Former Tarred Yarn House

The Former Tarred Yarn House, located on Cottage Road in Chatham Dockyard, was built between 1786 and 1791 and originally consisted of three separate buildings that have since been connected, with gaps filled in during the 19th century. The structure is made of brick and features a corrugated sheet and lead hipped roof. It has a rectangular single-depth plan and stands two storeys tall.

The exterior displays a range of windows in a 4:2:4:8 configuration. The northern white yarn house has been expanded to include an eight-window range, with double half-glazed doors positioned left of centre. The tarring house features two long eight-light casement windows and a pair of two-light casements, along with segmental-arched carriage entrances on either side of the ground floor; these long windows and archway are part of the later infill. The black yarn house includes two-light mullion and transom casements. Between the tarring and black yarn houses, there is a mid-20th century infill with two blind windows on the first floor.

Although the interior was not inspected, the building has historical significance as part of the late 18th-century rebuilding of the Ropeyard. Yarn was drawn from the white yarn house into the tarring house, which was divided into a kettle house for tar kettles and a capstan house powered by a horse gin in the basement. The tarred yarn was then transferred to the black yarn house for drying and winding onto bobbins before being sent to the ropery. Tar was stored in the basement of the ropery and transported to the tarring house through a vaulted tunnel.

Despite alterations, the Former Tarred Yarn House is an important part of one of the finest ropeyards and one of the largest integrated groups of 18th-century manufacturing buildings in the country, contributing to the largely complete Georgian dockyard.