This website was started in 1998 by Jeff Howe, but the original server is now long deceased. Here it is refreshed in its early 2000s iteration. Hopefully someone will find it useful.
The Bigger Picture
The origins of Western Heights
The origins of the Western Heights fortifications were around 1780 when this country was waging war simultaneously with France and the American colonies. The order of the day was earthwork batteries which seem to have been constructed by 1784 along with the beginnings of what we now know as the Citadel. These works were under the charge of Lieutenant Thomas Hyde Page who had been instructed by Lord Townsend, Master General of Ordnance to build simple and cheap fieldworks in order to bring Dover’s defences up to a state of readiness together with other modernisation programmes being carried out at Dover Castle, Moat’s Bulwark, Archcliffe Fort, Guildford Battery, North Battery, Townsend Battery and finally, Amherst Battery.
Work on Western Heights finished in 1783 leaving the defences in an unfinished state but the trace of the intended works had by then already been marked out on the hillside.
New war in 1793
Following the outbreak of war with France in 1793 huge sums of money were spent on updating the country's defences and bearing in mind Dover’s strategic importance at the time, about £500,000 were spent on the various defences of Dover between war breaking out and the end of hostilities at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This was a lot of money then.
From Illustrated London News, 1855 Unfortunately this hasn't scanned well. Please click on the image for a slightly larger, better copy and more information.
Invasion?
Although a real threat of invasion by the French didn’t exist until 1803, a memorandum on the defence of Southern England was drawn up by the Secretary of State for War, Viscount Melville in 1798:
…The possession to an enemy of Dover Castle and of the opposite entrenched Western Height and of the town and port, fortified in the manner in which he would soon accomplish and defended by 6 or 7000 men would establish a sure communication with France and could not be easily wrested from his hands. The conquest of this alone would be to him a sufficient object could he arrive with means of immediately attacking it. Its preservation to us is most important…
From 1803 several invasion ‘panics’ produced some of the finest and most impressive military architecture in Europe producing a system of lines, or dry ditches, totaling some 5 miles.
Aerial view of Drop Redoubt & Grand Shaft Barracks site Click the picture for a larger copy with good detail. Taken in May 1972 by Dover Express.
More to follow…
Last updated 07.05.00
Dover's defences
Archcliffe Fort
The subject of Archcliffe Fort is relevant to the story of Western Heights, sitting as it does at the foot of the hill above Shakespeare beach and the old railway marshalling yard. However its story is far too complex to deal with here and anybody wishing to know more about this ancient fortification would do well to obtain a copy of the only book that deals with the Fort in any detail; The History of Archcliffe Fort by Douglas Welby. This can be obtained at Dover Museum and will only cost a few pounds.
ISBN 0-906124-11-5
Having said that, here's a nice representation of the Fort by the Illustrated London News, dated 1870. For anyone who knows Dover this aspect is rather lacking in accuracy although this is made up for in pure imagination!
‘Proposed Channel Railway Ferry: Station & Pier at Dover’ From the Illustrated London News, March 12, 1870. Picture courtesy Paul Hadaway.
Dover's defences
Archcliffe Gate
& St. Martin's Flank Rifle Galleries
Left: Archcliffe Gate by John Peverley, 1950s. Right: The same view, September 2000.
Archcliffe Gate was the main entrance to the Western Heights from the west via South Military Road. The defensive ditch that passes below the road bridge above, ran down to the cliff edge and now terminates above Hammond's garage on Limekiln Street. It is the section of ditch that the Royal Military Hospital sally port cuts across.
As you can see, the Archcliffe Gate was a splendid piece of architecture and dates from around 1864. It was sadly demolished in 1963 to make the road wider in order to cater for planned industrial expansion. The only industry that ever benefited from this is the car repair garage which is housed in one of the old buildings.
The above view is looking north-east through to the site of the more recent St. Martin's Battery car park.
It would seem reasonable to assume that the Archcliffe Gate and adjacent structures were simply bull-dozed into the ditch. This would be the easiest and cheapest way of getting rid of it. The ditch infill is littered with broken bricks, lumps of concrete and bits of rubble.
Following the infill of the ditch, the road was widened and raised. The only structure to survive this demolition was the system of rifle galleries to the north west. These remain largely intact although they are in a terrible state of disrepair.
Two of the surviving loopholes, now partly buried due to the road height being raised.
The surrounding area is now covered by dense woodland and as a consequence the outside scarp walls of the rifle galleries are subject to heavy vandalism. The system of passages and rifle galleries are alas, not accessible.
The above orifices were all designed to help the inevitable, thick gun smoke vent out of the galleries. The two pictures on the left illustrate how badly people want to get in to the structure to explore, with zero regard for the building itself. There is no way in; we have surveyed these walls and they are 4 feet thick! The picture on the right just shows mindless vandalism. The clay vent pipe is no more than 10 inches in diameter.
The above holes are actually at the top of each respective gunroom and gallery, the ground level on the outside now being much higher since infilling.
The only entrance now to the gun rooms, blocked up.
This entrance door is round the corner in Citadel Road and is obviously a WW2 structure. Is it on the site of an earlier entrance?
As stated above, there is no way into these galleries, all access points having been sealed in the 1980's with four feet of solid concrete. However, we do have a plan of the building and a series of photographs of inside which were taken when the building was open.
Archcliffe
Military Hospital, Archcliffe Yard, Military Prison
Left: Map of the area. Click on the map for a larger version. Right: The same area from St. Martin's Battery in the 1960s. B&W picture courtesy Cedric Coleman.
The whole area known as ‘Archcliffe’ is much larger than just the site of Archcliffe Fort. It encompasses the sites of a Military Hospital, Archcliffe Yard, an RASC establishment, and a Military Prison. It is difficult to totally separate these areas so they will be dealt with largely as one. I have to date been able to find very little evidence for Archcliffe Yard and even less for the Military Prison, but what I do have will be shared here. It's a case of ‘watch this space’.
The military hospital at Archcliffe was built in 1803 and was probably demolished 1962 to make way for industrial buildings.
Other than this, there seems to be very little documentary evidence concerning the hospital. We have been told however, that when it was demolished all the records that were still there were destroyed also. In its later life the Hospital served as the HQ for the Garrison Royal Engineer.
Archcliffe Yard was on a site opposite Archcliffe Fort, and south-west to the Hospital. The yard was a service establishment for the military and included stables and other utilities.
Left: From the author's collection, postmarked 1914. Right: 1999, about the same view.
The exact same view was not possible due to lots of tree growth but the road is the original and Burgess Welding Supplies now occupies the exact spot of the hospital.
Burgess Welding Supplies, on the site of the hospital.
The sally-port and tunnel
There is a sally-port and tunnel between the hospital and St. Martin's Battery. As the hospital is actually outside the fortress as such, that is, when the various drawbridges and gates are closed the hospital can still be accessed from the streets of Dover, it must have been necessary to build a route into the fort which bypassed the South Military Road. This sally-port allowed the occupants of the hospital a direct route to withdraw into the complex.
This route itself comprised steps up the hill next to the Archcliffe Gate ditch, across a small drawbridge and up a long, stepped passage. The ends of the passage were secured by defensible doors at the lower end and a fancy set of iron gates at the top. The passage came out just forward of St. Martin's Battery.
Follow the red dotted route from up the hill next to the hospital, across the ditch, through the secret passage and out at St. Martin's Battery in a virtual tour. Click on the map to begin your journey…
The AVO factory
Some allotments and part of the Archcliffe Yard were demolished to make way for the new AVO factory during 1965/66.
A model of the new AVO factory circa 1965. Note road in front is Archcliffe Road and road to right, Channel View Road, formerly Hospital Road. Picture from souvenir programme for ‘Dover Past & Present, An exhibition of local history. Town Hall, June 23 – July 3, 1965’.
The souvenir reads:
AVO's new factory now under construction on the Archcliffe Estate is a foretaste of future Dover. It constitutes a major addition to Dover's industrial capacity.
The 1965 building as it is today, from Archcliffe Road, A20. May 2000.
Western Heights
The Destruction of Barrier Ditch
& South Lines Battery
The section of dry ditch running from the south-west end of South-Front Barracks down to the old Folkestone Road is known as the Barrier or South Lines Ditch. It dates from 1806 and when constructed formed a physical barrier against an invading force advancing from the west.
Looking down Barrier Ditch in 1993. Diggers still working on the horizon.
Unfortunately around 60% of it was demolished in 1992 to make way for a new extension to the A20. The construction of the new road was part a larger plan incorporating the building of the channel tunnel, the transformation of the Snargate and Townwall Street areas of Dover seafront and the construction of the Eastry to Whitfield bypass. The total scheme was developed to aid road traffic along its journey through this corner of East Kent and to encourage commerce in the area.
The building of the new A20 didn’t stop at destroying a section of ditch; it also managed to destroy Dover’s only Petroleum Warfare Department (PWD) Flame Barrage Tanks and pump house, situated at the lower end of the ditch. These were installed in 1940 and would have been used to pump an oil/kerosene mixture onto Shakespeare’s Beach which would have been ignited following Hitler’s attempt at Operation Sealion.
The effects of all the above can be seen today, except of course for the PWD tanks. The Barrier ditch is now in an appalling state, being completely overgrown with scrub and no attempt having been made to tidy up the truncated end. The only blessing is that below the new roundabout the original cliff-end of the ditch can still be seen.
The Route
The areas that would be most affected by the proposed route, or Blue Route as it was known in the 1970’s & 80’s, as far as the loss of military architecture was concerned would be the narrow gap between Archcliffe Fort and AVO – Megger instruments across the road and the building of a new roundabout at the Barrier ditch.
Image to come
Left: The front of South Lines Battery, probably in the 1960’s. Right: About the same view, 1999.
The left picture shows Archcliffe Yard on the right hand side, this has been replaced in the recent picture by AVO-Megger Instruments.
1974 – A New Road
The route of the new or current road was first hit upon in 1974 when the scheme was seen as a way of improving access to the town and port of Dover. At this time Dover District Council was not in favour of this route. However, since members of any Council may change from time to time this was not always going to be the case. When the scheme changed from being considered as beneficial to essential because of the building of the channel tunnel the Council endorsed their support for the plan and stated that…
It is the democratically elected local authority for the whole of the area through which the proposed road would pass and is also the local planning authority, and its views properly reflect those of the majority of persons residing in its area.
In other words, you voted for us, we want the road, therefore you must want it too.
Supporters and Objectors
The supporters of the new scheme were:
Dover District Council
Kent County Council
Dover Harbour Board
There were 18 official objectors to the proposed route:
National Trust
Countryside Commission
Kent Federation of Amenity Societies
Council for the Protection of Rural England (Kent Branch)
Kent Trust for Nature Conservation
Ramblers’ Association (Kent area)
East Kent Field Centre
Councillor GJ Hood
English Heritage
Sealink (UK) Limited
George Hammond (Shipping) Limited
Gateway Resident’s Association
Dover Incorporated Chamber of Commerce
East Cliff/Athol Terrace Association
Miss PW Thomas
Mr RE Davidson
Mr RJ Frost
Mr PD Stebbings
In 1981 the Council investigated the construction of a tunnel beneath Western Heights to connect the seafront road with the existing road at Farthingloe to the north-west of the Heights, and applied to the EEC for funds to aid construction. When it became apparent that no such funds would be made available the idea was dropped.
Likely Damage
The Landscape Advisory Committee stated in its fifth report that Archcliffe Fort will lose its barbican which is of serious concern but continued to comment upon the current state of the Fort and the apparent lack of interest in it. With regards the new roundabout…
…is welcomed because this road gives access to the Western Heights and the redevelopment of that area for housing and/or an hotel/conference centre depends upon good access to the A20 route.
There were 14 alternative routes.
Left: The Georgian barbican that was partly demolished to make way for the new road. Right: How the Fort looks today. Taken from The History of Archcliffe Fort by Douglas Welby. Used with kind permission from the author.
The military ditch, the deep brick-faced moat or cutting which runs from Western Heights down to the cliff edge, will be virtually eradicated for about ¾ of its length. The Commission therefore strongly objects to the PR and supports the full consideration of any alternative routes, such as A2 and 2C, which avoid damage to the fort and military ditch.
Archcliffe Fort on the left, the North-East Bastion lapped by the new road.
The fort is now a St. Emmaus Trust Home consequently an additional entrance has been made by cutting a hole in the curtain wall.
How the road looks today, taken from the truncated end of Barrier Ditch. The PWD tanks would be roughly to the left of the first white house.
Western Heights
Citadel
Left: Plan of the Citadel. Right: The Citadel from the south, Western Outworks to the left.
The Gatehouse
These views of the Citadel gatehouse clearly show the restoration work currently going on. The bitumen layer between the brick vaulting and the earthen bomb-proof layer has over the years become unstable and caused rain water to leak through and into the casemates. The work in progress is to replace the bitumen layer and refit the bomb-proofing. Other repointing jobs and improvements are being carried out at the same time.
In his memoir The Moon’s a Balloon, David Niven recalls his regiment marching into the Citadel Barracks a few days before Christmas, on a drizzly December evening. He remembered the place as utterly gloomy: a grass-covered fortress high in the mist above the slate roofs of the Victorian town below.
The Officers’ Mess
On March 13, 1903 the Dover Express reported that…
…The barrack accommodation at Dover is not only inadequate but bad in quality, so bad that a considerable portion of it is now closed… to some extent the same is true of the Citadel, and even the casemates in use there are not fit or healthy for men to live in continuously… the Citadel only affords accommodation for one regiment…
Officers’ mess in 1996.
This section is far from complete. More to follow…
Last updated 18.01.00
Western Heights
Citadel Battery
Left: Citadel Battery from the east, above Western Outworks, May 1999. Right: The three gun emplacements from the air.
Citadel battery is situated at the western-most point of Western Heights defences and was started in 1898 for three 9.2 inch breech loading guns. At the same time a similar battery was installed behind Dover Castle at Langdon cliffs, here three 9.2 inch guns were installed together with two 6 inch weapons. These were coast defence guns.
Schematic drawing of 9.2 BL gun on barbette mounting.
In front of Citadel Battery is a mini defensible ditch which starts to the right of gun one and runs along the front of the battery and terminates by running into the Western Outworks southern ditch. Most of the steel palisade fence striding the ditch can still be seen. A Type 23 pillbox can also be seen next to gun three.
Citadel Battery, Gun No. 3 in foreground, May 1999.Citadel Battery, Gun No. 1 showing gun holdfasts, May 1999.
Delivering the guns
The actual guns for both batteries seem to have taken some time in getting to Dover. In June 1900 the Dover Express reported that the three guns had still not been delivered to Dover and the reason for this apparently, was that the Wellington Dock which had the only crane capable of lifting these guns was undergoing extensive repairs.
The Express reported again in April 1901 that one gun for Citadel Battery and several mountings had been delivered to Dover that month although progress was hampered somewhat by an accident while unloading at the quayside. The paper states that one of the chains being used to lift the gun from the barge, the S.S. Cheviout, snapped which allowed one end of the gun to drop, smashing into the hold of the barge, damaging it and causing water to pour in. Apparently pumps were used to keep the water level down while temporary repairs were effected and the whole episode finished in not only removing the gun and mountings but by there being an official enquiry into the accident by the military authorities.
The probable cost of repairs to the barge were estimated at £2000; quite a sum in 1901.
An original schematic drawing showing a cross section of the artillery store & lamp room connected to No. 2 gun. The lamp room does not appear to have been built. Drawing: Public Records Office: WD78/3787.
The battery in WW2
During the WW2 years quite a staff worked at the battery. The total manning the guns was 91 people, and this number included a Battery Commander, a Section Commander, 3 Relief Section Commanders, range finding and instruments specialists, telephonists, Battery Commandant's Assistants, Storeman, an AA detachment, an artificer and a gun crew of 66 men.
Source: Public Record Office: WO 192/45
Left: Rear of fire control post for Citadel Battery, access bricked up, May 1999. Right: View from fire control post looking out over Citadel Battery and out to sea, May 1999.
There are no guns now at Citadel or Langdon Batteries although at the Citadel Battery sections of the steel gun platform of number one gun are now lying on the ground and the concrete emplacements and underground magazines are still easily accessible. Langdon Battery is now the site of a coastguard lookout (built on top of one of the emplacements) and although emplacements and magazines are still there they are fenced off from the public.
No. 2 Magazine
Entrance to Number 2 Magazine.Above doorway into magazine.Plan of No. 2 Magazine. Photographs of the magazine, each taken in the direction of its lettered line, to follow.
Inside No. 2 Magazine.
No. 1 gun mounting
The following show details of Nbr. 1 gun mounting. Can anyone give us any details regarding the various fittings?
Photographed in 1999 by the author.
WW2 anti-invasion defences
There are several WW2 anti-invasion defences set-up around Citadel Battery. These include two Spigot Mortar mountings, two pillboxes, and a fieldgun emplacement. See the section on pillboxes of WW2 for pictures of the latter.
WW2 Spigot Mortar mounting under the grass opposite Gun Nbr. 1. 1940 vintage.
There's another one opposite next to a type 23 pillbox.
WW2 pillboxes around Citadel Battery.
Western Heights
Defences to Demolition
This section tells the story of how the Dover Corporation bought up around 126 acres of MOD land in the 1960's and how they subsequently and gradually demolished many parts of the Heights including the Garrison Church, Archcliffe Gate, Grand Shaft Barracks, South Front Barracks and the Military Hospital, how they filled in much of the Western Outworks, cut a new road through the North Lines adjacent to the Drop Redoubt, and proposed filling the system of dry ditches with household refuse, all with the intention of developing the area for light industrial use and new housing.
The story is told through the pages of the Dover Express using articles from over a decade of print. These have been rewritten here word for word by kind permission of the Dover Express. All these articles can be seen in Dover Reference Library on microfilm.
24 articles from the Dover Express & East Kent News, April 1 1960 to February 7 1969, reproduced word for word by kind permission of the Dover Express.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
TOWN’S MOVE TO GET NEW INDUSTRIAL SITES
NEGOTIATION SUBJECT TO PLANNING APPROVAL
Four possible sites for industrial development in Dover were mentioned in reports put before the Town Council on Monday to the Town Planning Committee. The Borough Engineer, Mr D R Bevan reported to the committee that there were twelve acres of land at Elms Vale which were no longer required for educational purposes.
The Engineer said that the land was not in his opinion, suitable for industrial development, having regard especially to its proximity to a large residential area and the cost of services and road widening. But even so planning permission might be forthcoming to use the land for light industrial purposes. The Committee reported that they had instructed the Borough Engineer to seek the approval of the County Council to the zoning of the land for light industrial purposes.
Subject to obtaining approval from the County Council, the committee asked the Town Clerk to open negotiations for the purchase of the land. The second and third sites mentioned in the committee report was War Department land. The Planning Committee reported a letter from the WD land agent giving details of land surplus to military requirements at Archcliffe and the Western Heights and the Borough Engineer stated that approximately 12.5 acres, in the vicinity of Archcliffe Fort was particularly suitable for industrial use. Mr Bevan’s report also said that the acquisition of a further nine acres in the vicinity of Grand Shaft Barracks might also be considered for the same purposes.
Here again the Committee asked the Borough Engineer to seek the approval of the County Council to a zoning for industrial use of the whole of the land mentioned and, subject to that approval, authorised the Town Clerk to open the negotiations for acquisition.
The fourth site is another at Poulton Close, at present earmarked as an educational site. The Committee have asked the Borough Engineer to press the County Council to release for industrial development certain land at Poulton Close at present designated for educational use.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
FUTURE OF THE WESTERN HEIGHTS
MOAT MAY BE USED AS A DUMP
Alterations to the Dover Town Map, consequent on the proposed disposal of military land at Archcliffe and Western Heights, have been agreed by the County Planning Authority. The War Department is to transfer 81 acres to the Prison Commissioners for use as a borstal institute and the map will be so amended.
The Planning Committee’s report, approved by the County Council, stated in the case of the remaining land being acquired by the borough the amendments will show:
(a) the allocation of 14 acres at and adjoining the Grand Shaft Barracks and one acre fronting Westbury Crescent primarily for residential use;
(b) allocation of 16.5 acres forming the sites of the RE Headquarters Offices, the Married Soldiers’ HQ, Archcliffe Yard and South Front Barracks for industrial use;
(c) the definition of 1.25 acres, which is part of a medieval moat for the deposit of refuse and waste; and
the inclusion of 118 acres (of which 23.5 acres is already owned by the Borough Council) within an area in which the existing uses are for the most part to remain undisturbed. By far the greater part of this land consists of steeply sloping hillsides, which must of necessity remain undeveloped.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
PUBLIC NOTICES
TOWN & COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1947
KENT COUNTY COUNCIL
KENT DEVELOPMENT PLAN
(PART A)
ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS
DOVER TOWN MAP
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that proposals for alterations and additions to the above mentioned Development Plan were on the seventh day of March, 1962 submitted to the Minister of Housing and Local Government.
The proposals relate to the land at Archcliffe and Western Heights, Dover, at present defined in the Dover Town Map for War Department use. If the proposals are approved by the minister:-
(a) 15 acres will be allocated primarily for residential use;
(b) 16.5 acres will be allocated for industrial use;
(c) 1.5 acres will be defined for the deposit of household refuse and waste;
(d) 81 acres will be defined for Prison Commission purposes; and
(e) 118 acres will be included within an area in which the existing uses are, for the most part to remain undisturbed.
Certified copies of Written Matter and Plans illustrating the proposal, as submitted to the Minister have been deposited for public inspection as follows:-
(1) The County Hall, Maidstone;
(2) The County Planning Department’s Divisional Office, Cambridge Terrace, Dover;
(3) The Town Clerk’s Office, New Bridge House, Dover.
The copies deposited as mentioned above are available for inspection free of charge by all persons interested at the places mentioned between the hours of 10 am to 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm to 5 pm on Mondays to Fridays. Any objections or representation with reference to the proposals may be sent in writing to the Secretary, Minister of Housing and Local Government, Whitehall, London, SW 1, before the seventh day of May, 1962, and any such objection or representation should state the grounds on which it is made. Persons making an objection or representation may register their names and addresses with the undersigned and will then be entitled to receive notice of any amendment of the Development Plan as a result of the proposals.
Dated this seventh day of March, 1962.
G T Huckels,
Clerk of the County Council.
County Hall, Maidstone
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
PULLING DOWN THE HEIGHTS CHURCH
IT’S BEEN THERE OVER 100 YEARS
Landmark on the Western Heights for over 100 years, the Garrison Church is being demolished. Along with it will go several of the well constructed houses and stores which cluster around the church.
The contract for the demolition work has been awarded to Dover Erection and Demolition Company by the Director of Works of the Prison Commissioners.
The church faced with Kentish rag was erected in 1859 and every Sunday soldiers used to march to the church. Often troops marched from the Castle down into the valley and up Military Road for the parade. The slender belfry and bell of the church can be seen from many parts of the town.
Recently the War Department sold much of the land at the Western Heights. The buyers were Dover Corporation and the Prison Commissioners. The borstal institute is 200 yards from the church. The garrison church is in the vicinity of the foundations of the ancient Round Church said to have belonged to the Knights Templar. But according to some authorities, this Round Church is more likely to have been a roadside shrine in the middle ages when the main Dover / Folkestone road went over the Heights.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
NEW ARCHCLIFFE WORKS MAY EMPLOY 300
"HEARTENING NEWS" FOR COUNCIL
A firm which manufactures electrical instruments may build a factory at Archcliffe on land which the Corporation is purchasing from the War Department. This was the heartening news given by the Borough Engineer (Mr D R Bevan) to members of the Town Planning Committee at their meeting on Monday.
He was not able to give them many facts, said the Borough Engineer, but he understood the firm hoped to employ between 200 and 300 local people. The firm, the Metal Industries Ltd, of Park Lane, London, had submitted an outline application in respect of the development of about six acres on the north side of Archcliffe Road for light industrial purposes. The Borough Engineer recommended approval subject to the Council’s approval of details before any work was commenced. Another condition was that car-parking space should be provided in accordance with the County Council car-parking standards.
The six acres the firm wanted said the Borough Engineer, represented the entire area from Channel View Road to South Military Road backwards to the barrack buildings.
"The firm are most anxious to get on with this as quickly as possible and have put forward this outline application knowing that the Corporation are still negotiating with the War Department over the land" said the Borough Engineer.
Councillor J E C Bushell said it was an application which he was sure every member of the Council would be delighted to support. "To know that a firm wants to open here even before we officially have the land to offer them is a most heartening thing" he declared.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
‘GREEN LIGHT’ FOR ARCHCLIFFE PLAN
The "go-ahead" has at last been given to Dover Corporation to purchase all the military land on the Western Heights, with the exception of the borstal institution, which was formerly the old Citadel barracks. But although approval has been given to the outline development plans for the land any scheme which involves filling in the network of moats - which cover about 1.25 acres - or dumping refuse will have to be the subject of a separate application to the Ministry of Housing.
This was reported to the Town Planning Committee on Monday by the Town Clerk (Mr J A Johnson). It meant, he said, that they could now proceed to transfer to the AVO factory the land of which they had been in possession for sometime.
Comprising about 126 acres, the land extends from the rear of Clarendon Road, Westbury Crescent and Mount Road, over the top of the hill, encircling the Citadel, and down the other side to the rear of the Corporation’s Ropewalk and Aycliff estates, along to the Shaft barracks and down as far as Cowgate Cemetery. More than 96 acres it is expected, will be unsuitable for any development and will be left as public open spaces. The Grand Shaft Barracks, covering 11 acres, and a further acre of land behind Westbury Crescent, are provisionally earmarked for residential purposes. The other 17-odd acres will probably be used for industrial purposes.
They include the RE Headquarters, the military hospital on the right of Channel View Road, a military yard at Archcliffe and the site of the demolished South Front Barracks.
Negotiations, it was stated, were still taking place with the Commissioners for the preservation of ancient monuments, who are interested in the development of certain sections of the land. For, in the area to be acquired, are two little-known historic monuments - apart from the moats which, it had been hoped, would solve Dover’s tipping problem for several years to come. The Bredenstone, a relic of a Roman Pharos, is one.
Together with the better known and preserved structure adjacent to the Castle it had at one time held a commanding position over the narrow Dour valley leading inland from the sea. Almost hidden on land within the Drop Redoubt, the remains of this one-time domineering tower used to be the site of the meeting place of the Cinque Ports for the installation of the Lord Warden. It was last used in 1913.
The second monument, near the site of the garrison church, which was recently demolished, consists of the foundations of the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Beside it the house of the Knight Templars once stood.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
BARRACK SITE AS COAL YARD
The Corporation is to lease the site of the Old South Front Barracks to Corrall’s as a coal-stacking yard subject to a number of covenants to guard against dust. The lease is for 21 years, at £360 for the first seven years rising to £560 for the last seven. Surface works are to be carried out by the company at an estimated cost of £8000.
Hope that the yard would not become a dust nuisance similar to those caused by the Gas Works, at Union Road, and the railway engine sheds at the Marine Station, was expressed by councillor A H Newland, at Tuesday’s meeting of the Town Council, when the decision to lease the land was approved.
The Mayor (Alderman A E Husk) assured him that every possible consideration had been given to this possibility and it was hoped the safeguards and conditions attached to the granting of approval for the development would be adequate.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
WESTERN HEIGHTS NEGOTIATIONS ALMOST COMPLETE
AND WILL COST RATEPAYERS LESS THAN EXPECTED
An end to the long drawn-out negotiations with the War Department for the acquisition of military land at the Western Heights, may be in sight. The Town Planning Committee has recommended that the acquisition should go ahead and, on Tuesday, the Town Council went into secret session to discuss the matter.
It was revealed that the purchase price for the land has been fixed, provisionally, at £20,250. This is £2000 less than had earlier been proposed. The reason for the reduction is the fact that the Corporation will be put to considerable expense in constructing a new access road to the Heights. Earlier this year the bridge over the moats, and the tunnel at the top of Military Road, were closed to traffic. The bridge could have been repaired and it had been suggested that access might be improved by demolishing the old tunnel, but both the moats and the tunnel have been classified as ancient monuments.
This means that it would not be possible to demolish or alter the tunnel to any significant extent, and the result is that there is now only one vehicular access to the Western Heights - by way of the South Front road.
Consequently, the Corporation sought, and obtained, the right to span the moats with a new bridge, which will re-open the more popular route to the Heights by way of Military Road.
Intervention
It is the intervention of the Ministry of Works, and the subsequent designation of a considerable portion of the land and historic features as ancient monuments, which has caused the negotiations to be so drawn-out. At one time the Corporation had proposed that the moats should be used for refuse disposal and filled in, but some of them, together with other sites are to be excluded from the sale of the land.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
THE DEVIL’S DROP OF MORTAR
The Bredenstone at the Western Heights is the remains of a Roman Tower, described by the writer Lambarde as "both a pharos for the comfort of sailors and also a watch house for the defence of the inhabitants."
In the sixteenth century many knew it as the "Devil’s drop of mortar"; they were convinced that the strange monolith protruding through the hilltop had, indeed, been dropped by the devil. The Bredenstone, in later times, formed the meeting place of the Barons of the Cinque Ports for the Installation of the Lord Warden. The ancient place of meeting was at Shepway Cross at Lympne which was a convenient centre between all ports.
From 1688, all the Installation ceremonies took place on the Western Heights around Bredenstone, down to the Installation of the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava in 1892. Since then as a matter on convenience, they have been held at the Close of Dover College. The adaptation of the Western Heights for military purposes commenced during the American War.
"Previous to that" writes John Bavington Jones, "the inhabitants of Dover, foot and fancy free, were able to roam at will over these breezy hills."
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
THE GRAND SHAFT GYMNASIUM
The Grand Shaft Gymnasium, which the Corporation intend to convert into an indoor sports arena at a cost of £3000, promises to be heavily booked when it opens, probably sometime in the autumn. Already two five-a-side football competitions, with games on two or three evenings a week, are planned, and other sports clubs have expressed an interest in the facilities to be provided.
But this week the Entertainments Committee learned that conveyance of the property from the War Department is taking time and may hold up the plans. Nevertheless it is hoped that the sports centre will be ready for use sometime in October. Within a short time of the announcement, in the "Dover Express" in April, that the Entertainments Committee was considering converting the gymnasium into a sports centre, over 30 clubs revealed that they intended to enter the proposed football competitions.
More evidence of the demand for indoor sports facilities was given to the Committee on Monday when it was reported that 30 cricket clubs also wish to use the arena for practise purposes. Early next month a special sub-committee, appointed several months ago, to deal with detailed planning will hold its first meeting.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
CONTRACT LET FOR DEMOLITION AT GRAND SHAFT
Dover Corporation has granted the contract for the demolition of former military buildings at the Grand Shaft Barracks to the Folkestone Demolition Company which bid £3100 for the job. Five other tenders were received with "bids" ranging from £3057 to a suggested payment of £1500 by the Corporation to any firm interested in the work. Last week the Town Council authorised the placing of the Corporation seal on a document conveying over 100 acres of War Department land at Archcliffe and the Western Heights to the town. The County Planning Department has agreed to the allocation of about 14 acres for residential purposes, 16 for industrial development and most of the remainder, which is steeply sloping land, will probably remain undisturbed.
HISTORIC INTEREST
The foundations of the church of the Knights Templar, part of the moats and the site of the remains of the Bredenstone or Pharos, have been classified as being of historic interest and will be preserved. At one time the Corporation proposed to fill in some of the moats with household refuse but there was a suggestion that 120 acres of land should be scheduled as an ancient monument which would have virtually sterilised the property.
The Corporation protested that this was nonsense and the Ministry of Works revised its proposals so as to preserve only the features of obvious historical interest.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
AFTER THE H-BOMB
Armed police, bodies in a row against a wall - and a film crew. This was the scene at the Grand Shaft Barracks this week during the making of a BBC film on nuclear war. The barracks were chosen as a location because contractors are tearing them down, creating the effects of an atomic blast. Taking part in the film are hundreds of local people. Filming is continuing this week-end and many five-day-a-weekers will join in as extras.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
OLD ROAD TO STAY CLOSED
The Borough Engineer, Dr David Bevan, has revealed to the Corporation’s Town Planning Committee that it is not proposed to re-open North Military Road - commonly known as military hill. Officially closed because of the deteriorating state of the old bridges spanning the moats, Military Road is still widely used - at motorists’ own risk.
A barrier was erected to stop traffic but drivers can still use the road because it falls short of the total width. Whether this practice will be ignored much longer by the authorities, however, remains to be seen. Although it is not planned to re-open the old road, there is a scheme, said the Borough Engineer, to provide a new alternative access route to the Heights and Borstal, via, Durham hill.
Mr Bevan said the old road would probably become obsolete as a traffic route, but continue in use as a pedestrian footway.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
PLANS FOR HEIGHTS STILL IN AIR
The Corporation is still hoping to go ahead with plans to fill in sections of the moats, demolish the bridges and improve access to the properties on the Western Heights from the town centre via North Military Road.
This was disclosed on Monday when the Town Planning Committee approved the inclusion of £500 in the estimates for road and bridge works at Archcliffe and surface dressing Military Hill itself.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
WORK STARTS ON NEW FACTORY SITE
Excavation work is now in progress for the foundations of Dover’s new factory-Racole’s, at Channel View Road, Archcliffe.
Racole Trading and Manufacturing Company Ltd - they make tubular ladders and scaffolding - hope to employ about sixty men at Dover. A spokesman for the firm at Battersea said this week that they plan to start operations at Dover in April.
The transfer of operations from London to Dover would be gradual, and might not be completed for two years, said the spokesman. The firm won an Industrial Development Certificate from the Board of Trade to build the factory at Dover. This followed representations by Mr David Ennals, M.P.
The new factory will have a floor area of up to 25,000 square feet and additional warehouse accommodation of 15,000 square feet. It is near AVO’s factory now under construction at Archcliffe.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
MACHINERY WORKING
Picture to come
Machinery working in a morass of mud this week. Excavations have started for Racole’s new factory at Archcliffe. Racole’s, the manufacturers of tubular ladders, will bring extra work for Dover men when they transfer from London later this year. The site is at Channel View Road, near AVO’s new factory.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
DOVER DATE FOR EARL MOUNTBATTEN
Picture to come
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, is coming to Dover this month - for the formal opening of AVO’s factory at Archcliffe (pictured right).
The Earl has been invited to open the factory on Monday, 14th October because of his interest in scientific instrument research and exports. About 100 guests are expected including customers from Holland. Senior members of Metal Industries Ltd - the group to which AVO belongs - will be at the opening including the chairman, Mr A L Mackenzie, and the managing director, Mr John Black. The chairman of AVO, Mr J E Hinde, will also be present. The Mayor, Councillor Ernest Pittock, and senior Corporation officials have also been invited. Following a tour of the factory there will be a lunch at Dover Town Hall. A few days later, on 5th November, there will be an open day at the factory when 700 employees will be able to take their families to their work rooms.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
NEW FACTORY OPENED IN DOVER
Dover’s new factory - it will employ 40 people - began operations this week. Racole (Trading and Manufacturing) Co. Ltd. have opened their Archcliffe factory with nine men working there this week. The factory site, off Channel View Road, can be extended to cover three acres. The present factory is 120 feet by 105 feet. By the spring it is expected that about 36 men and seven women will be working at the factory.
Racole’s make mild-steel ladders. Much of their machinery will be moved in next week. The firm has transferred from London where, later, their factory will be closed. Works Superintendent at Dover is Mr. Ken Wild.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
SUPPORT FOR NEW ACCESS ROAD TO WESTERN HEIGHTS
The Ministry of Public Building and Works has agreed in principle to make a contribution of £12,000 towards the cost of a new access road to the Western Heights from Military Road. The scheme has been made necessary by the decision of the Ministry to preserve and maintain the historical features of the Western Heights including the Napoleonic fortifications.
These range from the moats and Drop Redoubt to the bridge over the moats at the top of South Military Road and the adjoining tunnel through which the road passes on its way to the top of the rise.
The preservation of the bridge and tunnel, which at one stage it was proposed should be demolished to improve access to the Heights, is believed to involve closure of the road at that point - giving rise to the need for a re-routing of the road across the moats at another point.
The Corporation’s plan is to fill in a section of the moats to enable a road to be carried across. The re-routed South Military Road would then reach the top of the hill via the site of a house adjoining "Beechcroft". Included in the provisional figure of £12,000 is a sum of £1,500 estimated to be the value of the house which will have to be demolished.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
NEW ROAD FOR THE HEIGHTS
Work is about to start on driving through the new road from Military Hill into the Western Heights. It will help to open up the Heights, much of which is now owned by Dover Corporation. It will be a combined operation with Dover Corporation, the army, and borstal boys all helping. The army are supplying Royal Engineers to help remove thousands of tons of chalk; the borstal boys are salvaging flints for re-use throughout the network of moats at the Heights.
One section of the road will be beneath the level of the moat. About 45,000 tons of chalk and earth will have to be excavated and this will be carried to the Eastern Docks to reclaim more land for the hoverport.
At present access to the Heights from Military Hill is gained over a drawbridge and through a winding tunnel. The tunnel - unique as a Napoleonic fortification - will not be touched during the operation. The Heights have been rescheduled on the planning maps to provide homes, industry, and open spaces. Another access road from Aycliff has been widened and is in use.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
HEIGHTS PLAN - COUNTY AGREES
The County Council, as planning authority, last week announced that they had given permission to Racoles to make further excavations at the Western Heights. The area to be cut out will give a plateau of 2.5 acres further factory development. This, in time, will provide more scope for employment.
The planners say the exposed chalk must be grassed and that cartage of chalk - mostly to the Eastern Docks - must be during defined hours and along special routes.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
MILITARY LAND TO COST £20,250
The cost to the town of the acquisition from the War Department of the Western Heights and a number of former military buildings is put at £20,250 in the estimates of the Town Planning Committee considered this week. But it appears that the outlay on the purchase of this valuable housing and industrial land will be adequately met from the resale of some of the site, already totalling £17,250.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
HOUSING PLANS FOR HEIGHTS ?
Dover Town Council is to seek the views of the County Council on the possibility of future housing development on the site of the old Grand Shaft Barracks - now demolished. This follows an enquiry, from a party interested in the possibility of such development, which was considered in private by the Town Planning Committee in April.
The Committee, after hearing a report by the Borough Engineer, Mr. David Bevan, recommended that as a first step the preliminary views of the KCC should be sought.
Dover Express & East Kent News ·
PLANS TO BUILD ON THE HEIGHTS
Members of Dover Town Council are to hear shortly about plans to develop one of the best sites in the town - on land at the Western Heights.
The area is above the Grand Shaft where barracks once stood. The natural slope of the land makes it a giant arena and is ideally suitable for flats and, possibly an hotel. The town planning committee has already received two outline proposals for the area and a third is awaited.
More to follow…
Last updated 30.09.99
Western Heights
The Dover Garrison
Western Heights
Left to right: Recruitment poster for the Cinque Ports Volunteers, 3rd Battalion (re-enactors); two of the re-enactors at Drop Redoubt; original recruitment poster dated 1795.
If anyone wishes to join the re-enactment group, the Cinque Ports Volunteers, 3rd Battalion, please get in touch. They are always in need of recruits. Our thanks to Andy & the volunteers for their help with this project.
Dover has been continuously garrisoned for many hundreds of years and even now Connaught Barracks, just north of Dover Castle is home to the army; the 3rd Parachute Regiment. These pages concentrate on the part that constituted the Western Heights garrison. The main resource for this is a little known publication entitled Who Guards The Shore? written by a local chap, Barry Smith.
In his introduction, Barry explains that the book is a revised version of his thesis on the Dover Garrison, made possible by those who bought the original and by the help of the Dover Transport Museum Society. He concentrates on the regular regiments of Foot and Horse, leaving out supporting arms and services for lack of space, and includes a representative selection of the volunteer and militia battalions who so often carried the burden of home defence. The first garrison he records dates from 1685, the year of the Monmouth rebellion. Before the early 19th century, he notes, cavalry were billeted in the town while the infantry were at the Castle, often with a detachment at Archcliffe Fort, and he traces the barracks and forts as they appear. He leaves out units that only landed and moved inland, unless of particular interest. His information comes mainly from the regimental returns held at the Public Record Office at Kew, and while he welcomes corrections, he would not quarrel with those official records.
Unfortunately some of Barry's document can appear ambiguous and there are some abbreviations which I am unable to fathom. Hopefully I will be able to sort them out in time.
This section is divided into the main barrack accommodation on the Heights and a list follows each heading. The only exception to this is during the world war years where it seemed more logical to list the various regiments slightly differently. The first section is entitled just 'Western Heights'. This is because the exact location was not given. Often Grand Shaft Barracks are referred to as 'Western Heights Barracks' so in some instances this could be the case.
Where squares in the table are left blank this indicates that no information is available.
If you have anything to add please get in touch. It should be noted that the aim of this section of 'Western Heights Today' is not to build a definitive list of personnel, only to weave a thread of 'life' into otherwise empty brickwork.
Western Heights
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
1796
1 Company of Radnorshire Militia
June 1803
Several Companies of Leicestershire Militia
May 1805
Harwich
June 1803
Several Companies of Oxfordshire Militia
Oct 1804
Gravesend
June 1803
10 Companies of Northamptonshire Militia
Nov 1804
Dover Castle
Dec 1804
59th ????? 4 Companies
Oct 1804
Cornish Miners Militia, 1 company
Dec 1804
Nov 1805
Yorkshire East Riding Militia, 8 Companies
June 1806
Northumberland Militia
?
Eastbourne
July 1806
Essex Militia
Sep 1806
Ashford
May 1808
2nd West Yorkshire Militia
June 1809
Chatham
Jun 1809
1st Battalion North Gloucestershire Regiment (28th)
July 1809
HMS Lavinia for the Scheldt
Aug 1809
Warwickshire Militia
Sep 1809
Lewes
Jun 1815
2nd Battalion Royal Regiment Fusiliers, 10 cos
Dec 1818
Disbanded
Jul 1846
43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment
Feb 1847
Portsmouth
Jan 1847
57th (W.Middlesex) Regiment
May 1847
Weedon
Dec 1848
50th (Queen's Own) Regiment
Jan 1850
Elsewhere in Dover & Hythe
Jan 1851
1st Rifle Brigade
Jan 1852
Part Cape, Part Walmer
Jan 1854
1st Rifle Brigade
April 1854
Portsmouth
Feb 1858
11th (Devonshire) Regiment
Aug 1858
Shorncliffe
Aug 1858
4th/60th King's Royal Rifle Corps
May 1859
Aldershot
1861
3rd (East Kent) Regiment
Dec 1861
Tower of London
Drop Redoubt
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
Dec 1806
1st Battalion Cameronians (26th)
Archcliffe Fort
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
1796
1 Company of Radnor Militia
Dec 1803
59th ????? 4 Companies
May 1804
1804
3rd Lancashire Militia, 1 Company
Dec 1804
Grand Shaft Barracks
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
June 1837
2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade
Aug 1837
Portsmouth
Jun 1868
94th (The Garvies) Regiment
May 1869
Woolwich
1869
4th Kings Own Royal regiment
March 1870
Aldershot
July 1870
97th Earl of Ulster's Regiment
Feb 1871
Mullingar
Jun 1873
1st (S. Staffs) Regiment
Sept 1873
Aldershot
Feb 1878
58th Rutlandshire Regiment
Feb 1879
Cape & Natal
Jan 1883
1st Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers (21st)
Nov 1883
Aldershot
Jan 1891
1st Battalion Border Regiment
23 May 1893
Woolwich
? ?
1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
Jun 1893
Citadel
29 Sept 1895
2nd Battalion East Surrey Regiment
Apr 1898
Channel Islands
July 1901
10th Prov' Battalion 3rd Royal Munster Fusiliers
By Jan 1903
? ?
Dec 22 1902
2nd York & Lancs
Oct 1905
York
Sept 1909
2nd Royal Irish Rifles (The Irish Giants)
Sept 1912
Tidworth
1929
2nd Battalion Queen's Regiment (West Surrey)
1930
Connaught Barracks
Oct 1929
1st Royal Sussex
Nov 1933
Devonport
1935
2nd Dorsets
June 1935
Dover Castle
Citadel
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
Aug 1856
Royal Highland Regiment of Foot
Aug 1857
India
June 1863
85th ? Regiment
Apr 1864
Shorncliffe
Jan 1871
2nd Battalion Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade
Sept 1871
Shorncliffe
Sept 1871
1st Battalion Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade
Jun 1873
Aldershot
Jan 1877
2nd Battalion 24th regiment
Jun 1877
Chatham
Jul/Sept 1878
29th Worcestershire Regiment
29 Jan 1879
Bombay
4 Feb 1879
1st Battalion 30th Cambridgeshire Regiment
7 Jan 1880
Bengal
March 1889
2nd Battalion Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regt)
27 July 1891
Aldershot
Sept 1891
1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
? ?
Grand Shaft Barracks
Jun 1893
1st Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
Aug 1893
Aldershot
Jun 1893
1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
31 May 1894
Ire, Kinsale
31 May 1894
4th Battalion King's Rifles (KRRC)
8 May 1896
Aldershot
Sept 1898
1st Battalion Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regt)
Nov 1899
Aldershot
6 Dec 1898
2nd Battalion The Loyal North Lancs Regiment
Aug 1899
Malta
? ?
5th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
3 July 1901
Ballyshannon
Oct 1902
2nd Buffs Regiment
Feb 1905
Bulford Camp
8 Dec 1904
1st Battalion The Buffs
Oct 1907
Aldershot
2 Oct 1907
2nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
Oct 1910
Sheffield
1929
1st Seaforth Highlanders
Dec 1933
Palestine
Apr 1933
2nd Lincolnshires
Apr 1932
Connaught Barracks
Dec 1931
HLI ?? Light Infantry
Oct 1934
Fort George
1935
1st Royal Scots
Oct 1936
Catterick
Oct 1936
1st POW Volunteers South Lancs Regiment
Sept 1939
France
South Front Barracks
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
27 Feb 1868
94th (The Garvies) Regiment
Jun 1868
Grand Shaft Barracks
Sept 1871
2nd Battalion of 3rd Foot (Buffs) East Kent Regiment
July 1873
Curragh/Dublin
Aug 1873
1st Battalion Royal regiment of Fusiliers
24 Jun 1875
Aldershot
Jan 1882
1st Battalion of Royal Irish Rifles (Previously 83rd)
Aug 1884
Channel Islands
29 April 1886
2nd Battalion Buffs East Kent Regiment
Aug 1889
Aldershot
Aug 1889
2nd Battalion Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade
23 Aug 1890
Belfast & Downpatrick
29 Sept 1892
1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Jun 1893
Citadel
Jun 1894
1st Duke of Wellington's (West Riding Regiment)
28 Sept 1895
Malta
24 Feb 1896
2nd Battalion POWO (West Yorkshire) Regiment
14 Feb 1898
Aldershot
18 Oct 1900
5th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
? ?
Citadel
Jan 1904
1st Provisional Battalion
Dec 1904
? ?
Casemated Barracks
Arrived
Who
Left
Destination
May 1869
97th Earl of Ulster's Regiment
July 1870
Grand Shaft Barracks
The War Years
WWI
Barracks
Year
Unit
Notes
Grand Shaft Barracks
1917
3rd Battalion First Surrey Regiment
Source: Guestbook Entrant
WWII
Barracks
Year
Unit
Notes
Grand Shaft Barracks
Possibly 1940/1941
Irish Guards Training Battalion
1941
4th/5th Battalion Buffs
1941
11th Battalion Buffs
1941
37th Army Dental Section
1943
1st/6th South Staffordshire Regiment
South Front Barracks
1941
520th Coast Regiment, RA (part of)
Citadel Battery
1941
6th Coast Observation Detachment
1942
21st Coast Observer Detachment
Western Heights
1942
414 Coast Battery
Western Heights Battery
Citadel
1941
1st/6th Battalion Queens Royal Regiment (W. Surrey)
1941
7th Battalion Royal Hampshire Regiment
1941
520th Coast Regiment, RA (part of)
Citadel Battery
1941
21st Coast Observer Detachment
1942
2nd/4th Battalion South Lancs Regiment
1942
2nd Battalion East Surrey Regiment
1942
295 Coast Battery
Much more to follow…
Last updated 28.03.00
Western Heights
Drop Redoubt
Left: Drop Redoubt from over the sea, May 1999. Right: Section of War Dept plan. Red dots on the plan indicate the position of North Lines Right Battery.
The Drop Redoubt is at the eastern-most end of the North Lines, that is the system of dry ditches extending from the Redoubt westwards towards Folkestone for the entire length of the defences. During the invasion fever of 1804 it was decided by the Inspector General of Fortifications, Lieutenant-General Robert Morse, that there should be a Citadel at the western end of the west hill, this to remain largely a fieldwork as laid down 20 years previously, a polygonal fort at the eastern end, at the Drop, a powerful detached work midway, the three linked by a strong defensive ditch. These turned into the Citadel, Drop Redoubt and North Centre Bastion respectively.
The first building programme on the Drop Redoubt ran between 1804 and 1810. There was a second building program on the Heights during the 1850’s and 1860’s due to yet another invasion scare by yet another Napoleon. A Royal Commission was set up to look into the defences of the United Kingdom and recommend improvements thereto.
Caponniers added
It was then that the modern Drop Redoubt that we know today was finished; the four caponniers were added, as were bombproof officers’ quarters, the ditch running from the redoubt to the cliff edge, and the main magazine was strengthened. The four caponniers were added to enable enfilading fire along each ditch. These were not just stuck on the corners of the redoubt, but ‘knitted’ into the brickwork along with corresponding ‘bulges’ in the counterscarp walls. The barracks provided accommodation for 4 officers and 90 men.
The five bomb-proof casemates providing quarters for the 90 men, May 2001.
These casemates are in an appalling state, the wooden fronts having been destroyed by vandals over the last 30+ years, water running down the inside walls and the very core of the buildings acting as ammunition for the local kids' brick fights.
The inside of number 5 casemate, May 2001.
Left: Caponnier no. 1 during conservation work, October 1998. Right: Caponnier no. 4 following conservation work, October 1998.
The Drop Redoubt was decommissioned in the 1950’s when Coast Defence officially finished and for many years remained in a state of decay. Several attempts to carry out conservation were made over the years but all ended prematurely due to excessive vandal activity. Even the spotlights which were installed in 1994 to illuminate the Redoubt at night to match the Castle’s flood lights had been either smashed or stolen in a comparatively short space of time.
Conservation programme
The latest conservation programme carried out by English Heritage which finished two years ago had lasted for about three years and had been reasonably vandal-proof thanks to the vigilance of the workmen and EH. This is not to ignore the copious amounts of tools that have been stolen from on-site lock-ups and the odd attempted break-in.
That conservation programme finished due to 'an assessment of regional priorities' by English Heritage, however according to an influential source within EH work is scheduled to restart on preserving Drop Redoubt in 2002, which of course is great news.
Left: Inside Caponnier no. 4. Right: Staircase down to Caponnier no. 4.
Western Heights
North Lines Right Battery
At around the same time as the Caponniers were being added to the Drop Redoubt and other modernisation programs were being carried out around the Heights a new battery was being built along the North Lines. This was again because it was thought the whole hill to be weak should an attack come from the north or north-west.
The new battery was built above the stretch of straight ditch immediately between the North Centre Detached Bastion and the Drop Redoubt and consisted of four 64 pounder RML’s, or rifled muzzle loaders.
Left: Positions of guns are indicated by red dots. Right: Caponnier no. 2 from North Lines Right Battery.
The guns are now long gone, of course, but three of the four emplacements and their magazines are still extant. Emplacement number 1 was on the piece of land that was removed when the 1967 road was cut through the ditch, no. 2 is on private property but nos. 3 & 4 are on open ground adjacent to the Drop Redoubt (this area is owned by English Heritage), and can be easily visited.
On the right hand picture, note the steel racer; the metal rail on which the gun carriage would have revolved.
How the battery looks today. Very overgrown!
Western Heights
North Entrance
Map of the North Entrance. Click on the map for a big copy and pictures inside.Left: Picture: Kentish Express, April 17th 1964. Right: Picture: Jeff Howe, Feb 13th 1999.The traffic lights.
The images above are of the North Entrance, the one on the left taken by the Kentish Express newspaper in 1964 when traffic had already been banished due to the derelict state of the bridges, the other taken by the author, February 1999.
The North Entrance and Archcliffe Gate were the main security points for traffic travelling into the fortress from North and South Military Roads, respectively.
The pictures below show the current state of part of the ditch.
Left: Picture taken February 27 1999. Right: Picture taken September 2000.
Is this the best possible use for the area? Allegedly the above rubbish is soon to be removed. We'll have to wait and see!
The North Entrance comprises two bridges running over the ditch separated by a central tenaille or ‘island’. The inner bridge was retractable, much like a mediaeval drawbridge. The other side of this is a road tunnel cut through the chalk that comes out inside the fortified Heights.
Looking back from the centre tenaille or ‘island’ across the outer ditch back to North Military Road.
The inner end of the North Entrance
Left: By John Peverley, 1950s. Right: September 2000.The North Lines ditch where the new road was cut through. This view is from the Drop Redoubt side of the road, looking west.
Western Heights
Grand Shaft & Barracks
Left: Grand Shaft Barrack site on edge of cliff with Drop Redoubt in background, May 1999. Right: Section of War Dept. map. Red dots = barrack buildings; pink = Grand Shaft; orange = entrance on Snargate St.
Grand Shaft Barracks
Grand Shaft Barracks were built on the top of the white cliffs above Snargate Street, on Dover sea front. The barracks date from one of the earliest phases of construction having been started in June 1804. It was decided at this time that barrack accommodation on Western Heights should be limited to one site and should house 700 men, another 800 men living in many of the fortified casemates scattered around the Heights.
Grand Shaft Barracks from Wellington Bridge on seafront. From a postcard postmarked 1914.
A War Department map updated to 1893 shows Grand Shaft Barracks comprising a recreation room, reading room, coffee bar, ball court, skittle alley, wash house, cook house, workshop, meat store, library, gymnasium, latrines, officers’ quarters, and the barracks also had a stable block. Many of these features however, being from a later building period.
Image to come
A National Geographic Magazine picture of 1944 showing Grand Shaft Barracks taken from a most unusual angle. It shows barrage balloons being shot down over the Heights. Also visible on the far left is the Royal Military Hospital and between the two, South Front Barracks. Click on the image for a larger copy.
Demolition
Left: Grand Shaft Barracks, 1964. Right: About the same view, 1999. Building on immediate left is the stable block, next is the gymnasium. 1964 picture: Kentish Express.
By 1965 much of the land on the Heights had been signed over to the Dover Corporation for a reported £20,250 with the intention of building factories, houses and filling in the system of dry ditches with household refuse. Thankfully the latter was not accomplished but sadly the barracks were demolished in that year to make way for a projected housing development. A local newspaper stated that the demolition contract had been granted to Folkestone Demolition Company which had bid £3100 for the privilege.
Taken by the Dover Express during demolition of the barracks.
The barracks were to enjoy two last ‘flings’ however. In 1964 a local newspaper reported that the Dover Corporation was to open the barracks gymnasium as a sports stadium for the local residents. This in fact opened for business in October 1964 and offered activities such as badminton, table tennis, five-a-side football etc., at a cost to the Corporation of £3000. A special bus service even linked the centre to the town. The Gymnasium lasted until between 1979 and 1983.
Council Sports Centre at the Grand Shaft Barracks gymnasium, 1964. Picture: Kentish Express.
Nuclear War
The second ‘fling’ was the use of the half-demolished barracks by the BBC during the making of Peter Watkins’ film The War Game, which was about life during a nuclear holocaust. Parts of the semi-demolished barracks made convincing properties that had just been hit by a nuclear blast. Because of the sensitive nature of the film (made at the height of the Cold War) the film was banned until July 31, 1985, some 20 years later. This was shown then as part of a series of programmes to mark the 40th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan.
Taken during the making of The War Game. Pictures: Dover Express.
The Fight is Over
Since demolition the Grand Shaft Barracks site has been the subject of many residential building proposals. These were in 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1978. Thankfully, none of these proposals were successful and today the area is a Public Open Space and is part of the Western Heights Nature Reserve. This however is not the end of the story.
A New Trail
Until last week (March 24, 1999) the site was heavily overgrown and used for fly-tipping. At long last, as part of a joint project between Dover District Council and English Heritage the area is undergoing scrub clearance and a new heritage trail, ‘Soldiers’ Life’ is being created.
Back to the Past
The barracks were of course, named after the Grand Shaft itself which was used to quickly move troops from barracks to shore.
Barracks at turn of the century.
The story of Grand Shaft Barracks is still not quite finished. The heavily overgrown and abused site is being regenerated by Dover District Council and its ‘partners’. The idea is to turn the area into somewhere nice to visit instead of a playground for unsocial activities. In the summer when visitors walk the steps to the top of the Grand Shaft from the town below, they will be greeted by a pleasant environment instead of the mess that existed previously.
Approximately £250,000 is being spent and this will entail felling around 170 trees (mainly sycamore), covering the earthen banks where the barracks once stood with chalk then topsoil and then grass. It is hoped that once adequate fencing has been erected that Dexter cattle will be introduced there to graze as on other parts of the Heights. Gates and roadblocks will also be put up to prevent vehicular traffic from entering.
In addition to this a large amount of the remaining brick walls and structures are being re-pointed and made safe, partly in an effort to preserve them for future generations.
Left: An expert bricklayer at work re-pointing. Right: Re-pointed brickwork, ‘during’ and ‘after’.
The re-pointing material is traditional lime mortar. This is a 50:50 mixture of hydrated lime and sand. After pointing the new mortar is left in an unfinished state for around 24 hours then it is finished by being beaten with a brush and then trimmed. This is the traditional method and produces a very smart result. The picture on the right, above, shows both stages of this procedure, on the left-hand side, unfinished mortar, on the right-hand side, finished effect.
More pictures will be forthcoming…
Grand Shaft
The problem with building barracks for so many men in such a place meant that an alternative means of access had to be found. The case for building stairs in the cliff was argued by Colonel William Twiss, Commanding Engineer of the Southern District…
…the new barracks…are little more than 300 yards horizontally from the beach…and about 180 feet above high-water mark, but in order to communicate with them from the centre of town, on horseback the distance is nearly a mile and a half and to walk it about three-quarters of a mile, and all the roads unavoidably pass over ground more than 100 feet above the barracks, besides the footpaths are so steep and chalky that a number of accidents will unavoidably happen during the wet weather and more especially after floods. I am therefore induced to recommend the construction of a shaft, with a triple staircase…the chief objective of which is the convenience and safety of troops…and may eventually be useful in sending reinforcements to troops or in affording them a secure retreat.
Left: The top of the Shaft in 1967. Right: In August 1999. B&W photo courtesy Dover Express.
Twiss’ plan was approved and building went ahead. The shaft was to be 26 feet in diameter, 140 feet deep with a 180 feet gallery connecting the bottom of the shaft to Snargate Street, and all for under an estimated £4000.
The top of the Grand Shaft and the steps up to the now non-existent barracks, taken 1998/99.
The plan entailed building two brick-lined shafts, one inside the other. In the outer would be built a triple staircase, the inner acting as a light well with ‘windows’ cut in its outer wall to illuminate the staircases. Apparently, by March 1805 only 40 feet of the connecting gallery was left to dig and it is probable that the project was completed by 1807.
Looking up the Shaft in August 1999.
At the same time as the Dover Corporation were trying to secure parts of the Heights from the MOD the Corporation sealed off access to the Grand Shaft on the grounds that it was unsafe. It was feared that this marked the end for one of the country’s finest pieces of military engineering, but it was conserved and restored by Dover District Council in the 1970’s.
Another view, postmarked 1910.
IMPACT
In 1993 work started on rebuilding the original guardhouse and entrance gate to the Shaft from Snargate Street. This work was carried out by IMPACT:
The Dover and Deal IMPACT Partnership is the latest in a series of urban environmental programmes, targeted on Kent’s economic priority areas. The IMPACT project is jointly funded by Kent County Council and Dover District Council and delivers a package of town centre improvements in Dover and Deal…
The original guardroom and cells were demolished around 1969 and it is on the original footings of the guardroom and entrance gate that the ‘replica’ was built in order to give Dover ‘a fitting entrance…on the A20’.
Quotations from IMPACT Bulletin No. 11, August 1995
The replica buildings were constructed using imperial size Ockley brick, Smeed Dean and London Stocks. Lime mortar was used to obtain the correct appearance, and the arch segments were specially made, with sawn brick arch voussoirs.
In August 1998 the firm of architects responsible for the work received a Downland Prize for the work carried out at the Shaft.
The new guardhouse and gate create a much improved look for visitors to the Shaft, the guardhouse also doubling as ticket kiosk and interpretation centre. The entrance to the shaft passage was however, left as is.
August 1999.
Western Heights
North Centre & North Centre Detached Bastions
The first phase of construction on Western Heights that is recognisable as such today began in April 1804 with the building of Drop Redoubt and North Centre Bastion.
Work started on the Bastion in 1804 and good progress was made generally that year. At the end of March 1805 it was reported that
The earth is nearly laid for the North Centre Bastion and the scarping almost finished.
The work did not however proceed quickly enough and the Bastion was left unfinished by 1816 when expenditure on the Heights stopped. From then until the 1850’s the Heights was grazed with only minor maintenance being carried out.
The North Centre & Detached Bastions were intended as a flanking position and were built as part of the North Lines, positioned centrally between Drop Redoubt and the Citadel. The North Centre Bastion comprises sets of gunrooms below what was then a parade ground and was accessed from the parade by two steep flights of steps.
Dover town from top of Detached Bastion.Top of caponnier from top of Detached Bastion with Folkestone Road in background.One of the four gun positions atop the Detached Bastion.Detached Bastion, magazine to right of picture.
Inside the bastions
Left: Passageway linking gunrooms in North Centre Bastion. Right: One of the entrance staircases to North Centre Bastion, now blocked.
Left: Handrail & slope to upper gunfloor in Detached Bastion. Right: Upper gunfloor in Detached Bastion.
Left: Looking over handrail down to slope between upper & lower gunfloors. Right: Looking across upper gunfloor in Detached Bastion.
Left: Caponnier of Detached Bastion that projects into ditch. Please excuse graffiti. Right: Gunroom in North Centre Bastion.Looking up to second gunfloor in Detached Bastion caponnier.
A few examples of the varying designs of embrasure in this part of the Heights.
The drawbridge and wells
Left: The drawbridge and slope up to the terreplain. Right: The small tunnel that leads to the two wells.
Left: The remains of the drawbridge & stairs up to the terreplain. Right: One of the drawbridge counter-balance weights for these small defences.
Western Heights
St. Martin’s Battery
Renamed in 1940 as Western Heights Battery
St. Martin's Battery atop the cliff, May 1999. Bottom left shows the position of the Royal Military Hospital, now an industrial estate.The battery from St. Martin's Path.
St. Martin’s Battery was originally a Victorian gun battery which was modified during World War 2 to take more modern ordnance with better protection from attack. The original weapons as fitted were 10" RML’s, rifled muzzle loaders. This meant that the barrels were internally rifled thus providing a greater range and accuracy; these guns were also loaded from the muzzle end of the barrel by the use of lifting equipment. There were three 10" RML’s fitted at this battery.
No. 2 Gun House, taken 27.2.99.
The two photos above clearly show the two building phases: outer barbette (lighter coloured concrete), Victorian; inner mounting (darker coloured concrete), 1940.
Under the threat of invasion in 1940 St. Martin’s Battery was upgraded to an ‘emergency’ battery and fitted with three 6" BL guns. The old Victorian emplacements were concreted over and new gun houses built which offered overhead protection against air attack. It is possible to determine the two building phases at once; the Victorian brickwork is yellow and that of WW2, red. The 6" battery was up and running by late 1940 at which time the battery was renamed, Western Heights Battery.
It is possible to see a 6" gun of this era in an open barbette at Newhaven Fort in East Sussex.
Western Heights Battery
The WW2 battery was manned by the 414 Coast Battery, Royal Artillery and this was when the battery was renamed ‘Western Heights Battery’. When completed the Battery staff complement was some 143 men, presumably living in the Grand Shaft Barracks nearby. This seemingly large amount of men included 4 officers who had 4 batmen and there were also gun artificers, 6 gunners, 6 range takers, 3 telephonists, 4 cooks, a gun detachment of 78, 3 sergeants, a clerk, a storeman, 2 mess servants and others. This staff numbered 123.
The remaining 20 men were assigned to the CASL, or Coast Artillery Search Lights, and included a Battery Sergeant Major, an electrical fitter, a motor vehicle fitter, 4 men to man the searchlights, a storeman, 2 telephonists, 3 engine room personnel, an NCO and 4 switchmen.
Deep Shelter
In 1890 a magazine was built to the rear of the battery by cutting into the earth bank. In 1940 this was taken to a depth of around 30’ to provide a secure shelter for the WW2 gun operators.
The deep shelter was built to give protection to the crews that worked the guns and was an extension to a Victorian magazine. The shelter goes some 30 feet down into the hillside by means of a steep staircase and then branches out into three corridors two of which appear to be accommodation areas and could sleep 8 men each. Further along there are brackets where 7 wash basins were fixed, although there do not appear to be any latrines!
Further along is a substantial rock fall, the passage behind this leading to the emergency exit at Grand Shaft Barracks, which is also blocked.
The gated entrance to the deep shelter.
Access to the shaft is now impossible due to a steel grate having been fixed in its entrance. For many years all the magazines were open and thorough investigation was possible (if not highly dangerous), but again, thanks to the vandals all accesses have been closed off.
Vandalism
For many years St. Martin’s Battery had been badly vandalised just like the rest of the Heights, with fires being lit in the gun houses and the deep shelter behind. The shelter had apparently also been the home to other unsocial activities.
In 1993 it was proposed by Dover District Council, who incidentally owns the site, that the area be turned into a Western Heights Discovery Centre using EEC funding via the European Regional Development Fund. In July 1993 the Dover Express and East Kent Mercury reported that in excess of £70,000 was to be spent on the Heights with £15000 being spent on St. Martin’s Battery by ‘improving and installing one or more guns’ and another £15000 by creating ‘A Soldier’s Life’ heritage trail centred around the Grand Shaft.
New Wayside Boards
In 1998 a ‘Gun Battery’ trail was created around the battery by Dover District Council. This trail incorporates 13 new sign boards in full colour describing life around the Victorian and WW2 batteries. It was thought that by creating correct interpretation of the area it would give some meaning to the various buildings and structures and cancel out the vandalism. This is a major step in prolonging the useful life of St. Martin’s Battery although the new sign boards are regularly themselves vandalised and it seems to be some time before they are replaced. There is evidence of the local ‘wasters’ using them as targets for brick throwing and air rifle practice. Consequently we are still waiting for the ‘one or more guns’.
The new signs are incidentally, in English and French and the technical details of the battery were contributed by Dover Museum and the Kent Defence Research Group.
You will find photographs of the new wayside panels below and hopefully you will be as impressed with them as we are.
The new wayside panels around St. Martin’s Battery.
Western Heights
Western Outworks
Image to come
Left: Western Outworks from the west, May 1999. Use of photographs courtesy Governor, HMYOI.
The Western Outwork situated to the west of the Citadel can be identified as two distinct building phases, the main work being built during the period 1858 to 1860 and that of the Citadel Battery between 1898-1900.
A renewed fear of invasion gripped the country during the 1850’s when Napoleon III came into power in France at a time when the sailing warship was slowly being replaced by the steam warship which was later to wear armour plating and vast improvements in ordnance were rendering existing fortifications obsolete.
It was generally felt by the military minded that if a landward attack was to come upon Western Heights, then it would come from what was regarded by many as the ‘dead’ ground to the west. This had not been overlooked during the initial building phase when the construction of the Citadel was under way; indeed this same theory accounts for the positioning of the Citadel’s massive Outer Bastion projecting to the north-west.
The casemated barracks
The casemated barracks on the south side of the hill were larger than those of the northern. They were divided into eight separate barrack rooms each with a fireplace and at the end of each flight of stairs, an ablutions block. Above the vaulted bombproof roofs were Sergeants’ rooms, Company store and Company office, all of which doubled up as gun emplacements.
The impressive casemated barracks at Western Outworks. Left: Southern barracks, photographed by the author, February 1999.
These barracks are now in a pretty bad state, particularly the northern barracks, although the main structure of both appears sound when last visited. Access is now impossible due to the recent installation of a ‘serious’ fence.
Image to come
Interior of south casemated barracks, taken 1993. Left: Lower staircase. Centre: Basement floor stairwell. Right: Inside barrack room, note partial 1st floor still extant.
Some of the buildings over the barracks shown above.
Plans
Shaded-in section of ditch shows area filled with rubble in the 1960’s. The adjacent caponnier and counterscarp were also covered over.
Image to come
Detail of Western Outworks buildings.Buildings above are dated 1890.
Western Heights
South Front Barracks
Image to come
Site of South Front Barracks, now a lorry park, May 1999. (The sea is at the top of the picture.)
Image to come
Image to come
Left: Site of South Front Barracks from remains of Barrier Ditch. Right: Before truck yard established, 1997.
On March 13, 1903 the Dover Express reported that…
…The barrack accommodation at Dover is not only inadequate but bad in quality, so bad that a considerable portion of it is now closed… Then the South Front Barracks are altogether too small for a battalion of anything like authorised strength…
The water tanks
The barracks were supplied with fresh water from their own dedicated underground water storage tanks. These were three massive brick-lined reservoirs. Here are a couple of pictures of inside one of the tanks today. They are still full. The total capacity of the three combined was/is some 100,000 gallons of water. Bet it tasted horrible!
Image to come
Image to come
Inside one of the water tanks.
The entrance
Image to come
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Left: Entrance to South Front Barracks in the mid-1970’s. Right: About the same view, June 1999.
Sources
Bibliography & Further Reading
Title
Author
Publisher
Availability
A Guide to the Western Heights
D. Burridge
Kent Defence Research Group
Available from Dover Museum shop
Dover Castle & the Defences of Dover
J. Coad
Batsford/EH
ISBN 0 7134 7288 X
Channel Defences
A. Saunders
Batsford/EH
ISBN 0 7134 7594 3
Fortress Britain
A. Saunders
Beaufort
ISBN 1 85512 000 3
The Later Fortifications of Dover
J. Coad / P.N. Lewis
Post Medieval Archaeology
Out of print (see Dover Library)
Dover’s Hidden Fortress
J. Peverley
Dover Society
Available in Dover Museum shop
Pillbox
H. Wills
—
Out of print
The History of Archcliffe Fort
D. Welby
—
ISBN 0-906124-11-5. Available from Dover Museum
Acknowledgements
Richard Mackay, Managing Director, Chrysler Jeep Imports UK, for letting me bring this project to work
Phillip Brown, ex-IS Infrastructure Manager, Chrysler Jeep Imports UK, for technical help & support
Brian Lewis, Senior Editor, Dover Mercury, for giving me permission to use Dover Mercury articles and Kentish Express pictures on this site
Jonathan Coad, English Heritage, for imparting his wealth of knowledge of the subject and some useful advice
Nick Hudson, Group Editor, Dover Express, for giving me permission to use Dover Express articles and pictures on this site
Karol Steele of the Dover Express, for her enthusiastic hunt through the Express archives
Graham Powell, Graham Powell Airlines Inc., for performing air acrobatics while the author took aerial photographs!
Brian Pollett, ex-Governor of Dover HM Young Offender Institute (Citadel), for his enthusiasm for the project & photoshoot
Paul Hadaway, Assistant Project Manager, White Cliffs Countryside Project, for explaining the Project's work on the Heights
The staff at Dover Reference Library for their enthusiastic help
Jon Iveson at Dover Museum for his advice & assistance
John Peverley for allowing us to use his splendid photographs taken in the 1950's & 60's
Contact
Get in touch
If you have anything to add, a correction, a photograph or a memory of the Heights, please get in touch by email.
