The [[Grade II]] [[listed building]] [[Chatham Town Hall]] was built in January 1900;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-462086-former-town-hall-and-medway-arts-centre-|title=Former Town Hall and Medway Arts Centre, Chatham|publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk|date=1 June 1990|access-date=26 April 2012|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304211213/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-462086-former-town-hall-and-medway-arts-centre-|url-status=live}}</ref> it stands in The Brook opposite the [[public house]] called Churchills, and is of a unique architectural design. With Chatham being part of the Medway Towns, it took on a new role as the Medway Arts Centre on 20 April 1987, with the promotional motto "''Putting The Arts Back into The Medway''". There were many events held within the Medway Arts Centre, including [[stage plays]], [[craft fairs]], [[snooker tournaments]] and party nights. Likewise during 12 May 1990, the Medway Arts Centre organised a large parade, composed of [[dancers]], [[musicians]], [[artists]] and [[sculptors]], who stood upon theatrical lorry floats. The vehicles were initially parked up next to the entrance into the Theatre Royal Cafe, a popular restaurant in the Chatham Town Hall, on Whiffens Avenue, and then started to travel along Military Road in Chatham, and onward to [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]], [[Strood]] and [[Frindsbury]], where sweets, chocolate, posters, badges, plastic hats, leaflets, stickers and T-shirts were handed out to the crowds, to promote the Medway Arts Centre. On 28 April 1997, the Medway Arts Centre became the ''Brook Theatre''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medway.gov.uk/theatres|title=Medway theatres|first=Jade|last=Selby|website=medway.gov.uk|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=8 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208144617/http://www.medway.gov.uk/theatres|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Pentagon Shopping Centre]] stands in Chatham Town Centre and serviced the Pentagon Bus Station that was closed on 30 September 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pentagonshoppingcentre.co.uk|title=Pentagon Shopping Centre|website=Pentagon Shopping Centre|access-date=23 January 2021|archive-date=18 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818052044/https://www.pentagonshoppingcentre.co.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Chatham Waterfront bus station]] opened in October 2011, replacing the previous Pentagon Bus Station in Chatham, which was opened during 16 October 1970, before the Pentagon Shopping Centre was opened on 30 June 1975. The Pentagon Bus Station was considered an unwelcoming environment for [[passengers]]. This was because of the diesel fumes from the [[buses]], [[Coach (bus)|coaches]] and [[minibuses]], and because the waiting areas would sometimes become very crowded as customers from D & A Toys, [[Sainsbury's]], [[Bejam]] and [[C&A]] would also emerge from those shops and others, as they regularly used the upstairs shops. escalators and stairs in the Pentagon Shopping Centre, to get on board the green buses, coaches and minibuses that were managed by [[Maidstone & District Motor Services]].

==Transport==
{{main|River Medway}}
The Medway, apart from Chatham Dockyard, has always had an important role in communication: historically it provided a means for the transport of goods to and from the interior of [[Kent]]. Stone, timber and iron from the [[Weald]] for shipbuilding and agricultural produce were among the cargoes. Sun Pier in Chatham was one of many such along the river. By 1740, barges of forty tons could navigate as far upstream as [[Tonbridge]].<ref name="KHI">{{cite book|last=Jessup|first=Frank W.|title =Kent History Illustrated |publisher = Kent County Council| year = 1966}}</ref> Today its use is confined to tourist traffic; apart from the marina, there are many yacht moorings on the river itself.

The position of the road network in Chatham began with the building of the Roman Road ([[Watling Street]], which passed through the town. [[Turnpike trust]]s were established locally, so that the length from Chatham to [[Canterbury]] was [[toll road|turnpiked]] in 1730; and the Chatham to Maidstone road (now the [[A230 road|A230]]) was also turnpiked before 1750. The High Street was bypassed in 1769, by the ''New Road'' (see illustration (1)) leading from the top of Star Hill Rochester, to the bottom of Chatham Hill at Luton Arches. This also became inadequate for the London cross-channel traffic and the ''Medway Towns Bypass'', the [[M2 motorway (England)|M2 motorway]], was constructed to divert through traffic south of the Medway Towns.

Chatham is the hub of the Medway Towns. This fact means that the existing roadway system has always proved inadequate for the amount of traffic it has to handle, and various schemes have been tried by Rochester-Upon-Medway City Council, to alleviate the congestion. The High Street itself is traffic free, so all traffic on Best Street and Railway Street has to skirt around it. The basic west–east routes are The Brook to the north and New Road to the south, but the additional problems caused by the situation of the Pentagon Bus Station meant that conflicting traffic flows were the result, from 1975 and onward. From April 1986 and onward until October 1987, the town centre remodelling of Chatham began, and Railway Street was realigned into becoming part of an inner ring road, that became a one-way system. This redevelopment included the demolition of the House of Holland department store in January 1987, and the construction of the ''Sir John Hawkins Flyover'' in Chatham, that was opened in February 1989, so the traffic could be carried from south to north over the High Street.

In September 2006, the one-way system was abandoned and two-way traffic reintroduced on most of the ring-road system.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2006/09/13/chatham_two_way_feature.shtml |title=Chatham two way |publisher=BBC |year=2006 |access-date=28 January 2009 |archive-date=13 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113204040/http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/content/articles/2006/09/13/chatham_two_way_feature.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> Further work on the road system commenced early in 2009, and as of early 2010, the demolition of the ''Sir John Hawkins Flyover'' has been completed. It was replaced by a street-level, buses only, road coupled with repositioning of the bus station. The new Waterfront bus station opened in October 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medwaymessenger.co.uk/paper/default.asp?article_id=41215&newspage=9 |title=Town flyover demolition next month |publisher=Medway Messenger |year=2009 |access-date=28 January 2009 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
{{Medway area RDT}}
[[Chatham railway station, Medway|Chatham railway station]], opened in 1858, serves both the [[North Kent Line|North Kent]] and the [[Chatham Main Line]]s, and is the interchange between the two lines. It lies in the valley between the Fort Pitt and the Chatham Tunnels. There are three trains an hour to [[London Victoria railway station|London Victoria]], two trains an hour to [[Charing Cross railway station|London Charing Cross]], two trains an hour to [[Luton railway station|Luton]] (via [[London Bridge railway station|London Bridge]], [[St Pancras railway station|St Pancras]] and [[Luton Airport Parkway railway station|Luton Airport Parkway]]) and two services an hour to St Pancras via [[High Speed 1]]. The former services run to [[Dover Priory railway station|Dover]] and [[Ramsgate railway station|Ramsgate]]; the Charing Cross services terminate at [[Gillingham railway station (Kent)|Gillingham]] and the High Speed services terminate at [[Faversham railway station|Faversham]].

Part of the industrial railway in what is now Chatham Historic Dockyard is still in operation, run by the North Kent Industrial Locomotive Society for the Dockyard Trustees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dockyardrailway.co.uk/about.php |title=Chatham Historic Dockyard Railway |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405033754/http://www.dockyardrailway.co.uk/about.php |archive-date=5 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Buses are operated by [[Arriva Southern Counties]] and Nu-Venture to various destinations. They serve other towns in [[Medway]] including Gillingham, Grain, [[Strood]] and [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] and also to other towns in [[Kent]] including [[Maidstone]], [[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend]], [[Blue Bell Hill (village)|Blue Bell Hill]] and [[Sittingbourne]]. There is also an express bus via Strood and Rochester and [[A2 road (England)|A2]] to [[Bluewater (shopping centre)|Bluewater]] in [[Greenhithe, Kent|Greenhithe]].

==Religion==
In the 19th century the [[ecclesiastical parish]] of Chatham included Luton and Brompton and also '''Chatham Intra''' (land on the river that was administered by the City of Rochester).<ref name="wilson">John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–72)</ref>
Chatham's parish church, St Marys, which stood on Dock Road, was rebuilt in 1788. St John's was a [[Waterloo church]] built in 1821 by [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]], and restructured in 1869 by Gordon Macdonald Hills;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westgallerychurches.com/Kent/Chatham/Chatham_John.html|title=St John the Divine, Chatham, Kent – CHURCH FOR SALE|first=Edwin and Sheila|last=Macadam|website=westgallerychurches.com|access-date=30 October 2008|archive-date=14 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914132351/http://www.westgallerychurches.com/Kent/Chatham/Chatham_John.html|url-status=live}}</ref> it ceased being an active church in 1964, and is currently used as an art project.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/3950333.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Church transformed into vineyard |date=25 October 2004 |access-date=1 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808095511/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/3950333.stm |archive-date=8 August 2012 }}</ref> St Paul's New Road was built in 1854; declared redundant in 1974, it has been demolished. St Peter's Troy Town was built in 1860. Christchurch Luton was built in 1843, replaced in 1884. The Royal Dockyard Church (1806) was declared redundant in 1981.

St Michael's is a Roman Catholic Church, that was built in 1863. There is a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] Chapel built in 1861.

Chatham is reputed to be the home of the first [[Baptist]] Chapel in North Kent, the [[Zion]] Baptist Chapel in Clover Street. The first known pastor was Edward Morecock who settled there in 1663. During the time of [[Oliver Cromwell]] Edward Morecock had been a sea-captain and had been injured in battle. His knowledge of the [[River Medway]] is reputed to have preserved him from persecution in the reign of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]. A second Baptist chapel was founded about 1702. The Ebenezer Chapel dates from 1662.

[http://www.chathamshul.org.uk Chatham Memorial Synagogue] was built by Simon Magnus in 1867 on the Chatham end of Rochester High Street in Rochester.<ref name=MM>Rochester, ''The past 2000 years'', (City of Rochester Society) 1999.</ref>

==Education==
For a full list of schools serving Chatham visit [[List of schools in Medway]]

==Sports==
The town's Association Football club, [[Chatham Town F.C.]], plays in the Premier Division of the [[Isthmian League]] having gained two successive promotions in the 21/22<ref>{{cite news |title=Chatham Town thrash Erith & Belvedere 10-1 to clinch promotion to the Isthmian League |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/sport/chatham-go-goal-crazy-as-they-clinch-promotion-265333/ |publisher=[[KM Media Group|Kent Online]] |last1=Cawdell |first1=Luke |date=9 April 2022 |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref> and 22/23<ref>{{cite news |title=Chats crowned Isthmian South East champions with sixth win in a row |url=https://www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/sport/report-chatham-v-cray-valley-285442/ |publisher=[[KM Media Group|Kent Online]] |last1=Reeves |first1=Thomas |date=17 April 2023 |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref> seasons. [[Lordswood F.C.]] plays in the [[Southern Counties East Football League]]. The defunct Chatham Excelsior F.C. were one of the early pioneers of football in [[Southern England]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Beautiful History of Club Crests, Club Colours & Nicknames |url=http://thebeautifulhistory.wordpress.com/clubs/gillingham/ |access-date=22 February 2013 |date=9 January 2011 |archive-date=28 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428102500/http://thebeautifulhistory.wordpress.com/clubs/gillingham/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Football league side [[Gillingham F.C.]] are seen to represent [[Medway]] as a whole.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}
Holcombe [[Field hockey|Hockey]] Club is one of the largest in the country, and are based in Chatham. The men's 1st XI are part of the [[Men's England Hockey League|England Hockey League]].<ref>http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/fl/ehl/tables.asp?section=355 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011200147/http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/fl/ehl/tables.asp?section=355 |date=11 October 2014 }} England Hockey League tables</ref>

Kite Flying is possible, especially power kiting on the [[Great Lines Heritage Park]] (between Gillingham and Chatham) and at [[Capstone Farm Country Park]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Powerkiting flying spots in and around Kent|url=http://medwayflyers.co.uk/flying-spots|access-date=22 February 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725134220/http://medwayflyers.co.uk/flying-spots|archive-date=25 July 2013}}</ref>

Skiing is also possible near Capstone Farm Country Park at Capstone Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre.<ref>{{cite web|title=Capstone Ski Slope and Snowboard Centre|url=http://jnlchatham.co.uk/|access-date=22 February 2013|archive-date=24 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224085059/http://jnlchatham.co.uk/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Popular culture==
{{wide image|ChathamSunPier4167P.JPG|1000px|Panorama of the River Medway}}

On a cultural level, Chatham gave birth to several creative movements in literature, art and music. In the period from October 1977 until March 1982 the Medway Delta Sound emerged. The term was coined as a joke by the Chatham-born writer, painter and musician [[Billy Childish]] after the Medway Towns-based record label of Russell Wilkins, Empire Records, used the phrase "From The Medway Delta". Several bands of the Medway Delta Sound gained international recognition, including [[The Milkshakes]], [[The Prisoners (band)|The Prisoners]] (see also [[James Taylor Quartet]]) and [[The Dentists]].{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} Many of the students from the Medway (Rochester) College of Design and the [[MidKent College]] which use to have a City Way Campus and a Horsted Campus, would go to London Image Amusements (LIA) at 100 High Street in Chatham. The premises had a [[snooker table]], [[fruit machines]] and [[arcade games]]. After going there, students would go to a [[public house]] such as The Von Alton at 63 High Street, The Nags Head at 292 High Street or The North Foreland at 325 High Street.

Out of the [[Kent Institute of Art & Design]] (KIAD), now the [[University for the Creative Arts]] (UCA) came the band known as [[Wang Chung (band)|Wang Chung]]. The vocalist and guitarist with Wang Chung, Jeremy Allan Ryder, who is better known as [[Jack Hues]] attended KIAD, as he musically helped to evolve Wang Chung with [[Nick Feldman]]. Alongside such individuals was Alan John Denman, who became a well established lecturer at KIAD, and who founded The Flying Circuits in April 1984, which became an urban theatre movement in Chatham and [[Gillingham, Kent|Gillingham]] in the [[Medway Towns]], and within suburbs like [[Woolwich]], [[Plumstead]], [[Bexley]] and [[Orpington]] in [[Greater London]]. Many students from KIAD played various acting roles within The Flying Circuits, in the Medway Towns and Greater London. The scenes performed by The Flying Circuits were entirely based upon excerpts from the Electronic Town, a screenplay written by Alan Denman from January 1984 to October 1984, which concerned a futuristic [[science fiction]] [[dystopia]]. Alan Denman also helped to form [[The Medway Poets]] with [[Billy Childish]], Robert Earl, [[Bill Lewis]], [[Sexton Ming]] and [[Charles Thomson (artist)|Charles Thomson]]. The Medway Poets met regularly at the York Tavern & Railway Inn, in Ordnance Street, Chatham, from October 1974 to August 1985, near KIAD at [[Fort Pitt, Kent|Fort Pitt]] in [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]], and [[Chatham railway station, Medway|Chatham railway station]]. Chatham has always had a strong musical and creative arts heritage that has remained centred on local groups, many of whom were also part of the KIAD. Charles Thomson and Billy Childish went on to create the artistic movement known as [[Stuckism]] in 1999.<ref name=milner7>{{Cite web|last=Stuckism|title=Charles Thomson essay, A Stuckist on Stuckism|url=http://www.stuckism.com/Walker/AStuckistOnStuckism.html#TwoStarts|access-date=2022-03-18|website=stuckism.com}}</ref><ref name="Fortnight">{{cite journal |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Mary |date=December 2001 |title=Stuck like a Child |journal=Fortnight |issue=401 |pages=27–28 |jstor=25560476 }}</ref>

There was a resurgence in the live music scene in February 2001, with an initial focus on the Tap 'N' Tin venue at 24 Railway Street in Chatham. The essence of the original greatness of the Medway Delta Sound was revived by music and poetry evenings promoted by David Wise's Urban Fox Press, which also published several books by Medway poets and artists. In 2008. the independent arts organisation Medway Eyes was founded, specialising in music and photography. It had promoted several arts exhibitions and gigs at The Barge, at 63 Layfield Road, in Gillingham (now closed) and the Nag's Head at 292 [[Rochester, Kent|Rochester]] High Street, but disbanded in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Medway Eyes|url=https://medwayeyes.wordpress.com/|publisher=wordpress.com|access-date=22 April 2018|archive-date=30 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730204007/https://medwayeyes.wordpress.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[The Medway Poets]] were formed in August 1975 and disbanded in March 1982 having performed at the Kent Literature Festival and many others in [[South East England]] and on TV and Radio. They became a significant influence to writers in Chatham and elsewhere in the [[Medway Towns]]. From the core of this group the anti conceptual/pro painting movement of [[Remodernism]] came into being.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ksinitskaia |date=2020-11-17 |title=What is Stuckism? A Remodernist Art Movement |url=https://www.invaluable.com/blog/stuckism/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=Invaluable |language=en-US}}</ref>

Recent Medway artists of note include [[Kid Harpoon]], Crybaby Special and The Monsters, Red Light, Underground Heroes, Tyrannosaurus Alan,<ref>{{cite web|title=Tyrannosaurus Alan|url=http://www.guilfest.co.uk/2012/bands/tyrannosaurus-alan.php|publisher=guilfest.co.uk|access-date=22 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314134206/http://guilfest.co.uk/2012/bands/tyrannosaurus-alan.php|archive-date=14 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pete Molinari, [[Lupen Crook]], [[Brigadier Ambrose]], [[Stuart Turner (musician)|Stuart Turner]] and Theatre Royal.<ref>{{cite web|title=Theatre Royal Rochester, UK|url=https://theatreroyal.bandcamp.com/|publisher=bandcamp.com|access-date=22 April 2018|archive-date=10 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710013202/https://theatreroyal.bandcamp.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The term '[[Chav]]', research suggests, does not derive from the name of Chatham ("Chatham Average"), but is derived from the [[Romani language|Romany]] word for 'Youngster'. Before the [[Chatham Dockyard]] was closed down on 31 March 1984, the cultural idea of the Chav did not exist in the Medway Towns.<ref name="Telegraph-20080724">{{cite news|work=The Telegraph|title=Savvy Chavvy: social entrepreneurs engage gypsies|date=24 July 2008|access-date=24 December 2008|url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/richardtyler/4706747/Savvy_Chavvy_social_entrepreneurs_engage_gypsies/|location=London|archive-date=26 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126020544/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/richardtyler/4706747/Savvy_Chavvy_social_entrepreneurs_engage_gypsies/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="wwwchav">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-cha2.htm|title=Chav|last=Quinion|first=Michael|access-date=23 February 2009|archive-date=9 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409105123/http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-cha2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Local media==

===Newspapers===
Local newspapers for Chatham include ''[[Medway News]]'' and ''Medway Standard'', both published by Kent Regional News and Media; and the ''Medway Messenger'', published by the [[KM Group]], whose registered address is in [[New Barnet]], in [[Hertfordshire]]. The town also has free newspapers such as the ''Medway Extra'' (KM Group) and ''Your Medway'' ([[KOS Media]]).

===Radio===
The local commercial radio station for Chatham is [[KMFM Medway]], owned by the KM Group. Medway is also served by community radio station [[Radio Sunlight]]based in Richmond road between the high street and the River Medway. The area can also receive the county wide stations [[BBC Radio Kent]], [[Heart South]] and [[Gold (British radio network)|Gold]], as well as many radio stations in [[Essex]] and [[Greater London]].

===Television===
Local news and television programmes are provided by [[BBC South East]] and [[ITV Meridian]] from the [[Bluebell Hill transmitting station|Bluebell Hill]] TV transmitter, supplemented by a low power relay transmitter in the town centre.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Chatham_Town | title=Chatham Town (Medway, England) Freeview Light transmitter | date=May 2004 }}</ref>

==Notable people==
[[File:ChathamOrdnanceTerr2791.JPG|thumb|right|Ordnance Terrace in October 2007]]
[[Charles Dickens]] lived in the town as a boy, both in 'The Brook, Chatham' and in Ordnance Terrace before [[Chatham railway station, Medway|Chatham railway station]] was built just opposite. He subsequently described it as the happiest period of his childhood, and eventually returned to the area in adulthood when he bought a house in nearby [[Higham, Kent|Gad's Hill]]. [[Medway]] features in his novels. He then moved to Rochester, a nearby town, also part of the Medway Towns.

Others who were born or who lived or live in Chatham:
*Sir [[Jacob Ackworth]] (1668–1748) shipbuilder
*[[Asquith Xavier]], ended a [[colour bar]] at [[British Rail]]ways in [[London]] by fighting to become the first non-white [[train guard]] at [[Euston railway station]].
*[[Percy Whitlock]], [[organist]] and [[Post-romanticism|post-romantic]] composer<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-55920 |title=Whitlock, Percy William (1903–1946) |last=Riley |first=Malcolm |date=23 September 2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55920 |access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref>
*[[Kid Harpoon]], singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Born and lived in Chatham. Working with award-winning artists including [[Jessie Ware]], [[Shawn Mendes]], [[Harry Styles]], [[Florence & the Machine]], [[Haim (band)|Haim]] and [[Years & Years]].
*[[Richard Dadd]], [[Victorian era]] painter and [[patricide]]<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37337 |title=Dadd, Richard (1817–1886) |last=Allderidge |first=Patricia H. |date=23 September 2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/37337 |access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>
*[[William Coles Finch]], author and historian, lived at Luton, Chatham.
*[[Elizabeth Benger]], biographer, novelist and poet, was brought up here between 1782 and 1797.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Benger, Elizabeth Ogilvy (1777–1827), historian and novelist|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-2093|access-date=2022-03-18|year=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/2093|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|last1=Mitchell|first1=Rosemary}}</ref>
*[[Billy Childish]], artist, poet, and musician
*[[Tracey Emin]], artist and member of the [[Young British Artists]]
*[[Zandra Rhodes]], designer
*[[Bill Lewis]], poet, painter, storyteller and [[mythographer]]
*[[William Ridsdel]], [[The Salvation Army]] [[Commissioner in The Salvation Army|Commissioner]], lived in the town from 1877 to 1878.
*[[William Cuffay]], [[Chartism|Chartist]] leader and tailor, born in Chatham in 1788<ref>{{cite ODNB |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-71636 |title=Cuffay, William (''bap''. 1788, ''d''. 1870), Chartist |last=Fryer |first=Peter |date=23 September 2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/71636 |access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>
* [[Gemma Lavender]], astronomer, journalist and author, born in Chatham in 1986
*[[Thomas Hodgskin]], an early socialist, was born and raised in Chatham. His work would go on to influence [[Karl Marx]].
* [[Joe Machine]], artist and poet
*[[Milo Yiannopoulos]], author, speaker

===Entertainers===
*[[Tommy Knight]], actor
*[[Stel Pavlou]], author and screenwriter, attended the [[Chatham Grammar School for Boys]]
*[[Lee Ryan]], boy-band singer, also attended the Chatham Grammar School for Boys
*[[Ben Mills]], singer and X-Factor contestant
*[[Anne Dudley]], composer, pop musician and member of [[The Art of Noise]]
*[[Kevin Eldon]], stand-up comedian
*[[Glenn Shorrock]], entertainer, birthplace (Little River Band founder, lead singer)
*[[River Medway (drag queen)]], entertainer ([[RuPaul's Drag Race UK]])
*[[Balvinder Sopal]], actress ([[EastEnders]])

===Sportsmen===
*[[Dave Whitcombe]], twice [[BDO World Darts Championship]] Finalist.
*[[Kevin Hunt (footballer, born 1975)|Kevin Hunt]], former captain of the [[Bohemian F.C.|Bohemians]], a [[League of Ireland]] club
*[[Ashley Jackson (field hockey)|Ashley Jackson]], England international hockey player
*[[Keith Donohue (cricketer)|Keith Donohue]], [[Devon County Cricket Club|Devon]] cricketer
*[[Chris Smalling]], [[England national football team|England international]] footballer, attended Chatham Grammar School for Boys.
*[[Andrew Crofts (footballer)|Andrew Crofts]], professional footballer, who played for [[Newport County A.F.C.|Newport County]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newport-county.co.uk/teams/first-team/midfielder/andrew-crofts/|title=Andrew Crofts – Midfielder – First Team – Newport County|website=newport-county.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218093219/https://www.newport-county.co.uk/teams/first-team/midfielder/andrew-crofts/|archive-date=18 February 2019|url-status=dead|access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>
*[[Neil Shipperley]], professional footballer, formerly of [[Crystal Palace FC]] and [[Wimbledon FC]].
*[[George Boyd (footballer)|George Boyd]], professional footballer, who played for [[Peterborough United]] and was born in Chatham
*[[Lee Minshull]], professional footballer, [[AFC Wimbledon]] and was born in Chatham.
*[[Johnny Armour]], professional boxer, British Commonwealth, European and World Boxing Union bantamweight champion was born and resides in Chatham.
*[[George Thorne (footballer)|George Thorne]], professional footballer, was born in Chatham.
*[[Ryan Richards]], professional basketball player, drafted by the [[San Antonio Spurs]] in the [[2010 NBA draft]]

==Twin towns==
Chatham is [[sister city|twinned]] with [[Valenciennes]], France.

==See also==
*[[Chatham, Massachusetts]], a city often twinned with Chatham

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Hughes, David (2004), ''Chatham Naval Dockyard and Barracks'', The History Press {{ISBN|0-7524-3248-6}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Chatham, Kent|Chatham}}
*{{wikivoyage inline|Chatham (England)|Chatham}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Chatham (England)|volume=6|short=x}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100329110819/http://www.medway.gov.uk/medwayimages/ Archive Images]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061014102724/http://www.gparrett.btinternet.co.uk/chatnews/ The Chatham News Index (1899–1965)]

{{Medway}}
{{Kent}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Chatham, Kent| ]]
[[Category:Towns in Kent]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Kent]]
[[Category:Unparished areas in Kent]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Kent]]
[[Category:Medway]]
[[Category:Kent places with etymologically Brittonic names]]