Chatham’s Historic Dockyard welcomed a VIP visitor on Tuesday.

Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, was at the dockyard to view the progress being made on the National Museums at Chatham project.

The dockyard has developed a unique partnership with the National Maritime Museum and the Imperial War Museum to create a new centre for world-class collection in Medway.

The project is described as being of national, regional and local significance. It will house and display the national museum partners’ maritime model collections and provide Thames Gateway Kent with its first international-standard touring exhibition gallery.

National Museums at Chatham will be located within No. 1 Smithery - a Scheduled Ancient Monument - providing 3,000 sq m of space for the new galleries and repositories.

A dockyard spokesman said: “The new centre will provide this important historic building with a sustainable re-use completing the physical regeneration of The Historic Dockyard.”

Bill Ferris, chief executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, said: “The Secretary of State is committed to cultural excellence and we are delighted he is coming to see progress on our National Museums at Chatham project, which embodies the best in partnership, culturally led regeneration and the creation of access to previously hidden treasures of the national collections. A first in terms of two national museums working with a regional museum, this project demonstrates excellence at every level.”