| Summary : Chattenden Barracks. Nineteenth and twentieth century military barracks, originally built in 1872-3, used by the Royal School of Military Engineering. The nineteenth century buildings were arranged around a quadrangle. That layout was removed when the site was enlarged and rebuilt on a different axis in the 1960s. The buildings of the later twentieth century phase were vacated in the 1980s and substantially demolished in advance of redevelopment. The nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings, along with Second World War temporary buildings, air raid shelters and small gun emplacements, have been mapped from 1940s aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. |
More information : Chattenden Barracks, centred at TQ 7554 7208, provided extensive barracks and training facilities for the Royal School of Military Engineering. The first administrative and residential buildings, arranged around a quadrangle, were completed in 1872-73 in response to increased demand for munitions storage and the provision of barrack accommodation. The original buildings were demolished and the Barracks site was completely rebuilt on a different plan after the Second World War, in 1961. The site was vacated in the 1980s and the second phase buildings have also now been demolished.
The nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings, along with Second World War temporary buildings, air raid shelters and small gun emplacements or weapons pits, have been mapped from 1940s aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (1-4)
Chattenden Barracks were built just before the Chattenden Magazine complex (Monument 1481790), constructed in 1875 about 850m to the north. The barracks were connected to the magazines and to Upnor, to the south, by the Chattenden and Upnor Railway (Monument 1545587), which passes the southern edge of the barrack site. A military railway yard (Monument 1545594) lies immediately adjacent to the east side of the barrack site. An additional munitions depot (Monument 1545604), dating to the Second World War, was built about 220m to the north west of the barracks, and was accessed by a track from the western edge of the barrack site.
The barracks were also associated with an extensive First World War training area (Monument 1545095), comprising about 90 hectares of entrenchments, which lies on the slopes to the west and south west. (5) |