Monument record TQ 76 NE 1328 - New Gun Wharf, Chatham

The New Gun Wharf was created in the early 19th century over the site of a former mill and mill pond. By 1821 New Gun Wharf contained a number of structures including the house of the Clerk of the Cheque, a Guard House, Match House, Spinning Shed and Ash House. By 1860 only the house of the Clerk survived, now called the 'Deputy Storekeeper's Quarters' (TQ 76 NE 463). By the first half of the 20th century, it had become the Ordnance Officer's Quarters. The building was extended during this period, to assume its current form, replacing an earlier service wing. During the 1940s the building was known as the Chief Ordnance Officer's Quarters or the Colonel's House. By the 1930s the wharf had two long buildings in the centre served by a railway with the older buildings around the sides of the wharf. The site went out of use in the late 1950s. (1)

The area of the New Gun Wharf, Chatham, was formerly the location of a post-medieval tidal mill and mill pond exploiting the confluence of the Holborne Brook and the River Medway. The mill and pond were acquired by the Ordnance Office in the early 18th century for the purpose of reclamation. The site of the mill itself was included in the area of the Chatham Lines to the north, the first phase of which was constructed in the 1750s. This 1750s alignment is believed to have crossed the northern part of the New Gun Wharf on an approximate south-westerly alignment. The remainder of the site does not appear to have been reclaimed until the early 19th century when the area forming the northern part of the mill pond became an extension of the Ordnance Wharf. This extension was known as the "New Gun Wharf". At this time the alignment of The Lines appears to have been altered and moved northwards, forming a division between the old and new wharves. The southern part of the mill pond was reclaimed as part of the expansion of the town.

The development of the New Gun Wharf is well documented including a series of decennial returns for the early 19th century which list the names and dimensions of structures present at the time of the returns. A number of plans also survive which document the construction, expansion and decline of the site.The two surviving New Gun Wharf buildings are the Deputy Storekeeper's House (constructed sometime between 1811 and 1821) and part of an office range (circa 1900).

The survival of significant buried archaeological remains on the New Gun Wharf is not understood. No intrusive archaeological investigating has taken place and despite the existence of reasonable documentation for the post-medieval and modern periods, it is unclear as to the extent that later phases of occupation will have removed evidence of earlier phases. Therefore there is currently insufficient evidence to recommend the scheduling of all or part of the site. (1)

<1> Oxford Archaeology, 2004, The Gun Wharf, Chatham, Kent: Archaeological Desk-based Study (Unpublished document). SKE15823.