LEGO® Legends of the Dockyard
As part of our public engagement programme supporting Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO® Bricks over the coming months, we will be working with a range of local community groups, to help recreate iconic landmarks across the Historic Dockyard site using LEGO® bricks.
Each build will focus on a specific element of the Dockyard, such as HMS CAVALIER and The Ropery. Participants will explore the stories behind these historic structures, through hands-on site visits and outreach sessions delivered by our public engagement team and supported by volunteers, whose lived experience and incredible knowledge will help shape each group’s experience.
The groups will be provided with baseboards and LEGO® bricks, but the outcome is down to their individual interpretation of our site. This will culminate in a complete LEGO® Dockyard model brought together in September, to be displayed alongside our Brickwrecks exhibition.
Here are the latest developments with the project –
HM Submarine OCELOT by NUCLEUS TEEN ART
Nucleus Teen Art started their session with a tour of our Cold War submarine OCELOT led by our Learning, Engagement & Inclusion Officer. The young people were able to get a glimpse of life on board and immerse themselves in this unique Dockyard-built submarine learning about key features, dates and stories, even getting the chance to look through one of the periscopes.
Many of the group had visited the Dockyard before but not all of them had been on board the submarine. The group also visited “Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO® Bricks” to gather further inspiration before diving into their build session.
After a quick lunch break, their creativity emerged and they made an impressive start, planning out the different sections of the submarine. We can’t wait to see how their interpretation of OCELOT develops over the course of the project.
HMS CAVALIER BY ELECTRIC MEDWAY
This group of 7-11 year olds, who took part in a one day animation workshop organised by Electric Medway, had the amazing opportunity to experience CAVALIER through the eyes of one of our ships’ volunteers David, who served on board in the early 1970s. Many of the group had not visited the Dockyard before.
David delivered an engaging tour for these young people, sharing stories from his time on board. They even got to see the bunk that he slept in, the radio and gunnery equipment he operated and the vinyl record player that he would have used as resident DJ.
After refuelling with some lunch, the young people spent a couple of hours creating LEGO® CAVALIER, complete with dock and a LEGO® version of David.
They also managed to find time to create some brilliant CAVALIER inspired LEGO® animations and a time lapse of their build.
Dockyard Logo by Bradfields Academy
One of our ships’ volunteers, John, shared his lived experience of working in the Dockyard, along with exciting snippets of general Dockyard history for a group of Year 14 students from local SEND school, Bradfields Academy.
The students experienced popular site highlights such as HMS GANNET and the steam locomotives, alongside more hidden aspects our of history including Queen Anne’s Steps, the secret lizard in the bronze memorial by HMS CAVLIER and one of John’s personal favourites, an unexplained oddity, a cannon in a tree.
The students absorbed John’s knowledge and were very complimentary about his tour guiding skills.
After their lunch break the group set to work on their challenge – to create their own interpretation of our Dockyard logo inspired by John’s tour.
They also created some amazing Dockyard accessories, including one of the guns by HMS CAVALIER.
HMS GANNET by The Anchor (Sun Pier House)
Our Public Engagement Officer, supported by two of our research volunteers George and Keith, had the opportunity to attend one of the after-school sessions at the newly formed youth group The Anchor, at Sun Pier House.
This group of teenagers were immersed in the history of HMS GANNET, delivered brilliantly by George and Keith, alongside reproductions of material from our archive. Highlights included a story about the Victorian era ships’ mascot – a baby deer who went by the name of Mr Williamson.
Fuelled by their newfound knowledge, the group set sail on their GANNET making adventure.
After some initial design planning, the ship began to appear before our eyes and, 90 minutes later, the finished LEGO® GANNET emerged – complete with a seagull micro figure (kindly donated by our volunteer Keith) taking pride of place as the figurehead.
Commissioner’s Garden by Sunlight Centre (Knit & Natter Group)
Members of the Knit & Natter group from Gillingham based community resource, The Sunlight Centre, explored Commissioner’s Garden to gain inspiration for their build.
They had a leisurely stroll around the garden, admiring the Edwardian glasshouse, flowers, and trees, including and the historic Mulberry tree. Our Public Engagement Officer highlighted the icehouse, new memorial garden, and provided reproductions of historic images to compare with the garden as it is today.
Afterwards, they visited Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO® Bricks, to see the incredible models on display, and the Pipe Bending Floor, where the finished LEGO® Legends models will be displayed, before heading back to The Sunlight Centre, armed with miniature LEGO® flowers, to start planning their build.
They have previous experience making regular size LEGO® flowers, but miniature flowers are a new challenge for them! We are looking forward to seeing the Commissioner’s Garden build take shape over the coming weeks.
No.1 Smithery and Clocktower by Sunlight Centre (Men in Sheds)
We welcomed members of the Men in Sheds group from Gillingham based community resource, The Sunlight Centre. They immersed themselves in the industrial history of No.1 Smithery to help with the planning of their LEGO® build.
During their visit, they considered key features of the building interior that they could recreate in LEGO® and visited the Pipe Bending Floor to see where the finished LEGO® Legends models will be installed and work out logistics for the interactive elements of their models.
They also visited Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO® Bricks, to gain further inspiration from the models in the exhibition, and to give the LEGO® novices in the group a chance to experience the incredible potential of these building blocks first hand.
We are excited to see how their builds develop, as we’ve heard rumours of light and sound elements – watch this space!
As part of the engagement sessions for this group, Lionel from Men in Sheds recently had the opportunity to take part in our weekly ‘Wind Up Wednesdays’ – where staff, volunteers and tenants are invited to help our Assistant Director for Historic Buildings and Projects wind the historic clock that sits at the top of the Clocktower.
As well as helping to wind the clock, Lionel also had the chance to record the sounds of the clock ticking and chiming, alongside the sounds of others winding the clock. The Men in Sheds group are hoping to use these recordings to add an interactive element to their LEGO® build, showcasing the varied skills of the group.
Listen to the recording here:
Wagon Stop and Dockyard Trains By Sunlight Centre Weekend Wellbeing Group
The Sunlight Centre Weekend Wellbeing group had the opportunity to visit us to photograph our steam locomotives ready for their build.
They met Chris and Andy, two of our Railway volunteers, who were on hand to answer any train related questions and were also allowed to go on board two of the trains in the Wagon Stop – Overlord and visiting locomotive Marcia.
Their excitement was infectious and listened intently to Andy explaining the panels, switches and levers.
To quote one of the group: “You’ve made my year!” I had wanted to go on a steam train before a milestone birthday and I’ve now achieved that!”
They will take their new knowledge, and reference material, back to the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham where a newly formed weekend Wellbeing café group are going to be working on recreating our Dockyard trains and Wagon Stop.
We’ve heard they’re a very competitive group and have some brilliant ideas for their build.
Lego Legends Launch Event at The Sunlight Centre
Our Public Engagement Officer along with our Learning, Engagement & Inclusion Officer visited The Sunlight Centre in Gillingham for a unique LEGO® Legends launch event, bringing together representatives from the different groups working on elements of this community project.
Many of the attendees had the opportunity to visit the Dockyard the week before to experience the spaces and structures they were building first hand.
It was brilliant to see the progress they had made since their site visits but also to see the builds develop during our session with them.
The Men in Sheds team even persuaded some of their younger members to get involved and they had the opportunity to learn about the Dockyard from the outreach resources provided by our team.
Even though there were multiple builds happening within the different groups, it was lovely to see everyone working together and championing each other’s contributions – at one point everyone in the room was involved in looking for specific pieces of Lego to form the corner of the Clocktower roof, or a bench in Commissioner’s Garden. Those that attend groups at the Sunlight Centre, do so for a variety of reasons and it was wonderful to see everyone interacting – united by LEGO®.
The group building Wagon Stop and the Dockyard trains spent much of the session planning their builds, so we are really intrigued to see how theirs develop over the coming weeks.
We even got a sneak peek at some poppies from the Knit & Natter group for another of our community projects – Threads of Remembrance.
The Ropery by Mess Room
We welcomed a group of visually impaired artists and Kent Association for the Blind (KAB) volunteers from local CIC Mess Room for an audio described tour of the Ropery.
The group immersed themselves in the tactile gallery space including hands on interactives, soundscape, and a mystery item linked to a rope fender made by blind crafts people, which is part of our Disability Trailblazers trail.
They also learnt about some of the different materials used to make rope and working conditions in Victorian times.
The group then experienced the unique smells and sounds of our ¼ mile long Ropewalk which left a lasting impression on some of them. They also had the opportunity to learn about the ropemaking process and talk to a real life Ropemaker.
Inspired by their experience, the group began their LEGO® build which was a collaboration between the visually impaired and sighted artists and support volunteers. A variety of Ropewalk dioramas began to appear.
The work was taken back to the Mess Room studio at Sun Pier House where the group will be carrying on with their build over the summer.
We can’t wait to see the finished results.
“I was so grateful for the tour of the Ropery, I felt ignorant that I never knew just how important the Ropery was in the Dockyard’s naval and industrial history and still is today.
I enjoyed the opportunity to handle examples of the ropes and was struck at the size and rigidity of the larger pieces, like concrete.
I have been sharing my new found knowledge with family members, I’m definitely visiting again and am really thankful for the support given for our group to have its own audio tour.”
– Ropery Session Participants
Commissioner’s House by the Dockyard Research Volunteers
John and Gary from our research volunteers group were delighted to be asked to build Commissioner’s House as part of LEGO® Legends of the Dockyard.
The pair have been very involved in the behind-the-scenes research as part of the funded restoration project currently underway, due to complete in 2026.
They have been telling our Public Engagement Officer all about their research, including confirming that the amazing ceiling painting did come from the Royal Sovereign, finding details about the carving work around the painting, finding a name left on a section of wallpaper, dated 1909, and instigating a change to the description of a painting held in a national museum collection, showing an interior from Commissioner’s House in the early 1860s.
John and Gary were lucky enough to have their own personal roof top tour with our Assistant Director for Historic Buildings and Projects – a rare chance to explore that part of the building before works to the roof are completed. They even had time to take this brilliant selfie whilst they were up there.
They have had to be creative in their approach as the LEGO® selection is completely random, no instructions provided – but they are enjoying the challenge!
There is a real sense of anticipation with their LEGO® build, as they have been planning it for a while – we can’t wait to see LEGO® Commissioner’s House emerge soon.
Royal Dockyard Church by MACA Seniors
Our Public Engagement Officer, along with one of our research volunteers George, recently attended a MACA seniors Tuesday afternoon social session at the Sunlight Centre in Gillingham.
They shared both archival and current images of the church interior and exterior, alongside key facts about the building.
Some of the group didn’t realise there was a church in the Dockyard. They were very impressed with how smart the interior refurbishment looks and commented that it looked like a beautiful space.
Most of the attendees were not familiar with LEGO®, but in between refreshments and birthday celebrations, assisted by our Public Engagement Officer, a small group of the MACA seniors, started selecting bricks to construct the walls, windows and roof. Before long, LEGO® Dockyard Church began to take shape, complete with bell tower and weathervane.
George shared his knowledge of the Dockyard Church with members of the group and circulated ‘then and now’ images showing the transformation over the years, alongside stories of his upbringing in Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
Mast House and Mould Loft by Spotlites Theatre
Our public engagement team welcomed a group of young people and their parents from local youth led theatre company Spotlites Theatre.
They immersed themselves in the Command of the Oceans galleries, including the scale film prop model of HMS VICTORY, and Hearts of Oak projections in the Mould Loft.
The interactives in our People, Tools and Trades gallery were very popular, providing the group with a hands-on way of learning about different Dockyard trades.
The green screen was also a big hit with the theatre group.
The tour finished in the under croft where the group had the chance to experience the timbers of the NAMUR – the ship beneath the floor.
Our Public Engagement Officer shared stories of cleaning the NAMUR timbers during the installation of the Command of the Oceans galleries in 2016.
Some of the group had never visited before, some had not been for a few years, and many had never been in the Command of the Oceans galleries.
“Visiting today has reignited my children’s interest in the Dockyard, and they want to come and visit again soon!
There are spaces I have visited as my children were very young. Now they’re older, it will be a great day out for the whole family.”
Fuelled by their newfound knowledge of the Mast House, Mould Loft and galleries within, the group returned to our community space to start their LEGO® build.
Aided by squash, biscuits (and sometimes parents), sections of the Mast Houses and galleries began to emerge.
The team also shared archival and current images of the buildings, alongside memories, and examples of hand tools, from one of our volunteers who spent his first year as a Shipwright apprentice in the Mast Pond in 1953.
Different groups of young people (and parents) worked on various elements including the walkway leading up to the main visitor entrance and a LEGO® version of one of the ‘object in focus’ display windows showcasing items from our INVINCIBLE collection. Our team now have the challenge of combining these elements as part of the finished build.
Slips 3 and 4 by 300 Steps to the River (Sun Pier House – Pride Fringe)
Our Public Engagement Officer, along with one of our research volunteers, George, attended a drop-in session as part of the 300 Steps to the River project at Sun Pier House (also part of this year’s Medway Pride Fringe programme).
They shared historic and current images of both the inside and outside of Slip 3 and 4, including a view of both structures from the river, captured during a recent trip on the Thames Barge Lady Daphne, with Tiller & Wheel.
With the help of a couple of families, LEGO® slips started to take shape – including a couple of lifeboats and a potential mezzanine floor.
One of the attendees had even matched their wardrobe to the session with some amazing LEGO® shorts!
Our team will now combine and extend the different build elements created in this session for the finished model.
Fitted Rigging House (South) by Brightly Software
Fitted Rigging House (South) tenant and sponsor of the Dockyard Apiary, Brightly Software, had the opportunity to explore the Fitted Rigging House from a different perspective.
The innovative tech company were taken on a tour of the building (interior and exterior) by our Assistant Director for Historic Buildings and Projects, where the group learnt about elements of the building’s construction, alterations and historic uses.
Follow our LEGO® Legends project as more of the Dockyard starts to take shape, made entirely from LEGO® bricks.
