Kingsnorth Power Station Coal Jetty

November 2021 | England | Extant

This has long been somewhere I have wanted to explore, simply for the uniqueness of the site and for the thrill. This is the old coal handling facility of the now-demolished Kingsnorth Power Station in the southeast of the UK, which was closed down in 2012 and subsequently demolished. The power station itself is long gone at this point but the coal handling jetty remains.

History:

Kingsnorth Power Station was built on Damhead Creek on the site of the old World War I Royal Naval airship base RNAS Kingsnorth. Construction work for the power station started in 1963 and it was commissioned seven years later in 1970 by the Central Electricity Generating Board. Kingsnorth was to be a 2,000MW power station with four 500MW units designed and constructed by GEC/Parsons. Construction finished in 1973 and it was in full operation that year. Kingsnorth was a dual fired power station with boilers capable of firing coal and oil as a primary fuel. However, due to the price of oil, coal was the primary fuel source.

Above: a 1980s CEGB video about Kingsnorth Power Station.

Coal was delivered to the power station via ships which docked at the long reach jetty that goes out into the River Medway estuary. This was unique among UK power stations as no other power station had a dedicated coal unloading jetty with a deep water berth.

Kingsnorth was one of many victims of the European Union’s Large Combustion Plant Directive and unless it had flue gas desulphurisation plant fitted, it would have to close by 2015 or when its 20,000 hours of operation ran out, whichever came sooner. Kingsnorth ceased generating on the 17th of December 2012 and it has been since demolished.

The Explore:

Myself and five friends rocked up after spending the night camping in a derelict mental asylum, and began the walk. It was a cold day so the brisk walk really made us feel warm. After around an hour or so of walking and negotiating the site, we arrived onto the jetty that the place was situated on. Three huge cranes towered above us, the largest being maybe 250 feet tall. It was a sight to behold, for definite! We spent a good two hours exploring and photographing the place, taking everything in. Small chunks of coal still remain from when it was in operation. Enjoy the photographs – the current photos date from 2024 to 2025, and replace the original 2021 set.

Ground Level:

The Conveyors:

The Largest Crane:

The Secondary Cranes: