Lower Boat Store

The Lower Boat Store is a workshop and boat storage building located on the north side of North Pond Side Road in Chatham Dockyard, constructed in 1844. It features a weather-boarded timber frame topped with a corrugated-iron roof and has a rectangular open plan layout.

The building stands two storeys tall and has a range of 28 windows. It has overhanging eaves and a varied arrangement of windows, predominantly 6/6-pane sashes, with taller first-floor windows that include metal glazing bars. The eastern end showcases three large first-floor windows, while the eastern gable has ground-floor 6/6-pane sashes, first-floor 20-paned windows, and large double windows at the top with metal frames. The western gable mirrors this design. The northern elevation primarily features paired ground-floor sashes and wide double sliding doors, along with 9-pane windows under the eaves and three larger windows on the eastern side.

Inside, the structure is supported by large posts with diagonal braces on knees, which hold up the loft floor above. The interior is three bays deep, featuring king and queen posts and clasped purlins.

Historically, this building replaced an earlier store and is regarded as the best surviving example of a type of workshop for timber working and storage that was once common in naval yards. It is now considered rare, alongside a pair of boat stores at Portsmouth. The Lower Boat Store is part of a significant group of naval buildings that together form a complete Georgian dockyard.