Sun Pier in Chatham

Sun Pier in Chatham is open to the public at all times and day mooring is available for visitors.

Strictly no mooring of any kind by private vessel is permitted on Sun Pier.

A Brief History of Sun Pier

Records of a pier in this area date from 1765 when the Sun Tavern Jetty is noted as being just up-river from the current Sun Pier. The land around Sun Pier was owned by the Best family who ran a local brewery on the site of what’s now Manor Road and the old Theatre Royal. The Best brewery was established in the mid 1600s and ran until 1894. The Best family acquired the land around Sun Pier in 1775. They built a huge storehouse on the site that was known as Sun Quay. Melville’s Directory of 1858 mentions that behind the Sun Hotel is a pier for the accommodation of steam packets to Sheerness and other places.

The Medway Steam Packet Company ran a fleet of paddle steamers on the Medway from 1837, providing a link between the Royal Dockyards at Chatham and Sheerness before the coming of the railways. Sun Pier was used as a landing point for paddle steamers up until 1963. In addition to the Best’s storehouse, the Sun Quay area provided warehousing and unloading/loading points for the flour mill that stood on the site of what’s now B&M as well as timber and coal wharves. The Best’s managed the site and quay and built a new pier in c.1830. In 1864, the pier was purchased by the Chatham Local Board of Health for £1,500.

The Chatham Board of Health made some improvements to the pier in 1869, providing a floating landing stage that was funded by public subscription. This was to allow for a proper all-tide day and night means of landing at Sun Pier after some river workers had been lost in accidents.

The Chatham Local Board of Health had a new pier built in 1884, replacing an older 1830s construction, but this was destroyed by a storm in 1885 and reconstructed in 1886. The new Sun Pier had a large covered central area to provide shelter for day trippers and users of the pier. This contained a café, toilets, and a harbour masters office. An extension to the pier was added in 1902 to 1904.

The wooden superstructure of the shelter was destroyed by fire in December 1972. Major refurbishment was carried out in 1982 and a new landing stage added in 1987. The shelter was not rebuilt. The mooring pontoon was damaged in 2007 fell into disrepair and was replaced by Medway Council in 2013.

Sun pier today

Sun Pier main deck is open to the public every day of the year with events organised during the summer months including the popular Festival of Chatham Reach.

In the interests of safety, the Sun Pier pontoons are now used solely by 3 river tour operators:

• Jetstream Tours
• Tiller and Wheel
• Red2Red.

Each of these river tour providers offer a different experience on the river Medway, with Jetstream running trips to Southend and Tiller and Wheel offering sailings around the Medway estuary and Maunsell Forts on their historic Thames Barge.