Clocktower Building
Originally constructed in 1723 the facilitiy at the head of the docks was used as a "present use store" for materials needed by ships under construction or repair. Such items included lead, iron, copper, oakum (for caulking), pitch and tar. The top floor was used as a mould loft, and the six ground floor bays at the north (far) end of the building were left open and used as sawpits. The store was rebuilt in 1802, when its original timber cladding was replaced by the brick skin visible today and a slate hipped roof added.
The clock has three bells: the hour bell is dated 1702 and the half- and quarter-hour bells date from the time of its reconstruction. The clock tower has a low base with mullion windows on each side, a weathered band to the clock tower with clock faces on each side. Above four curved brackets rise to a swept pyramidal roof with gilded ball and finial. The clock tower is second-hand, having originally been fitted on a 17th century building elsewhere on the site.
Built during the same phase of construction work as the Sail Loft and the dockyard’s boundary walls, this is part of a fine assemblage of Georgian naval buildings still found in Chatham Historic Dockyard. It is the oldest naval store-house to survive in any of the Royal Dockyards.
In the 20th century the building was converted into office accommodation. It was structurally restored in 1992-93 and adapted in 1996-97 to become the University of Kent's Bridge Warden's College.
Clocktower Building
Originally constructed in 1723 the facilitiy at the head of the docks was used as a "present use store" for materials needed by ships under construction or repair. Such items included lead, iron, copper, oakum (for caulking), pitch and tar. The top floor was used as a mould loft, and the six ground floor bays at the north (far) end of the building were left open and used as sawpits. The store was rebuilt in 1802, when its original timber cladding was replaced by the brick skin visible today and a slate hipped roof added.
The clock has three bells: the hour bell is dated 1702 and the half- and quarter-hour bells date from the time of its reconstruction. The clock tower has a low base with mullion windows on each side, a weathered band to the clock tower with clock faces on each side. Above four curved brackets rise to a swept pyramidal roof with gilded ball and finial. The clock tower is second-hand, having originally been fitted on a 17th century building elsewhere on the site.
Built during the same phase of construction work as the Sail Loft and the dockyard’s boundary walls, this is part of a fine assemblage of Georgian naval buildings still found in Chatham Historic Dockyard. It is the oldest naval store-house to survive in any of the Royal Dockyards.
In the 20th century the building was converted into office accommodation. It was structurally restored in 1992-93 and adapted in 1996-97 to become the University of Kent's Bridge Warden's College.