Thesaurus

On the River Medway; first used as Royal Navy dockyard by Henry VIII 16th cen.; ships for the Spanish Armada built here; country's chief naval base from time of Charles II until closure early 1980s; site Dutch naval raid 1667; Lord Nelson's flagship "Trafalgar" built here; Sir Francis Drake & Lord Nelson sailed from here; Charles Dickens spent some of his childhood here when his father was a dockyard pay clerk.