Chatham Intra: A High Street Worth Exploring

“there is still a fine old-time nautical flavour hanging about Chatham. It does not lie on the surface, but requires much patient searching…”

-Charles G. Harper, The Dover Road (1895, revised 1922)

For many, the crossroads at Star Hill seem to mark an invisible boundary. Rochester’s historic High Street is celebrated, but beyond it, visitors and day-trippers are often advised ‘not to bother’. And that’s where we would disagree.

Cross over and a more intriguing landscape is revealed: elegant Georgian and Victorian buildings, beautifully restored shopfronts, historic facades still waiting for some TLC and rows of shuttered shops. In between, independent businesses and creative spaces are bringing new life to the street.

This is Chatham Intra, the historic stretch of High Street between Rochester and Chatham. Music drifts out of a record shop down a slip road, antique dealers, independent bakeries and restaurants line the way. Micropubs host comedy nights, cafes become the stage for performances and open mic nights.

Walking along this high street you wouldn’t believe the River Medway is just a breath away, glimpsed through narrow alleyways that once led to wharves and landing places.

History Hiding in Plain Sight

Sir John Hawkins Hospital

Set behind iron railings on the high street, this almshouse was founded in 1592 by Elizabethan naval commander Sir John Hawkins, who was also involved in the early English transatlantic slave trade. It received Royal Charter in 1594 to provide accommodation for poor mariners and those injured in the Spanish Armada in 1588. Its history is tied to the ‘Chest of Chatham’ an early pension scheme funded by contributions from sailors’ wages. Today, a beautiful square of Georgian almshouses continues to provide accommodation for former navy personnel, still serving its original purpose more than 430 years later.

Chatham Memorial Synagogue

On the High Street stands a synagogue serving one of England’s oldest organised Jewish communities, with roots tracing back almost 300 years. Opened in 1870, the Grade II* listed building was commissioned by local merchant Simon Magnus in memory of his only son, Captain Lazarus Simon Magnus who died at the age of just 39. A leader of the Kent Artillery Volunteers, he also worked with famed engineer Brunel on the Great Eastern steamship.

It’s the only synagogue in Britain with an attached cemetery, an unusual arrangement in Jewish tradition. The original building had a clock displaying Hebrew Characters, while inside are Minton tiles, intricate ironwork and stained glass depicting the Ten Commandments. His son’s memorial was positioned to remain visible from the High Street, as Simon Magnus requested although a later extension obscured it.

Leech (Rochester) Ltd. Manufacturer of Optical & Scientific

Look up at the brick façade of Leech Court and you’ll find a ghost sign advertising Leech (Rochester) Ltd, a manufacturer of precision optical and scientific instruments. Incorporated in 1947, the company operated from this industrial building in Intra, since converted into residential apartments. Just a little something we admire when in the area.

Nags Head

A whitewashed, weatherboard 18th-century listed pub located on the High Street, in an area historically known as St Margaret’s Bank. A proper local boozer serving pub grub, with two bars and dog friendly welcome. Its rear games room was once a police station. The former holding cells now serving as the pub’s cellar, where original prisoner restraint chains reportedly remain. And let’s not forget Aggie, the resident ghost said to haunt the building.

Lion Brewery

Tucked behind Chatham House, a Georgian mansion on Hulkes Lane, is the former Lion Brewery. Thomas Hulkes took sole control of the brewery in 1795, with his son James, MP for Rochester, continuing the family business. Brewing ceased in 1912.

Directly opposite, behind a brick wall in what was once the mansions formal gardens, stands a small white castle, turrets and all. Built in 1810 as a water tower over a natural spring, it powered a wheel that turned the roasting spit in Chatham House’s kitchen. Later, serving as a mortuary for Bartholomew’s Hospital.

Today the tightly packed brewery buildings are finding new life as creative spaces, with plans to return brewing to the site, complete with a taproom.

Art & Creative Spaces

Little Medway Theatre

In 1958 Duncan Rand and a group of friends took over a derelict 18th century warehouse on St Margaret’s Banks. They rebuilt the interior, creating the performance space seen today. This tiny community theatre, with its cosy auditorium and in-house bar, puts on classic and contemporary plays, while nurturing the next generation of thespians through children’s workshops and a youth company. Once a printworks, traces of the building’s maritime history remain beneath the stage, where a barge arch is said to have allowed tidal river barges to unload goods. Run entirely by volunteers.

Mend Pilates

Set within a beautifully restored terrace of colourful buildings, Mend Pilates studio is an intimate, calming studio offering reformer classes taught with personalised guidance. It occupies part of Boundary House, once the headquarters of Featherstone department store, which pioneered an interest free credit model. Behind the restored frontage remains Sir John Hawkins’ Elizabethan mansion. Hidden on the upper floors is a remarkable 18th-century room with decorative painted wooden panels, later used as Featherstone’s boardroom. For early risers, commuter classes start at 6.30am.

Intra Arts

This artist-run community arts venue is hard to miss. Housed in a Victorian building with striking 1930s Art Deco frontage, the non-profit was founded in 2014 and offers printmaking studios, glass-cutting workshops and other creative classes. Workspaces and specialist tools can be hired, while the street-facing window features contemporary art exhibitions that change monthly. You’ll often find us admiring the displays. The collective also collaborates on annual cultural projects as part of Medway’s creative scene, across the neighbourhood and beyond, including Medway Open Studios.

Mess Room

An inclusive community arts studio and hub co-founded by artists Wendy Daws and Christopher Sacre. Based on the ground floor of Sun Pier House, Mess Room brings people together through creative workshops, sensory activities and peer-support. Working with people who are blind, partially sighted, Deaf or hard of hearing. Sessions explore painting, sculpture and embossing through tactile materials and adapted communication methods, including BSL.

Sun Pier House

From the outside, it looks like a bog-standard 1980s office. Yet inside Sun Pier House is a creative sanctuary. In 2012, Heather Burgess and Edward Gransden took over the empty building beside Sun Pier, transforming the former offices into affordable studios for local artists and creative start-ups. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with natural light, while Riverside Gallery has exhibited work by international artists including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Billy Childish, alongside grassroots talent. It’s also home to The Anchor, a free after school social club for teenagers, providing a space to meet, create and hang out.

Antiques, Records & Independent Shops

Kaboodles Emporium

Bullseye windows, frosted panes and a neon OPEN sign beneath vintage-style signage draw curiosity. Inside, Kaboodles has a distinct museum-like quality, housing a collective of independent dealers across its expansive showroom. Expect the unexpected, like the skeletal remains of a small bird sitting alongside all manner of hand-decorated shells crafted into trinket holders, including oyster shells with the most delicate designs. We love to spend time here. There’s always something new to discover.

Decktronix

Once home to dozens of pubs, music halls and a notorious nightlife, Intra's distinctive past feels close when you slip behind Featherstone House and discover a large industrial warehouse beside the river. Home to Decktronix, the space holds over 15,000 second-hand 12-inch vinyl records. Specialising in dance music subgenres from house and techno to jungle, hardcore and UK garage. It’s where you come for some serious crate-digging. You’ll find vintage rave flyers, tape packs, CDs and listening booths, while turntables and DJ equipment are also serviced and repaired. The location and interiors feel decidedly like Berlin in the 1990s.

Music, Pubs & After Hours

The Bohemian

Behind the chinoiserie-style glass frontage of a former Victorian flower shop, which more recently housed a cat café, The Bohemian brings theatrical eccentricity to Chatham Intra. This two-storey café and wine bar takes inspiration from music hall and theatre, with richly patterned interiors, vintage furnishing and an intimate upstairs performance space. By day, it’s coffee and cakes; by evening, cocktails and sharing plates. A programme of poetry, live music, comedy, burlesque and drag gives plenty of reason to return after dark.

12 Degrees

Did you know 12 degrees is the ideal temperature for serving ales? Nor did we. Opened in 2018 in a former High Street shop, this characterful micropub has seven chilled racks dispensing changing cask ales and ciders by gravity. A mix of seating fills the narrow ground-floor bar, with a snug upstairs. But the real surprise is in the basement, where live music and open mic nights bring together local and visiting musicians. The pub even has its own five-piece band, 12 Degrees Under.

The Ship Inn

Often the most compelling stories in local history unfold behind the most unassuming doors. The Ship Inn’s history stretches back to the 16th century, but also holds an important place in Britain’s LGBTQ+ heritage. One of the country’s oldest LGBTQ+ venues, the pub became a refuge for Medway’s gay community in the 1970’s. Landlord Don Rose (1970 – 1985) reportedly gave trusted regulars their own keys, offering sanctuary to those facing hostility. He also provided a room for the Medway Gay Switchboard, which offered support and advice. Today, the pub remains a welcoming neighbourhood pub, playing a part in the annual Medway Pride celebrations.

Poco Loco

What started as a family run Spanish restaurant in 1995 has evolved into one of Medway’s established grassroots music and performance venues. Starting life as Café Sol, it opened in the former offices of the now defunct Medway Observer. Today, Spanish tapas, Mexican street food and cocktails share the bill with a programme of alternative entertainment. It was here drag performer River Medway made their public debut. The venue continues to play an important role in Medway’s alternative music and LGBTQ+ scene.

The Dead Pigeon

Not many pubs can claim to be named after a dead bird found during renovations, but that’s exactly how The Dead Pigeon got its name when opened in 2018. Previously, The Albion and more recently, The Northern Seaman micropub, today the interiors take its cues from an American-style sports bar, with red diner-style booths, exposed brick walls, neon signs and screens showing live sport, albeit on a more intimate scale. Craft beers, burgers the size of your head (OK, slight exaggeration, but still pretty big) and regular quiz nights.

Food & Baking

Boeuf

Eight tables literally squeezed into a tiny former micropub, dining at Boeuf is an intimate affair. You almost knock elbows with the table next to you. Seriously. It reminds us of the little eateries you stumble across in Bruges or Brussels, and that’s what we love about it. Opened in 2025 by the team behind The Dead Pigeon and The Greedy Banker in Rainham, this little sister restaurant has just one main course: steak frites. Sirloin pave served with beef-dripping chips and two house sauces. Just when you think you’ve had your belly full, out comes a second helping of the whole lot. There are a few sides, desserts and cocktails but steak is very much the main event.

Thai Market

Before Thai basil, curry pastes and jasmine rice filled the shelves, this High Street shop was known as The Parlour, a popular hangout for Medway’s Mods in the 1960s. Today, Thai Market is an independent grocery stocking ingredients from Thailand and across Asia. Inside, you’ll find sauces, noodles, spices and snacks. Fresh herbs, unusual mushrooms and frozen dumplings. If you’re cooking a bowl of Pho at home, this is where you’ll find the ingredients you need.

Sombrero House

Slow-cooked beef birria, tucked into tortillas with melted cheese, onion and coriander. Is your mouth watering yet? This is just one of the specialities at Sombrero House, a Mexican restaurant that opened on Chatham Intra’s High Street in August 2026. The menu includes tacos, burritos, quesadillas, chilaquiles. Vegetarians are also looked after, with options like marinated cauliflower. If you’re in the mood for something sweet, there’s tres leches cake, a traditional milk-soaked sponge.

Orisans Bakery

What do mathematics and baking have in common? Quite a lot, according to Hassan Oni-Orisan, whose love of numbers and creativity led him naturally into baking. After sharing homemade bakes with colleagues, who encouraged him to apply to The Great British Bake Off, hewent on to open Orisans Bakery in August 2026. Inside, you’ll find chunky cookie pies, brownies, blondies and cinnamon rolls, alongside savoury pies and croissants. They also make bespoke celebration cakes for special occasions on request.

Back to the River

Sun Pier

For a totally different perspective on the Medway River, take a walk out onto Sun Pier. Once a busy landing place for Victorian steamboat passengers, it’s one of the few surviving reminders of historic river travel. In July 1885, part of the pier collapsed while passengers were waiting to board a steamboat, sending many into the water. Fortunately, local watermen came to the rescue. Today, the pier offers an unusual vantage point to soak in the views, the occasional boat and the changing sky. But one word of advice: don’t feed the pigeons.