27th Naval Dockyards Society Conference 2023

Date: 22 April 2023

 

Venue: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich

 

 

The 27th Naval Dockyards Society conference will be held at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich on Saturday 22 April 2023.

 

The Economic and Social Effects of a Shipyard Closure: Scott Lithgow at Greenock and Port Glasgow, Scotland, 1970–1990”

 

Professor Murphy’s paper analyses the economic and social effects of the closure of the Scott Lithgow shipyards in the Lower Clyde Burghs of Greenock and Port Glasgow from 1970 when the two firms officially merged, through nationalisation under the British Shipbuilders Corporation in July 1977 and its placement in the Corporation’s newly formed Offshore Division in 1980. It continues from re-privatisation in March 1984 to eventual closure. .

 

Speakers will present case studies and papers on dockyards and shipyards including Portsmouth, Chatham, Sheerness, Hvar, Grimsby, U-Boat pens and the Forgotten Dockyards. 

 

The successful regeneration of defence sites around Portsmouth Harbour - a significant exemplar of how defence heritage heavy areas can be repurposed' “What does one do with a historic dockyard?” Sir Neil Cossons, chair of the Heritage Education Group in 1990 asked Celia Clark this question when she was the Civic Trust’s Education Officer. As a writer, academic and campaigner much of her career since has been directed towards answering it.

 

On 31 March 1984, Chatham Dockyard ceased to be a working naval dockyard. 40 years on The Historic Dockyard is the best preserved dockyard from the Age of Sail. Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust has overcome enormous challenges since Dockyard closure, and what has emerged is a thriving multi-use heritage estate, with world class museum, three historic ships, working ropery, filming location, trading and residential estate, and events venue. Possibly the largest conservation project of its type

 

The Naval Dockyard at Sheerness that dominated employment on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent since 1665 closed in 1960. This paper makes use of oral history testimony collected in 1980 and 2010 to capture the legacies of Sheppey’s industrial decline at various moments across a fifty-year timespan.

 

While most papers presented at this conference will look at the how and why they are preserving for their community certain naval dockyards. This paper will explore what and why we chose to forget and ask the question for those conducting preservation as to whether they should be also reflecting the lost dockyards and their communities either in their broader geographical area or of a similar era. 

 

At the end of the Second World War, the protected pens for German submersibles (U-Boat-Bunker) were the focus of the French Navy’s attention. Between August 1944 and May 1945, the French Navy decided to keep these constructions in order to reuse all or part of them.

 

The team work on the rehabilitation and renovation of the Hvar Arsenal and the historical theatre received the "Vicko Andrić" Award from the Croatian Ministry of Culture in 2018, the renovated Hvar Arsenal with the historical theatre was inaugurated in 2019, and in May 2020, the renovation of the Hvar Arsenal and the historical theatre also received the prestigious European heritage Award / Europa Nostra in the category of the most successful European conservation achievement.

 

Described by Historic England as a ‘town within a town’ and located on a small peninsular of made land built in the mid-19th century, the historic ‘Kasbah’ at the Port of Grimsby was once part of the largest fishing port in the world. An area of national significance due to its 19th and 20th century fishing heritage, it is considered to be the most important representation of industrial scale fishing in the UK. However, with 66% of the buildings vacant and in poor or very bad condition, the local community see the fish docks as an emblem of decline rather than a heritage to be celebrated.

 

Please click here to access the Naval Dockyard Society 2023 in-person & online conference booking form and the conference programme.

 

Deadlines: If you wish to attend in Person then NDS need your booking by 11 April. If you wish to attend on line then the deadline will be midday on 20 April.