Draft:Pier Road, Gillingham

Pier Road (A289)

Looking east along Pier Road towards Chatham Waters, Medway Road, and Gillingham Pier
Part of	A289 road
Maintained by	Medway Council
Location	Chatham, Kent, England
Coordinates	51°23′48.3″N 0°32′56.6″E
Other
Status	Open; part of A289 road

Pier Road is a major street and urban area in Gillingham, Kent which runs roughly east–west along the south bank of the River Medway at Gillingham Reach, north of Gillingham town centre. It has also been known historically as Gillingham Pier and in recent years as Victory Pier (the latter reflecting the name of a major waterfront housing development). The road is part of the A289 Medway Northern Relief Road, linking local centres to the M2/A2. The area fronts the Medway and was long dominated by river-related industry (gasworks, chemical works, dockland) and later regeneration projects.

Pier Road lies on formerly semi-rural/marshy ground at the mouth of Gillingham Creek. In the 19th century the area was developed industrially: a large gasholder (gasworks) was built by 1854 on land just west of the road, originally owned by the Rochester, Chatham & Gillingham Gas Company. The gasholder stood as a landmark on Pier Road for over a century (decommissioned in 1968. Adjacent to the gasworks and along the waterfront was the Medway Chemical Works (later Novadel, then Akzo Nobel) – a tar‐distillation and chemical plant founded in the 19th century. This chemical works (sometimes called Medway Chemical Works or Akzo Nobel Gillingham) dominated the eastern half of Pier Road for decades. After Akzo Nobel closed the plant in the early 2000s, the site was cleared for redevelopment.

Beyond industry, Pier Road also hosted shipping and marine trades. Gillingham Marina was established in the 1970s on reclaimed riverside land adjacent to Pier Road: a privately developed boat marina with capacity for hundreds of vessels, run by the Parham family. The marina’s chandlery building still stands on Pier Road. (An 1870s pier or jetty existed on the site, from which the road likely derives its name.)

Originally Pier Road ran north from Church Street (High Street) to a riverside pier. Its alignment has shifted little, but the shoreline has. 20th-century land reclamation and redevelopment (including the marina and new roads) altered the waterfront. By the 1990s the eastern end of Pier Road was realigned to form a grade-separated junction with the new A289 Medway Northern Relief Road. As part of the Medway Tunnel project (opened 1996), about 800 m of dual carriageway was built to extend Pier Road and link it into the tunnel approach. The A289 relief road (opened mid-1990s) now carries heavy traffic through Pier Road and relieved congestion in central Gillingham. (The Medway Tunnel itself opened 12 June 1996 and today carries ~40,000 vehicles per day.

In the late 1990s the Victorian pier and waterfront facilities at Gillingham were found to be “deteriorating”. Medway Council secured over £1 million of SRB and partnership funding for improvements. Works included resurfacing and floodproofing the road, dredging and restoring the old slipway, adding a new pier pontoon and anglers’ platform, and creating a recreational “angler’s area” on the waterfront. The refurbished pier area remains owned by the Council and was targeted for further redevelopment (pub/community facilities, etc.) in Medway’s Gillingham Waterfront masterplan.

Industry and civic sites

Gasworks: Gillingham’s old gasworks site stood between Pier Road and the river from 1854 until decommissioning in 1968. The massive cylindrical gasholder (gasometer) was a local landmark until dismantled in 2023. (Southern Gas Networks formally closed the Pier Road gasworks and most machinery in the 1960s.) In recent years the former gasworks area has been redevelopment-ready; the old gas holder remained derelict until planned housing proposals in the 2020s.

Medway Chemical Works / Akzo Nobel: This large chemical plant occupied several hectares on the east side of Pier Road (the “Victory Pier” site). It had origins in 19th-century tar and by-product processing. After mid-20th-century expansions under Novadel and Akzo Nobel, the works closed around 2000. Medway Council then commissioned redevelopment proposals. Outline planning permission (MC/2004/1214) was granted in 2004 for mixed-use redevelopment of the former plant. In 2011 Berkeley Homes launched Victory Pier, a major waterfront housing development on this site; it includes blocks of flats, retail units, and a Premier Inn hotel. (Victory Pier’s layout roughly follows the former chemical works footprint, and its brand reflects post-war optimism rather than any historical “victory”.) By the 2020s Victory Pier was largely completed and sold out.

Other industrial sites: The western end of Pier Road had smaller industries and wharves. Maps and planning documents mention coal depots, timber yards, and a cement works in the early 20th century (for example, an 1888 map shows coal wharves north of Pier Road). Much of this was cleared by mid-century.

Marina and quay: Gillingham Marina (est. 1970s) lies immediately north of Pier Road. Its entrance cut into former dockland. The Marina’s facilities (lock, basins, chandlery) were upgraded through the 1980s–90s. A (now unused) slipway remains on Pier Road, hinting at the pre-marine trade river access.

Medway Innovation Centre: In the early 2000s a business and technology centre was built on Pier Approach (south of Pier Road), on brownfield land by the old chemical works. This 3-story office/incubator building occupies the south side of the road, serving local companies and UTC courses (as Medway Innovation Centre).

Civic buildings: The area has few grand civic structures. One notable landmark was the hard-to-miss Victorian Victualling Yard storehouse (now private offices) just off Pier Road near Chatham Naval Dockyard. A small Social Club (for chemical works workers) stood on Pier Road into the 20th century. Most other community facilities (schools, churches) lie several streets south in the main town centre.

Pubs and taverns on Pier Road

Pier Road had several public houses serving workers and sailors. All have closed or been repurposed by the 21st century:

The Britannia (later Spatts / Expressions): This pub moved from Church Street to a Pier Road terrace (opposite the old gasworks) in the 1870s. Rebuilt to a new site slightly further east in the 1950s, it later became a wine bar called Spatts, then Expressions. It finally closed in the early 2000s. The derelict site was auctioned in 2017 for housing development.

Pier Road pub building (in 2011) formerly The Strand (later Bar Intermission). This waterfront site has since been cleared for housing.

• The Strand / Bar Intermission: A terraced pub known in the 1980s as The Strand (a wine bar), then renamed Bar Intermission. It occupied a corner of Pier Road and closed c. 2000s. The boarded façade of the former Strand (Bar Intermission) pub was visible as a derelict ruin.
• Green Dragon: Another mid-20th-century pub on Pier Road (often called Green Dragon), closed by the 2000s. In 2008 it stood empty and boarded.
• Good Intent: The Good Intent (105 Pier Road) is recorded in mid-20th-century directories. By the 1990s it had closed and the building used as flats.
• Jolly Sailor: A riverside pub at the far west end of Pier Road (site later occupied by the marina car park). Closed by late 20th century (sources note only its existence, but no recent remains).

As of the 2020s none of Pier Road’s historic pubs remain open. (For comparison, Gillingham town has other pubs like the Britannia Inn on the High Street, but the riverside “Victory Pier” hotels now provide the only nearby bars.)

Post-war decline and redevelopment

After World War II, Pier Road’s industries largely continued until the late 20th century. The closure of the chemical works in 2000 and decline of river commerce led to economic downturn. By the 1970s–80s many warehouses and wharves were redundant. The road’s social character shifted from working-class trades to desolation. Numerous shopfronts and businesses on Pier Road closed, and by the 1990s the Council reported the pier facilities “deteriorating”.

Infrastructure works reshaped the area: land clearance for the A289 interchange removed some older buildings. The Grosvenor Road junction (with A2/M2) and Gillingham Gate flyover (near the west end of Pier Road) were built in the 1960s–70s, further isolating the old road. Traffic increased, and few pedestrians remained. Socially, the loss of pubs and workplaces led to deprivation in the surrounding housing estate (Rainham Road area). Local newspapers from the 1970s onward note rising unemployment and petitions for urban renewal along Pier Road. (For example, a 1993 plan documents “under-utilised land at Gillingham Pier” as ripe for regeneration.)

Regeneration (2000s–2020s)

• Victory Pier / Chatham Waters: The former Akzo Nobel site (0.4 km²) was redeveloped into a mixed-use neighbourhood. Berkeley Homes’ Victory Pier scheme (launched 2011) built apartments, offices and restaurants along Pier Road. The “Chatham Waters” masterplan encompassed this and adjacent sites. In 2015 an Asda superstore (the 600th Asda in the UK) opened at the west end of Pier Road, serving as the retail anchor for Chatham Waters. The store generated long queues and traffic issues on opening day. Adjacent to the Asda is a Premier Inn hotel (branded Chatham/Gillingham – Victory Pier), catering to business visitors.
• Education – Waterfront UTC: A new University Technical College (specializing in engineering and energy) opened on Pier Road in Sept 2015. Waterfront UTC (initially named Medway UTC) occupies a purpose-built campus on Pier Approach/Southside Three Road, immediately south of Pier Roaden.wikipedia.org. It was part of Medway’s strategy to harness the waterfront jobs initiative.
• Housing developments: On various brownfield plots off Pier Road, new homes have been built in the 2020s. In 2023 MHS Homes completed twenty shared-ownership houses (“Strand View Close”) on a former overgrown site at Pier Road. Planning for these was approved in 2021kentonline.co.uk. Other infill schemes (especially on redundant industrial sites south of Pier Road) have added mixed housing and flats.
• Heritage and culture: Recognizing its industrial heritage, Medway Council and Heritage Lottery Fund have invested in conservation. For example, the restored Victorian slipway and pier signed in 2010 as an historic monument, with interpretive panels about the old chemical works and dock walls. In 2016 community groups proposed adaptive reuse of riverside warehouses. The “Medway Renaissance” vision promotes Pier Road as a mixed waterfront quarter.
• Transport links: Alongside the A289 tunnel, cycle infrastructure has been added. New riverside walkways now connect Pier Road to Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham Marina. The Council’s local plans from 2003–2022 consistently identify Pier Road as a key regeneration corridor.

Environment and flood risk

Pier Road lies partly in the tidal floodplain of the Medway. Modern flood maps show that much of the road edge is Flood Zone 2 or 3. For example, a site at the junction of Pier Road and Medway Road has ~2% area in Zone 2medway.gov.uk, and the adjacent “National Grid” plot is mapped 100% in Zone 3. This necessitates careful design for new developments (elevations, tidal defences). Indeed, Pier Road and Pier Approach flooded during heavy rain on 31 May 2016, causing lengthy traffic delays. Southern Water reported that overwhelmed drains and sewer overflow led to standing groundwater on the road that morning. The Council now treats Pier Road as an area at medium flood risk in its flood management plans.