Key facts
- Population
- 80,596 (2020 ONS)
- Os grid reference
- TQ765659
- London
- 33 mi (53 km) WNW
- Unitary authority
- Medway
- Ceremonial county
- Kent
- Region
- South East
- Country
- England
- Sovereign state
- United Kingdom
- Post town
- CHATHAM
- Postcode district
- ME4, ME5
- Dialling code
- 01634
- Police
- Kent
- Fire
- Kent
- Ambulance
- South East Coast
- Uk parliament
- Chatham and Aylesford
via Wikipedia infobox
~29 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Chatham (/ˈtʃætəm/ CHAT-əm) is a town within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. It forms a conurbation with the neighbouring towns of Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham, and had a population of 80,596 in 2020.
The town developed around Chatham Dockyard, established as a Royal Naval Dockyard in 1567, along with barracks for the British Army and the Royal Navy. A chain of defensive fortifications, including Fort Amherst (begun 1756) and expanded during the Napoleonic Wars, was constructed to protect the dockyard from land-based attack. The Corps of Royal Engineers remains based at Brompton Barracks.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Chatham” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.