No. 3 Slip

No.3 Slip is the most interesting architecturally and probably most beautiful of Chatham's Slips. Built in 1838 and at that time was Europe’s largest wide span timber structure. It's weatherboarded walls are covered by a wonderful large mansard shaped roof. This roof was originally of tarred paper but was soon replaced in zinc. It has a massive timber frame of square section timber aisle posts with iron bases and knees, diagonal braces, to cantilevered principal rafters that extend out to overhang the aisles, and braced collars. The Slip was backfilled about 1900 and a steel mezzanine floor added in 1904 to store ship's boats.