Unique floating cultural hub LV21 docks at Chatham's Historic Dockyard
The 40-metre steel-hulled historic lightship serves as a dynamic art space and performance facility
The iconic LV21, a National Historic Ship (No. 2330), has this week returned to Medway and docked at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, marking a significant moment in its journey.
Temporarily moored at Anchor Wharf for up to 12 months, the vessel will await its permanent home at Medway Riverfront, bringing with it a unique blend of maritime heritage and cultural innovation.
LV21, National Historic Ships’ Flagship of the Year 2023, is a 40-metre steel-hulled historic lightship that has been transformed into a unique floating cultural hub. It serves as a dynamic art space and performance facility, designed to deliver innovative and immersive experiences across artforms.
The vessel, which had been stationed at Gravesend’s Riverside Heritage Quarter, champions the creative industries while honouring its rich maritime heritage, making it a standout venue in Kent’s cultural landscape, bridging the gap between arts and heritage.
In keeping with its maritime roots, LV21 also aims to act as a beacon of creativity and collaboration, bringing together diverse communities, visitors, and businesses. The lightship’s programming offers unforgettable arts, culture, education, and heritage experiences, highlighting its commitment to fostering community connections and celebrating shared histories.
While The Historic Dockyard Chatham is closed for winter, works on the lightship concentrate on installing a gangway suitable for public access to allow visitors aboard in the new year. In the meantime, LV21 will run events and projects ashore across Medway to celebrate the ship’s arrival and share future plans.
In the coming months, alongside the ongoing community outreach, education and volunteering programmes, LV21’s onshore activity includes:
RiverSwell – LV21, working in partnership with Tiller & Wheel, is one of 56 applicants who have been awarded funding in the final year of Medway’s Shared Prosperity Fund, with £825,000 allocated to projects across Medway. The 5-month project focuses on exploring Medway’s profound maritime heritage through a programme of community participatory creative events, exhibitions and workshops that highlight the importance of the River Medway and its waterfront as an important local cultural asset.
Whose Hoo Heritage Festival – Development of an annual heritage festival within a wider four-year long Whose Hoo partnership project, awarded £2,943,041 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, to drive forward landscape-scale heritage conservation on the Hoo Peninsula and help Medway residents discover and celebrate the unique local heritage and habitats.
Päivi Seppälä, Director of LV21, said: “We are delighted to be back in Medway after eight years to start a new exciting chapter in LV21’s creative journey. Mooring at the magnificent setting of Anchor Wharf in The Historic Dockyard Chatham, with LV21 surrounded by rich maritime heritage and other unique historic vessels, leisure and work boats, and people passionate about Medway’s maritime heritage, offers us the perfect platform to develop the next stage of the ship’s long-term future in Medway. We would like to thank the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and Medway Council for their support and look forward to working in collaboration to play our part in connecting residents and visitors with the river Medway and its stories.”
Richard Morsley, Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, said: “We are delighted to welcome LV21 back to Medway and to its temporary home at The Historic Dockyard Chatham. This remarkable lightship has a brilliant approach to blending arts and heritage and will stand as a beacon in Medway’s vibrant cultural offer. Its arrival here not only enriches our maritime community and the burgeoning community of creative businesses here at the Dockyard, but also emphasizes the importance of the River Medway as a source of connection. We look forward to working closely with Päivi and Gary to shine a light on our shared heritage.”
