Logged Visits:

20th Jun 2019  17:05  by Border Peat

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11th Apr 2017  15:45  by CJO

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Tall elegant memorial on skyline.

Naval Memorial

22nd Jan 2017  16:14  by Ant1974

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22nd Jun 2013  17:10  by peregrinus

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Covered in cladding

Memorial in its dressing gown

3rd Mar 2012  15:21  by MCL

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I grew up less than a mile from this point. To us locals it was always called "the war memorial" but it is more properly called a "naval memorial" because all the names of the people who died that are listed on the plaques are just the naval personnel from the two great wars of the twentieth century. And there are a lot of them,.. all categorised from midshipmen to chefs... The monument is open to the public and very imposing, standing in clear sight of the surrounding Medway Towns. As you stand on the surrounding fields (called "The Great Lines") there is in fact a napoleonic fort in tunnels virtually beneath your feet (Fort Amherst, and you can visit those for a guided tour too. So what about its place in this database... Well I notice it is a fairly recent addition and comes under the class of "monument", and I have only met one other of these before (TP7898 Bridgwater Monument near Tring in Hertfordshire). That is a tall tower much like this one but has a high platform you can climb to, and on that one, the mark is a stud in the corner of the platform. However, there is no platform on this Naval Monument, although it IS possible for workmen to get inside it via a door cunningly disguised as panel 29. There are in fact stairs going up inside it, and you can see slit windows up the side of the tower. So, based on the assumption that there is not access to a high platform, and based also on the fact that I could not find any trace of a stud or bolt at ground level I am forced to conclude that the tower itself is the marker and maybe the spike on the top is the reference point! I notice that with the orientation of the slits, it would have been possible to sight two other trigs, namely TP3232 Fort Borstal, and TP3992 Home Farm. So maybe the OS surveyors could climb up inside the tower and have a special platform inside which mere mortals such as us are never likely to get access to. But I rather suspect this is just an intersection point marker...visible for reference from two other trigs but never used for sighting outwards. Anyway I have furnished a few photos of the monument, the lion statues guarding it, and the cunningly concealed door. Anyone else shed any light on this?

Naval memorial Showing the whole of the tower and its base. There are walls surrounding the tower on three sides with even more names on them....©MCL
Closer detail of the base Showing the panels of names of the fallen seamen©MCL
The lions and the ledge Possibly a bolt or rivet may be fixed on one of these ledges? Not visible from ground level.©MCL
Panel No29 is in fact a door ..cunningly disguised to look like all the other panels, except you notice this one has hinges on the left and a couple of keyholes in amongst the names on the right.©MCL
The keyholes .. showing that this is a door and the only visible way to get inside the monument. But why would anyone want to do that?©MCL