The Rochester Riverside development aims to deliver 489 homes in Phases 1, 2 & 3. The first show homes are scheduled to be ready by September 2018. I have been researching and developing ideas to embed some of the social & industrial legacy from this site into the new build homes and apartments & not forgetting a new community which is being delivered. The site has a treasure trove of layered history to uncover fed by its unique position between Rochester and River Medway.
Intertidal Salt Marsh
Tithe Lands
St Nicholas Parish Rochester
Livestock Grazing
Clay & Mud
Market Gardens
Oyster Fishery
Gas Works
Ship & Barge Building
Iron Foundry
Coal Factors
Coal Depot
Railway Goods Yard
Scrap Metal Merchants
Wharfs
Cranes
Locomotives
Aggregates
Cement
By 2006 almost all the site had been cleared for re-development.
I have to find a way to be creative with the public art budget and to produce high quality, robust interventions, capable of withstanding the wear and tear of a contemporary urban space. My approach to this project has been to work with a series of 2.4m high brick walls, which form the entrances to parking courts on the Central Streets of Phase 1 & 2. I am also embedding work into the threshold entrances of six apartment blocks and numerous private houses throughout the site. Materials being investigated at this stage include granite, cast concrete, cast iron, architectural ceramic & brick. The concept drawings shown below are all subject to change, revision, omission – all the usual ups and downs of project development.
Rochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for brick walls. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for brick walls. Image: Christopher Tipping
These early concept drawings explore the various combinations of narrative elements which could be developed further. They are rather overstuffed with ideas at this stage – far too many to deliver – but are beginning to explore the legacy of the site via stories created by combining strands of research. Visiting menageries share space with Iron Foundry production and mud and clay trades carried out on the site. The elephant would be sandblasted into the brick surface, whilst adjacent panels of cast iron with relief detail and glazed brick units and polished granite are embedded into the brick structure.
Rochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for brick walls. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside. Artist Concept. Cast Iron Units to footpaths. Artwork Draft Image: Christopher Tipping
Cast Iron proposals are being developed in collaboration with Hargreaves Foundry in Halifax.
Rochester Riverside. Artist Concept. Cast Iron Unit to brick walls. Artwork Draft Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside. Artist Concept. Draft cast iron units to brick walls and paving. Artwork Drafts Only Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for granite paving units with inset text. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for granite paving units with inset text. Image: Christopher Tipping
The proposals for granite paving units with inset granite text are being explored in collaboration with Hardscape.
Rochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for architectural ceramic units with low relief text & pattern. Image: Christopher Tipping
Rochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for granite & cast iron paving units with low relief text & pattern. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for granite & cast iron paving units with low relief text & pattern. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for bespoke balcony balustrade detail with pattern inspired by the Gas Works. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for bespoke balcony balustrade detail with pattern inspired by the Gas Works. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for bespoke Front Door & Garage Doors treatment. Image: Christopher TippingRochester Riverside Artist Concept Draft proposals for bespoke Front Door & Garage Doors treatment. Image: Christopher Tipping
You may have seen some of our work embedded into the streetscape along Railway Street. Large scale granite kerbs contain words sandblasted or inlaid into the surface. You may wonder what these words mean, or how they relate to you. Here is a short explanation of how they came about.
We often talk about words having weight – of text being ‘set in stone’… or ’engraved in stone’…suggesting gravitas, importance, longevity, …we all like a funny ‘one liner’…colloquial, local…distinct Chatham voices…
Well, here in Chatham your words really are being set in stone…for all to read…for years to come –
Chatham Placemaking Project. “A Chatham Barber called Long John…”. Image: Christopher TippingChatham Placemaking Project. “Colin carried coal…”. Image: Christopher Tipping. Words: Rob Young
You may know that the aim of this public realm project was to upgrade the route from Chatham Station to the Waterfront. This includes pedestrian and cycle routes as well as crossing points, upgrading paving materials, improving steps and ramps, opening up the public realm and streamlining access and pedestrian permeability. This work was driven by Francis Knight, Public Art Consultants & our project collaborators and consultants to Medway Council, LDA Design and Project Centre.
We have worked within these parameters, using the language of public realm and materials, which are robust and stand the test of time. We have created a quiet ‘narrative’ thread – a story about Chatham– & more specifically about events and places along this route.
We wanted the streets to speak quietly, confidently & with good humour about Chatham…WHAT MAKES A TOWN ?…THESE ARE OUR STREETS…part memorial, part living voice…but mostly a celebration of the rich heritage and community of Chatham.
Chatham Placemaking Project. 57 Submarines. Image: Christopher Tipping.
As an artist and designer of public spaces, this project has been an opportunity to influence our surroundings in a way that ‘speaks’ of Chatham and its people. We mostly take our pavements for granted, but these spaces have often developed from historic pathways and tracks linking communities and towns across the wider region. They have a resonance and a ‘voice’, …and echo with history.
The route from the Station to the Waterfront takes us down Railways Street & Military Road – in doing so we pass several key places, such as New Cut ( a former farmyard), St John’s ( a Grade II Listed Waterloo Church) – Military Square, considered the Heart of the Town. At these important sites, we have made interventions to articulate the granite kerb in ways which are expressive and of interest, whilst still maintaining functionality.
We were keen to hear and to record everyday voices …words spoken by ordinary people – such as ‘the girl who cried when she lost her phone and then cried again when she found it’... ‘the lovey barmaid’ …or ‘Colin, the man who carried coal for charity’…these are the voices of people on the street, passers by, people shopping & passing the time of day. We engaged with people directly in conversation, we overheard the conversations of others, we wrote down and recorded stories and anecdotes we were told.
I was very fortunate to collaborate with other artists on this project. Filmmaker Simon Williams succinctly and with an understated eye for visual language and movement, cleverly framed our project parameters and vision in a series of short films, whilst printmaker Xtina Lamb rendered our architectural vision into graphic patterns & motifs used throughout the scheme. Both artists also live in Chatham, bringing their individual & unique perspectives to play. However, it was the award winning writer Rob Young, who contributed significantly to the embedded text. An astute, profound and funny wordsmith with an ability to engage anyone and everyone, turning their words into poetry along the way.
“The knitter. Whose name is Pearl.
The woman. Who uses the word ‘like?’ As like, punctuation?
The woman. Who said sorry. When you’re the one who pushed in.
The woman. Who draws breath. Then monologues. For an hour.
The waiter. Who had a fling. With a Bride. At her wedding.
The girl. Who cried. All day. When she lost her phone. Then cried again. When she found it.
The boy. Whose Mum. Made him take back the sweets. That he stole.
The man. Who says, I’m mad, me. Who isn’t mad, at all. Just lonely”. Rob Young 2016
Justin Coe, a poet and writer also contributed, animatedly performing his work directly to camera, whilst walking the route in a film by Simon Williams.
Film still image of Poet & Writer Justin Coe performing his work on Military Road, Chatham. Image: Simon Williams
“On his way to his first day of school on Rome Lane
(The name of this road – before the trains came)
And while we’re walking with Dickens – observe the new Church
They’ve called it St Johns. And it will soon be the first
Public building in Chatham lit by electricity!…
Though all the lights went out here by the end of last century…” Justin Coe 2016
Local school children & people working in local businesses were asked for their comments. We listened to them & heard their stories. We listened to the sound of their lives. There is an overwhelming sense of common ownership in this project. These words are not ours. They belong to Chatham.
We referenced times past by collaborating with MALSC (Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre) and other local agencies in searching for site specific text, such as the words of famous visitors & local Luminaries such as Charles Dickens, reminiscing about ‘soldiers marching through the town in regimented rows …’
The oversized granite kerbs we have used here become a metaphor for the continuity of the local community – kerbs being critical in holding roads and pavements in place – they are physically important in maintaining the fabric of our environment –they could almost be described as ‘defensive structures’ maintaining the integrity and safety of our public spaces …reminiscent of the Chatham Lines – the historic defensive structures, forts and earthworks, which offered protection to the people of Medway & especially the Chatham Dockyard …
The granite kerb acts as a threshold between various states …of the pedestrian…and the driver, or moving fast or slow – perceptions of safety & danger…often the original granite kerb is often the only thing left in place when pavements and roads have been re-placed or modernised throughout recent history…the kerb maintains the parameters of how public spaces were managed and maintained. These lines of granite are also ‘our other Chatham Lines…’
More of the kerbstone lies buried beneath the surface than on top of it… and so it is also a rather poignant link between the past and the present…where times and events past lie buried beneath out feet –
Chatham Placemaking Project – granite kerbs being installed on Railway Street. Image: Christopher Tipping
Our work in Chatham set out to find and hear voices and words which quietly & evocatively create a sense of place associated with each of our stopping points on the route from the Station to the Paddock… the power of these voices is amplified by the weight and mass of the monolithic granite.
Left in place, these words will still be here in a hundred years from now…
The last decade has seen Margate’s cultural landscape flourish with the dual success of Turner Contemporary and a resurgent Dreamland to book-end the seafront panorama. Successful regeneration by Thanet Council has also brought significant and tangible changes to the Old Town. One of the most significant outcomes delivered by the Council without fanfare or drama however, has been the Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – also known more fondly as Margate Steps. A scheme funded by the Environment Agency to the tune of £6million pounds and brought in on time and under budget …and somewhat under the radar. This example of coastal civil engineering encompassed not only the Steps, but the Harbour Arm and Sea Wall along Marine Drive. This elegant and functional concrete stepped revetment structure has also brought a much needed and highly activated public realm and pedestrian space to the Town.
Throughout its history, a major catalyst for change and development in Margate had been the destructive force of storms and storm surges. These pages are taken from the Contextual Research Document, which I delivered in collaboration with the project team.
Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – Contextual Research Text Image: Christopher TippingMargate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – Contextual Research Text Image: Christopher TippingMargate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – Contextual Research Text Image: Christopher Tipping
Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – Towards Turner Contemporary May 2013. Image: Christopher Tipping
I was commissioned as project artist on the scheme by Thanet District Council & the Environment Agency in December 2010. My role was to uncover and present interpretive & contextual information & develop concepts with which to influence the design process & inform the structure & detailing of this major sea defence works. The work has now been completed and the project officially opened in May 2013.
Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – lunch al fresco May 2013. Image: Christopher Tipping
Being part of an integrated design team from an early point was critical in enabling the contextual work, via a contribution to the detailed DESIGN & ACCESS STATEMENT , to influence the physical form of the structure, within its constraints as a sea defence work.
Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – evening light March 2013. Image: Christopher Tipping
The public realm and amenity space which the project afforded Margate’s sea front has been a tremendous addition to an enlivened and highly activated sea front promenade which has Turner Contemporary and the Harbour Arm at one end & Margate Station & Dreamland at the other.
Margate Flood & Coastal Protection Scheme – The New King’s Stairs May 2013. Image: Christopher Tipping
I haven’t updated this post for some time – actually since April 2017! Head down and just getting on with it …time flies. OK – I’ll now try to sum up what’s happened in the interim.
Following on from the initial research period, consultation & creative engagement phases of the project, a series of Creative Public Realm proposals were submitted for review. This work originated and was inspired by the positive & creative collaboration with our supporting artists in residence, Rob Young – Writer, Simon Williams – Filmmakerand Xtina Lamb – Printmaker. These collaborations proved to be highly creative as well as bringing a refreshing camaraderie and friendship to the work.
The proposals are presented here in the order in which the various sites are encountered along the route from Chatham Station down Railway Street to Military Road and the Waterfront. This is a visual account of how ideas developed and adopted into the scheme.
Chatham Station, although at the head of our scheme, will be the last Phase to be delivered on the ground & I will report on this work later in a separate post.
The sites where our work and interventions has been focussed are:
NEW CUT & NEW ROAD VIADUCT
ST JOHN’S SQUARE
LOWER RAILWAY STREET
MILITARY SQUARE
MILITARY ROAD
Chatham Placemaking Project. Route & Plan of Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher Tipping
The Red Line indicates our project route & is titled the ‘Chatham Line’, after the Chatham Lines, the nearby defensive fortifications. The lines follow the historic granite kerb line & will be replaced in relevant sections by bespoke wide
granite kerbs and special transition granite units often with sandblasted or inset granite text. Text is based upon the surrounding local historic legacy & community engagement work & narrative developed by our writer in residence, Rob Young.
AREA 2 – NEW CUT
New Cut – Plan of Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut – Sketches & Draft Plan of Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut – Sketches & draft plan of bespoke granite kerb units. Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut – Sketches & draft plan of bespoke granite kerb units. Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut – Sketches & draft plan of bespoke granite & timber seating. Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut – Sketches & draft plan of bespoke granite kerb units. Creative Public Realm. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut – New Road Viaduct – Draft proposals for bespoke enamel panels below the balustrade, welcoming you to Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping
As with most projects, not all ideas and proposals succeed.Budget limitations, critical rigour and often the subjective nature of the collaborative creative process all bring issues to bear in deciding what is destined to be built on site and what is left in the studio !
New Cut – New Road Viaduct – Draft proposals for bespoke enamel panels below the balustrade, welcoming you to Chatham. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut & New Road Viaduct – Draft proposals for bespoke lighting scheme welcoming you to Chatham. Image: Christopher TippingNew Cut & New Road Viaduct – Draft proposals for bespoke enamel panels under the bridge, welcoming you to Chatham. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping
The approach to the materiality and scale of St John’s Square & elsewhere along our route, was influenced by the architectural & industrial heritage of the Historic Chatham Dockyard.
St John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping
This monolithic detail seen above was titled ‘The Submarine’, inspired by HMS OCELOT on display at Chatham Historic Dockyard . This sculptural form was to act as a dividing feature separating two flights of steps at different levels.
I didn’t make it through the final evaluation process…
HMS OCELOT, Chatham Historic Dockyard. Image: Christopher TippingHMS OCELOT, Chatham Historic Dockyard. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping & HardscapeSt John’s Square – Draft proposals for bespoke yellow enamel cast iron bollards & landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingSt John’s Square – Research Image of Ropery Artefacts. Draft proposals for bespoke yellow enamel cast iron bollards & landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping
LOWER RAILWAY STREET & MILITARY SQUARE
Lower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingLower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingLower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingLower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingLower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping
Military Square is a major pedestrian intersection in Chatham, at the crossroads between Railway Street, Military Road and the High Street.
Lower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingLower Railway Street & Military Square. Draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingMilitary Square draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingMilitary Square draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingMilitary Square draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher TippingMilitary Square draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping
THE CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE
Military Square draft proposals for bespoke landscape interventions. Image: Christopher Tipping
The Glazing Vinyl Artworks are presented as a series of abstract & figurative elements based upon a number of historic land maps, including the 1816 plan of Cottingham Common showing historic field patterns, each of which is annotated with the names of the individual landowner and /or tenant farmer.
The Inclosure Act of 1766 transformed this ill-drained common meadow and pasture, which was subject to seasonal flooding from the tidal River Hull, into a landscape of sluices, dykes, drains and ditches, the names of which, will be familiar to many of you now.
Concept development drawing for Harrison Park, Extra Care Facility, Hull. Image: National Library of Scotland OS Map of 1911 with Artist drawing overlaid. Artist: Christopher Tipping
The 1886 hand drawn map of Coldharbour Farm, on North Carr Lane -now Orchard Park Road, in the collection of the Hull History Centre, shows the individual fields held by the tenant farmer, which were farmed until the new estate was built in 1963. This new building on Hall Road, part of the Orchard Park Estate, sits within the original boundary of the farm.
Concept development drawing for Harrison Park, Extra Care Facility, Hull. Image: Field Patterns & Textures. Artist: Christopher Tipping
It is this historic landscape and community which provides a ‘frame’ of support and a visual reference for the artworks, reflecting the fact that there has been a continuous system of land & water management and farming, in turn supporting a community on this site since medieval times.
The artwork builds a bridge to the past and also acts as a threshold between the external and internal landscapes of the building. The outlines of plants, suggest those which may have grown in the waterways and fields of the area – Flowering Rush, Floating Pondweed,
Dyers Greenweed, Birds Foot Trefoil, Marsh Marigold, Cowslip, Common Daisy and Stinking Cranesbill. The Field Pattern geometry works as a scaffold device to hold these detailed drawings together, with its suggestion of green fields, ponds, clouds and textures.
The whole artwork is kept rigidly in place via the deep architectural window frames, which impose a vertical and horizontal symmetry to the view.
Concept development drawing for Harrison Park, Extra Care Facility, Hull. Image: Field Patterns & Textures. Artist: Christopher Tipping
The use of areas of clear, transparent glazing is very much a part of the intention of the work, allowing views both from and into the building, whilst further animating and providing a backdrop of external colour and texture to illuminate and make visible, the cut-out detailing of the artwork.
The Field Pattern is further used to inspire and give form to a wall-hung cabinet, to be known as the Field Cabinet, which can be used as an ordinary bookshelf as well as a cabinet of curiosity containing references to the history and locality of the new building.
B.R. Philips made Home Brewed Ginger Beer at The Invicta Works, Nos 22 – 24 Railway Street – Chatham Placemaking Project – Chatham Patterns – Image: Christopher TippingRailway Street from New Cut Viaduct date unknown. Collection of Rex Cadman. by Permission of Rex Cadman and Kent Photo Archive.No. 26 Railway Street. In 1961, this was the premises of Frank Bannister & Son Ltd – Motor and Motorcycle Engineers. Chatham Placemaking Project – Chatham Patterns – Image: Christopher Tipping
In 1912 – No 26 was the home of the Invicta Furniture and Baggage Depository. No 28 was a Garage and Cycle Works.
Rome House, No 41 Railway Street. Chatham Placemaking Project – Chatham Patterns – Image: Christopher Tipping
The 1848 Ordnance Survey Public Health Map of Chatham shows Rome House – a large detached mansion set in landscaped gardens – opposite St John’s Church on Rome Lane. Following the building of Chatham Railway Station, Rome Lane became Railway Street sometime after 1871. No 41 would have been a new property named after the original house.
A detail from the 1848 OS Public Health Map of Chatham, with St John’s Church and Rome House on Rome Lane at top right. The pink line shows the eventual route of the railway and Chatham Railway Station, which opened in January 1858. By permission of Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre. Chatham Placemaking Project.A detail of the OS Map of Chatham from 1864. By permission of Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre. Chatham Placemaking Project. Image: Christopher Tipping
This detail of the OS 1864 Map of Chatham shows Chatham Station at the bottom of this image. Railway Street to Military Road runs from the middle of the image to the top of the image. St John’s Church and Rome House can clearly be seen.
Halifax Building Society now occupy the Burton Art Deco Building on Military Road and High Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher TippingHalifax Building Society now occupy the former Burton Tailors Art Deco Building on Military Road and High Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping
“Burton’s long history in men’s clothing is a remarkable story. It was founded in 1903 by Montague Burton (originally named Meshe Osinsky), one of several Russian Jewish immigrants who built enormously successful businesses from humble beginnings.
Burton became a household name because of good public relations and the way it treated its workers. Burton bought shops in the prime town centre spots and were instantly recognisable because of their design. There were few men in England who didn’t at some time enter the portals of a Burton’s “gentlemen’s club” and get measured for a Burton suit.
On the eve of the 1939-45 war, Burton again turned to the production of uniforms for troops. After the war, Burton produced a suit for war veterans nicknamed “The Full Monty”. By the end of the war, Burton was estimated to be clothing around a fifth of British males.” On:Yorkshire Magazine20th December 2012
The Art Deco Elephantmotif on the building on Halifax Building on Military Road was common to all Burtons buildings throughout the 1930’s. It is a large and significant building in Chatham and one which assists in anchoring our site on the route from the Station to the Waterfront – not insignificantly because of it’s wonderful Elephant motif’s.
The Halifax Building Society now occupies the former Burton Art Deco Building on Military Road and High Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping
St John’s Church on Railway Street Chatham, is a jewel in the crown of Chatham’s Architectural Heritage. It is certainly an important anchor site for us working on the Chatham Placemaking Project.
St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham 2015. Image: Christopher Tipping
Maybe you don’t agree !
St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham 2015. Image: Christopher Tipping
What about now…? No?
St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham 2015. Image: Christopher Tipping
A much better image in great light – showing off it’s tower and Italianate form.
Built in 1820/21 by the Architect Sir Robert Smirke – who by the way also built the Facade and main block of the British Museum – the Grade II Listed Italianate Style Anglican Church is one of the few Waterloo Churchesleft intact.
The Church has been closed since the early 1990’s – but has in the interim been used for an arts installation – Chatham Vines in 2006.
I only came to Chatham for the first time in 2015 to start work on the Chatham Placemaking Project – I loved the building from the start – with its robust symetric form and landmark tower. It is the anchor building along our route. However – those familiar with Chatham will know all too well the condition of the building today. It has been bypassed by most and is diminished by the constant flow of traffic and cut off from lower Railway Street and the town centre by the busy road. Stained glass windows are dark. The stone elevations are dirty. The paintwork on the doors is peeling. It is forlorn – but actually it has not been forgotten !
My images aren’t brilliant – but just take a look inside …
Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.
Laura Knight of Francis Knight and I were accompanied by Project Manager Peter Welshof the Diocese of Rochester. He had agreed to show us around & allowed us to take pictures whilst discussing the Chatham Placemaking Project and the importance of this building to our project. The building is still of importance to the Diocese too. ‘The strategic project at Chatham includes re-establishing a worshipping community for St John’s Church, bringing the building back into use (potentially with an interim solution) and establishing mission activities in the local community. The area around St John’s is one of the most deprived in the Diocese in terms of employment rates, income, education and quality of life’.
The interior is quite stunningly beautiful with interior furniture and finishes – albeit dirty and in need of repair & a little tlc – hardly touched since the day the doors were closed and locked. So much original detail and wonderful features remain, including bespoke benches and seating, lighting, plasterwork, ironwork and of course brilliantly coloured stained glass. Could you have guessed that from the outside?
Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Stained Glass window above the alter. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior – Ceiling detail of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Ceiling rose detail. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Detail of Benches – Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view from the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view from the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view from the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.
The first public building in Chatham to be lit by electricity !
Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view of benches on the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view from the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view from the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A view from the upper balcony. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Timber screen fretwork. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. A seat in the choir . Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.
Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Wonderful delicate lighting. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.‘Water from the Sea of Galilee’ – Interior of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.Exterior pathway of St John’s Church, Railway Street, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission Diocese of Rochester.
On Tuesday 10th May I visited Penguins, 87-89 High Street Chatham. Penguins happens to be the Newcomb family business specialising in formal wear and wedding suits for men. I met Gerald Newcomb – a 7th generation Newcomb, running a business stretching back over 180 years in Chatham.
Gerald Newcomb, Penguins, 87 – 89 High Street, Chatham standing with the Newcomb War Diary. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission of Gerald Newcomb.
‘The family has served the great and the good for almost 180 years. Figures such as Charles Dickens, Lord Kitchener, Lord Byron and Lord Tennyson have enjoyed the service we offer – our workrooms were a hive of activity as we created shirts for King Edward VII!’ ‘Gerald is the 7th generation to run the firm and has himself been in the industry for 45 years.’
This business fits into our Chatham Placemaking Project primarily because of its association with our route – Newcomb’s also had a Ladies Clothes Shop on Railway Street – but the big surprise is the Newcomb War Diary. Surely this has to be on our list of ‘10 things which made Chatham’.
“A few years ago Chatham Historical Society was given permission to make a replica of an original diary written every day during the years of the Second World War by George West, company secretary of a navy tailors, hosiers, hatters and shirt makers in Chatham High Street called Newcomb’s. This replica of the “Newcomb War Diary” is dedicated to the memory of Mr West, the Newcomb and Paine families, and all Medway people – both service personnel and civilians – who lived through the events described in it.
Newcomb’s opened for business in 1854. After the original shop was demolished when the Sir John Hawkins flyover was built, the business moved along the High Street to the corner of Medway Street. Mr Gerald Newcomb is still trading as Penguins Dress Hire.
The replica was paid for by Chatham Historical Society and a generous donation by the late Mr and Mrs W. Paine, and has been available to view at public events and libraries in the Medway towns. It had been in Strood Library for many months, and their website states that it is on display there, but it might have moved on to another temporary home. Check with Strood Library for the latest situation.
The Paine family ran outfitter’s shops in Chatham and Strood, and were founders of the Chatham Reliance Building Society.”
This is the frontispiece of the Newcomb War Diary belonging to Mr Gerald Newcomb of Penguins, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping
The book referred by the Chatham Historical Society is a smaller copy version of this. The actual artefact – a fantastic large folio book / ledger was originally manufactured in Chatham for Newcomb’s – is unique and I felt privileged to be shown it.
This is the gold embossed front cover of the Newcomb War Diary belonging to Mr Gerald Newcomb of Penguins, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping – by permission of Gerald Newcomb.A typical page layout of an untypical diary ! The Newcomb War Diary belonging to Mr Gerald Newcomb of Penguins, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping – by permission of Gerald Newcomb.A page from the Newcomb War Diary belonging to Mr Gerald Newcomb of Penguins, Chatham. Image: Christopher Tipping – by permission of Gerald Newcomb.Gerald Newcomb of Penguins, 87 – 89 High Street, Chatham with the Newcomb War Diary. Image: Christopher Tipping by permission of Gerald Newcomb.
Chatham Placemaking Project – Draft artwork for Chatham Up Magazine. Image & Artwork: Christopher TippingChatham Placemaking Project – Still image from an episodic film series by Simon Williams & Rob Young with additional graphics by Xtina Lamb.The Fish Finger – by Rob Young. Chatham Placemaking Project.Draft page for print proposal. Text by Rob Young – Still Images from documentary film by Simon Williams. Chatham Placemaking Project.‘Is This You’, Draft Page layout – Chatham Placemaking Project. Artwork: Christopher Tipping – Text by Rob Young – Photograph by kind permission of Medway Archives and Local Studies Centre.
