Editing Sheerness (section)

== History ==
The first structure in what is now Sheerness was a fort built by order of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] to prevent enemy ships from entering the [[River Medway]] and attacking the [[Chatham Dockyard|naval dockyard]] at [[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]]. In 1666 work began to replace it with a stronger fort. However, before its completion, this second fort was destroyed in 1667 by the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] Naval Fleet in their capture of the town, as part of what would be known as the [[raid on the Medway]].<ref name = "SAccess"/>

[[File:The BL King’s Topographical Collection- "SHEERNESS ".jpg|thumb|left|View of Sheerness in the early 1700s; in the background is the fort with its prominent tower and gatehouse, in front of which is the dockyard.]]
The [[Secretary to the Admiralty]], [[Samuel Pepys]], subsequently ordered the construction of [[Sheerness Dockyard]] as an extension to that at Chatham.<ref name = "1958bbc"/> There was no established [[Human settlement|settlement]] in the vicinity of Sheerness, so most of the workers were initially housed in [[Hulk (ship type)|hulks]]. By 1738, dockyard construction workers had built the first houses in Sheerness, using materials they were allowed to take from the yard.<ref name="Character2016">{{cite web|title=A Characterisation of Sheerness, Kent|url=https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/characterisation-of-sheerness-kent-project-report/61034355-r01-sheerness-characterisation-project-report.pdf/|website=Historic England|publisher=Ramboll Environ, 2016|access-date=16 February 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216132734/https://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/characterisation-of-sheerness-kent-project-report/61034355-r01-sheerness-characterisation-project-report.pdf/|archive-date=16 February 2017}}</ref> The grey-blue naval paint they used on the exteriors led to their homes becoming known as the Blue Houses. This was eventually corrupted to [[Blue Town]] (which is now the name of the north-west area of Sheerness lying just beyond the current dockyard perimeter).<ref name="SAccess">{{cite web  | title = History  | publisher = Sheppey Access  | url = http://www.clcshe.eclipse.co.uk/history.html  | access-date = 29 April 2007  | archive-date = 3 March 2016  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225041/http://www.clcshe.eclipse.co.uk/history.html  | url-status = dead  }}</ref> The modern town of Sheerness has its origins in Mile Town, which was established later in the 18th century at a mile's distance from the dockyard (Blue Town having by then filled the space available).<ref name="ConservationArea2011">{{cite web|title=Sheerness: Royal Naval Dockyard and Bluetown Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Strategy March 2011|url=https://www.swale.gov.uk/assets/Planning-General/Planning-Policy/Cons-Area-Review/Cons-Area-Review-Jan-12/Sheerness-Dockyard-Blue-Town-CACA-reduced-size.pdf|publisher=Swale Borough Council|access-date=15 February 2017|archive-date=4 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004104635/http://www.swale.gov.uk/assets/Planning-General/Planning-Policy/Cons-Area-Review/Cons-Area-Review-Jan-12/Sheerness-Dockyard-Blue-Town-CACA-reduced-size.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1797, discontented sailors in the [[Royal Navy]] [[Spithead and Nore mutinies|mutinied just off the coast]] of Sheerness.<ref>{{cite web | title = Mutiny | publisher = The Columbia Encyclopedia | url = https://www.questia.com/read/1E1-mutiny | year = 2006 | access-date = 29 April 2007 | url-access = subscription | via =  | df = dmy-all | archive-date = 31 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210131223246/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia | url-status = live }}</ref>

By 1801 the population of the Minster-in-Sheppey parish, which included both Sheerness and the neighbouring town of [[Minster-in-Sheppey|Minster]], reached 5,561.<ref name="visminst">{{cite web | title = A vision of Minster in Sheppey AP/CP | publisher = VisionOfBritain.org.uk | url = http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10223015 | access-date = 22 July 2007 | archive-date = 30 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930215502/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10223015 | url-status = live }}</ref> In 1816, one of the UK's first [[co-operative]] societies was started in Sheerness, chiefly to serve the dockyard workers and their families. The Sheerness Economical Society began as a co-operative bakery but expanded to produce and sell a range of goods.<ref>{{cite web  | title = Origins of Cooperation  | publisher = Laurel Net Cooperative | url = http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~laurel/cooproots/origins.html |year=1999| access-date = 29 April 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080125093602/http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~laurel/cooproots/origins.html |archive-date = 25 January 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the middle of the 20th century, the society had spread across the Isle of Sheppey and had been renamed the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society.<ref name = "heritcoop"/>

In the early 1820s a fire destroyed the old Blue Houses. New houses and a major redevelopment of the dockyard followed. A high brick wall and a moat were constructed around the yard to serve as a defence measure and remained in place until the end of the 19th century. As the settlement expanded eastwards, away from the dockyard and the Blue Houses, the wider area became known as Sheerness,<ref name = "SAccess"/> taking its new name from the brightness or clearness of the water at the mouth of the River Medway.<ref name="RoyalArsenal">{{cite web  | title = Sheerness  | publisher = MaritimeHeritageTrail.co.uk | url = http://www.maritimeheritagetrail.co.uk/EN/loc_history.php?id=8&page=1  | access-date = 29 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070830223940/http://www.maritimeheritagetrail.co.uk/EN/loc_history.php?id=8&page=1|archive-date=30 August 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> The rebuilt Dockyard contained many groundbreaking new buildings and structures; for example, completed in 1860 and still standing today, the [[Sheerness Boat Store]] was the world's first multi-storey building with a rigid metal frame.<ref name="SAccess"/>

In 1904 the RN established a torpedo school in Sheerness, with [[HMS Ariadne (1859)|HMS ''Actaeon'']] used as training hulk. The school closed in 1922.

From the completion of the dockyard until 1960 Sheerness was one of the bases of the [[Commander-in-Chief, The Nore|Nore Command]] of the [[Royal Navy]], which was responsible for protecting British waters in the [[North Sea]]. The command was named after the Nore [[sandbank]] in the [[Thames Estuary]], about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} east of Sheerness.<ref>{{cite web | title = The Nore | publisher = The Columbia Encyclopedia | url = https://www.questia.com/read/1E1-Nore | year = 2006 | access-date = 29 April 2007 | url-access = subscription | via = | df = dmy-all | archive-date = 31 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210131223247/https://www.gale.com/databases/questia | url-status = live }}</ref>

In 1863, [[Water supply network|mains water]] was installed in the town, and the Isle of Sheppey's first railway station opened at the dockyard. Towards the end of the 19th century, Sheerness achieved official town status and formed its own civil parish, separate from Minster-in-Sheppey.<ref name="SAccess"/> The 1901 Census recorded the Sheerness parish as having 18,179 residents and 2,999 houses.<ref name="relationsheer">{{cite web | title = Relationships / unit history of Sheerness | publisher = VisionOfBritain.org.uk | url = http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10225449&c_id=10001043 | access-date = 22 July 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001000434/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10225449&c_id=10001043 | archive-date = 1 October 2007 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

The town's low rainfall and ample sunshine made it popular as a [[seaside resort]], with tourists arriving by steamboat and train.<ref name="RoyalArsenal"/> The [[Sheppey Light Railway]] opened in 1901, connecting the new Sheerness East station with the rest of the island. However, by 1950, lack of demand led to the railway's closure.<ref>{{cite web  | title = Sheppey Light Railway  | publisher = HFStephens-Museum.org.uk | url = http://hfstephens-museum.org.uk/pages/his_railways/sheppey.htm  | access-date = 29 April 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070424141524/http://hfstephens-museum.org.uk/pages/his_railways/sheppey.htm |archive-date = 24 April 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Sheerness and District Tramways]], which opened in 1903, only lasted until 1917.<ref>{{cite web  | title = Chronology of Sheerness in the lifetime of the Sheerness Heritage Centre  | publisher = SheernessHeritageCentre.com | url = http://www.sheernessheritagecentre.com/page2chronology.htm | access-date = 29 April 2007 | url-status = usurped  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070213210637/http://www.sheernessheritagecentre.com/page2chronology.htm <!--Added by H3llBot--> | archive-date = 13 February 2007 }}</ref>

[[File:Terraced houses near Sheerness seafront Crop.jpg|right|thumb|Terraced houses near the seafront]]

In 1944 the United States cargo ship {{SS|Richard Montgomery}} ran aground and sank {{convert|1|mi|km|1}} off the coast of Sheerness, with large quantities of explosives on board.<ref>{{cite web|title=SS Richard Montgomery|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/303404/SS_Richard_Montgomery.pdf|website=gov.uk|publisher=Maritime and Coastguard Agency|access-date=10 September 2015|page=1|date=2013|archive-date=10 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310085148/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/303404/SS_Richard_Montgomery.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Due to the inherent danger and projected expense, the ship and its cargo have never been salvaged; if the wreck were to explode, it would be one of the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time. A 2004 report published in ''[[New Scientist]]'' warned that an explosion could occur if sea water penetrated the bombs.<ref>{{cite web | title = Timebomb Ready to Blow | publisher = Evening Standard | url = https://www.standard.co.uk/news/timebomb-ready-to-blow-6944765.html | author1 = Harris, Ed | author2 = White, Ben | date = 19 August 2004 | access-date = 29 April 2007 | archive-date = 7 September 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120907192602/http://www.standard.co.uk/news/timebomb-ready-to-blow-6944765.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

During the Second World War the [[Shoeburyness Boom]], which ran across the Thames Estuary to protect shipping from submarine attack, ran from Sheerness to Shoeburyness in Essex.<ref name=platt>{{cite book|last1=Platt|first1=Len|title=Writing London and the Thames Estuary: 1576-2016|date=2017|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004346666|page=92|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwEtDwAAQBAJ|language=en|access-date=26 September 2020|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123221114/https://books.google.com/books?id=VwEtDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>  A similar structure was built along the same alignment in the early 1950s to protect against Soviet submarines.  The Sheerness end of the boom was demolished in the 1960s.<ref name="HE">{{NHLE|desc=Cold War defence boom, Pig's Bay, Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea|num=1021091|access-date=24 October 2017}}</ref>

In March 1960 the Royal Navy ceased operating the Sheerness dockyard and the Medway Port Authority took over the site for commercial use. The dockyard closure led to thousands of job losses, and most of the nearby houses and shops in the Bluetown area were eventually abandoned and demolished.<ref name="1958bbc">{{cite news  | title = 1958: Historic Sheerness docks to close  | publisher = BBC  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/20/newsid_2552000/2552135.stm  | access-date = 29 April 2007  | date = 20 February 1958  | archive-date = 7 March 2008  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080307140236/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/20/newsid_2552000/2552135.stm  | url-status = live  }}</ref> By the 1961 census, the population of Sheerness had fallen to 13,691.<ref>{{cite web | title = A vision of Sheerness Ch/CP | publisher = VisionOfBritain.org.uk | url = http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10225449 | access-date = 22 July 2007 | archive-date = 8 November 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121108154808/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10225449 | url-status = live }}</ref> The dockyard closure also led to the decline of the Sheerness and District Cooperative Society, as many of its members were dockyard workers. At the time, the society was the island's main retailer, but it has since been reduced to a few shops and been merged with a larger society.<ref name="heritcoop">{{cite web | title = The first co-op | publisher = SheernessHeritageCentre.com | url = http://www.sheernessheritagecentre.com/page6sheernesscoop.htm | year = 2006 | access-date = 29 April 2007 | archive-date = 19 October 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071019092608/http://www.sheernessheritagecentre.com/page6sheernesscoop.htm | url-status = usurped }}</ref>

The German writer [[Uwe Johnson]] lived in Sheerness for the last decade of his life, from 1974 to 1984, having left [[East Germany]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wright |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3wBEAAAQBAJ |title=The Sea View has me Again: Uwe Johnson in Sheerness |date=2020-12-08 |publisher=Watkins Media |isbn=978-1-912248-75-9 |language=en}}</ref> A monograph by [[Patrick Wright (historian)|Patrick Wright]], ''The Sea View Has Me Again'', was published by [[Repeater Books]] in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jonathan Meades - Estuary German |url=https://literaryreview.co.uk/estuary-german |access-date=2022-06-03 |website=Literary Review |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=McGuinness |first=Patrick |date=2021-10-21 |title=Outside in the Bar |language=en |volume=43 |work=London Review of Books |issue=20 |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n20/patrick-mcguinness/outside-in-the-bar |access-date=2022-06-03 |issn=0260-9592}}</ref>

[[File:Jacob's Bank, Sheerness.jpg|right|thumb|Sheerness beach with the chimney of the [[Grain Power Station]] in the distance (since demolished in 2016).]]
In 2003, the Beachfields Park project was organised to publicise Beachfields' heritage and to preserve it for future generations. Students of Cheyne Middle School and Minster College, with assistance from local organisations, researched the funfair, bandstands, Prisoner of the War hut, boating lake and bowling green. As part of the project, students wrote a book, ''Tales of Beachfields Park'', which won the Historical Association Young Historian Primary School Award for Local History.

As of 2007, Bluetown is an industrial area, and Sheerness has become the largest port in the UK for motor imports.<ref name="SAccess"/> Prior to the closure of the Dockyard, twenty-five of its historic buildings were listed in recognition of their "architectural distinction and value";<ref>{{cite web|title=Hansard, 14 May 1959|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1959/may/14/admiralty-buildings-at-sheerness|access-date=8 September 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120151/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1959/may/14/admiralty-buildings-at-sheerness|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=14 May 1959|url-status=live}}</ref> regardless of this, the majority were subsequently demolished (including Admiralty House and the quadrangular Great Store) and others were left to decay. In the early 21st century a concerted effort was made to save the remaining buildings and several have been restored to residential use. In July 2013 [[Swale Borough Council]] announced that a deal had been reached to secure restoration of Rennie and Taylor's Royal Dockyard Church (which had been gutted by a fire in 2001), with a view to new uses such as displaying the above-mentioned model of the Dockyard.<ref>[http://www.swale.gov.uk/dockyard-church-sheerness/ Press release] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130728222258/http://www.swale.gov.uk/dockyard-church-sheerness/ |date=28 July 2013 }}</ref>