While there was a Royal Marine presence at
Chatham Dockyard during the eighteen century, no
barracks were available to house them, marines often being
billeted at local inns and hotels. After an
Admiralty decision in 1764 to provide accommodation for 500 marines, a site adjacent to the Gun Wharf (to the west) and the Dockyard (to the north) was purchased in 1777, with buildings completed and first occupied by the Royal Marines on 2 September 1779. Hill House (which had served as lodgings for the
Navy Board and as the principal administrative building of the Dockyard from the sixteenth to the early eighteenth century) was demolished to make way for the barracks. The site was bounded by two alleyways: one to the north, running along the southern boundary of the Dockyard, which led from the road to the 'New Stairs' at the riverside; and the other to the south, named Church or Cat Lane. Externally the three blocks were of similar appearance, each presenting a uniform front to the parade ground with windows equally spaced, and topped by a shallow roof behind a
parapet. (The long range was later refashioned with a central
pediment and clock). Behind the men's barrack the ground fell away towards the river (meaning that the building was of three storeys in front but four storeys to the rear). The rear of the building faced on to 'a narrower parallelogram, on the other side of which is a long narrow building, chiefly for store rooms' the area to the south of Cat Lane, between the barracks and St Mary's Churchyard, was purchased and levelled off. The main barracks block was extended south as far as the new boundary, and a new block was built to form the southern end of the (now elongated) parade ground. Opposite the main block, backing on to the road, new quarters for Warrant Officers were added. At the opposite end of the site, to the north, a separate area of land was purchased from the Dockyard. This was used for a new range of officers' quarters, fronting on to the main road, which were built in 1867. The area behind was used for tennis courts and a rackets court, and in 1879 a 292-seat theatre, known as
The Globe, was built here; it was used for lectures, concert parties and plays. By February 1894 a total of 7 officers and 1,049 non-commissioned officers and men were quartered there.
Melville Hospital Between 1827 and 1828 a new Royal Marine Infirmary was built, across the road from the barracks, to the design of
George Ledwell Taylor. Built of brick and stucco, the hospital consisted of three parallel ward blocks linked in front by a covered walkway behind a
colonnade. A pair of smaller blocks, in the space between the wards, contained a chapel and operating house on the one side, and a cook house on the other. When opened the infirmary had beds for around 230 patients; its first chief medical officer was Dr (later Sir)
John Richardson. While officially gazetted in the
Navy List as the 'Royal Marine Infirmary, Chatham', it was usually known locally as the
Melville Hospital after
Viscount Melville (who had been
First Lord of the Admiralty at the time the hospital was opened). In front of the hospital was a 'spacious lawn' used as an airing ground for the patients; behind, set back from the hospital, was a terrace of houses for the principal officers. From the time of its opening the Melville Hospital had admitted naval personnel as well as Royal Marines (previously the former had been taken care of in a
hospital ship moored on the river, latterly
HMS Argonaut had fulfilled this duty). Later in the century the infirmary took on more naval work, and in 1885 it was redesignated as a
Royal Naval Hospital (and duly listed as "Royal Hospital, Chatham" in the Navy List). By the end of the century it was widely acknowledged that the Melville Hospital did not have the capacity adequately to serve the growing numbers of naval personnel in Chatham.
Melville Barracks Following the closure of Melville Hospital, its buildings were taken over by the Royal Marines and converted into additional barracks accommodation. After a period of reconstruction, it reopened with the name Melville Barracks in 1906. In 1959 the entire Marine Barracks were sold (together with the adjacent Naval Gunwharf) to William Palfrey Ltd (a packaging company) for redevelopment. The Royal Marine Barracks were demolished in 1960; the site of the barracks was subsequently sold to
Lloyd's of London who built new offices there, which were later acquired by
Medway Council for their main offices and car park. After the Marine Barracks had closed, in 1950, the adjacent Melville Barracks continued to house parts of the Royal Marines Pay and Records Office until 1960, when the barracks were closed. ==References==