Great Lines Heritage Park

Great Lines Heritage Park
This metal sculpture is on Brompton Road, one of the many entrances to the park
Type	Public Heritage park
Location	Medway, Kent, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°23′06″N 0°32′13″E / 51.385°N 0.537°E / 51.385; 0.537Coordinates: 51°23′06″N 0°32′13″E / 51.385°N 0.537°E / 51.385; 0.537
Area	70 hectares (170 acres)
Created	2008
Operated by	Medway Council

The Great Lines Heritage Park is a complex network of open spaces connecting Chatham, Gillingham, Brompton and the Historic Dockyard. The long military history of the towns has dominated the history of the site and the park. The Great Lines Heritage Park, consists of Fort Amherst, Chatham Lines, the Field of Fire (later known as the Great Lines), Inner Lines, Medway Park (sports centre) together with the Lower Lines.

The Lines, were constructed in Napoleonic times. They were never used (during the wars) but they have been used to be a barrier to development, keeping the fort and the Lines mostly untouched.

Most of the park is accessible to all at most times. It has many pedestrian and cycle links for residents of the two towns of Gillingham and Chatham.

The Lines are known as a 'Bastion trace fortification', a linear defence with projecting bastions allowing covering fire to be directed into the ditches (on the landward side of the fort) flanking them. In England, they were relatively rare, and were principally adopted for dockyard and coastal defences. They stretch from Fort Amherst (overlooking Chatham Dockyard and River Medway), northwards across Brompton towards St Mary's creek near Gillingham.

Then during World War II, they were then massively re-fortified, with the Lines ditch acting as an anti-tank barrier, as part of the Medway war defences. Also air raid shelters, anti-aircraft gun emplacements, an emergency water reservoir, a pillbox and a spigot mortar, was added. At one stage, there were up to 31 anti-aircraft batteries in the Medway District (including 13 heavy and 20 light) and about 20 other temporary light batteries in 1944.

Later, after World War I and World War II, they fell into disuse. Parts around Brompton were then used for post-war housing.

The Chatham Lines are designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument (Kent no.ME201).