A multimillion project which will showcase the story of Chatham’s Historic Dockyard’s world-class naval and military history has been given a major cash boost.

The tourist attraction has received a £4.53m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund today for its Command of the Oceans project and work is now set to start early in the new year.

The HLF grant announced today also unlocks a further £4m for the project including a £3m contribution from the Homes & Communities Agency, responsible for the regeneration of the adjacent Chatham Maritime site, and £1m from a range of charitable trusts and foundations.

The project will involve building an impressive new entrance on the north side of the visitor attraction and a discovery centre linking the former naval base with other significant heritage sites including Fort Amherst, the Great Lines and Upnor Castle.

At the heart of the £8.5 million scheme is the conservation of the remains of the Namur warship, discovered beneath the floor of the Wheelwrights’ Shop.

Another focus of the extensive redevelopment will be to reconnect some of the dockyard’s earliest features, including the North and South Mast Ponds, built in 1696 and 1702, the Mast Houses and Mould Loft and the Wheelwright’s Shop.

The revamp will extend over 4.5 hectares and will act as a starting point to explore the dockyard and embark on defence discovery trails nearby. The plans, which have been submitted to the council, also include an upgraded car park within the covered slip No 5, children’s play area and a new cafe.

Bill Ferris, chief executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, said: “Command of the Oceans is arguably the most significant single project undertaken by the Trust in pursuit of its own educational charitable purposes since the Wooden Walls gallery opened in the late 1980s.

"The project meets a number of urgent conservation and visitor needs.

"The news that the wonderful Heritage Lottery Fund has again supported us, alongside a number of long standing funding partners is testament to the ever increasing significance of our work here, the significance of the place and the outstanding creativity of our team.

"We hope this news will give a major boost to the Chatham Dockyard and its Defences World Heritage Site bid.”

Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust plans to have completed the project by spring 2016.