Heritage

The Western Heights

In 1779 England was at war with America and her allies France, Spain and the Netherlands in the American War of Independence. An army of 50,000 waited across the channel, ready to invade. To defend the vitally important town and port of Dover, simple earthwork batteries were thrown up around the town and on the Western Heights to supplement the now much outdated Medieval Castle. From this simple and inexpensive beginning grew a massive fortified complex of brick and stone consisting of two massive forts, miles of dry ditches, barracks and a hospital which were not finally completed until over ninety years later.

This fact sheet gives a brief history of the main features to be found on the Heights and provides a map for you to use showing the location of these fortifications. All the Western Heights Barracks were demolished in the 1960’s. Of the remainder the two forts may be viewed from the outside, but not entered.

Two Forts - The Drop Redoubt and The Citadel

The wars of 1779-83 saw the beginning of fortifications on these two sites, but what remains today dates to two periods, the early 19th Century and the late 19th Century. Construction began in 1804 in response to the threat posed to Britain by the French Napoleonic Wars. The Drop Redoubt was built between 1804-8 (a Redoubt is a detached fort, the ‘Drop’ refers to the remains of Dover’s second Roman Lighthouse, referred to locally as the ‘Devil’s Drop of Mortar’) but the Citadel, a much larger fort was still under construction in 1815 when peace was declared and all work on the Heights ceased. Both forts were surrounded by deep defensive ditches revetted with flint or brick. A renewed threat of war in Europe in the mid 1850’s encouraged the government to complete and modernise the fortifications at great cost building ‘a honeycomb in a hill’ capable of housing over 4,000 soldiers, whose role was to ‘hide’ in the forts and attack any invader from the rear once they had passed Dover. Today the Drop Redoubt is owned by English Heritage and is occasionally open to the public. The Citadel is now used as a Youth Custody Centre and is not open.

The Military Barracks

There were two main sites of barracks on the Heights. The first date to 1804 and were known as the Grand Shaft Barracks, being located at the top of the Grand Shaft Staircase. They provided accommodation for 59 Officers, 1,300 NCO’s and privates and eight horses. They were renowned for their light and airy situation, and close to them near Archcliffe Gate was a Military hospital, with beds for 180.

The second large set of barracks was the South Front Barracks, constructed in the 1860’s. These were constructed in a huge trench, facing the sea with different floor levels connected to the hill behind by cast iron bridges and galleries. These were not such pleasant barracks to live in being cold and dark.

The North Centre Bastion

This is a defensive work which projects into the line of the ditch and was built to defend the area between the Redoubt and the Citadel. It was completed between 1860/74.

St Martin’s Battery

Situated on high ground overlooking the Grand Shaft this battery was used not only in Napoleonic times but in World War One and Two. It commands unrivalled views of the harbour and town and was reached from the Grand Shaft stairway by means of steps known as St Martin’s steps. Many of these have survived and can still be used.
(St Martin is the patron saint of Dover, and he is depicted on the Town Crest).

 

Further Information

For further information try:

J Welby “Dover’s Forgotten Fortress”
(Kent County Library)

J Coad “Later Fortifications of Dover”
(in Post Medieval Archaeology 16 (1982) 141-200)

Dover Museum, Market Square, Dover also holds a substantial amount of information on the Western Heights including plans, maps and photos, and stocks both of the above books in the museum shop.

"Such a union of elegance and convenience might have reflected credit even upon the genius of Sir Christopher Wren". W.H. Ireland 1829

Set back to one side of Snargate Street, Dover, its entrance barred by iron gates is a sloping corridor which leads to the Grand Shaft, a unique 19th Century triple staircase built during the Napoleonic Wars. This fact sheet tells you the history of this monument and how you can gain access to it. Grand Shaft, Western Heights, Dover.

Brief DescriptionThe shaft is an ingenious construction of brick measuring 26 feet (8 metres) in diameter and 140 feet (42 metres) in height. It was built between 1806 – 1809. It has three staircases of Purbeck limestone which wind clockwise one above the other down a central brick light and ventilation shaft lit by an occasional window. At the bottom the three staircases meet in the sloping corridor which leads to Snargate Street. There are 200 steps in all separated by several landings.

Brief History

The shaft was built to provide a short cut for soldiers based in barracks and forts on the Western Heights of Dover. At the time of the French Wars in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries it was generally feared that Napoleon would invade Britain and that Dover as the nearest English port and town to France would be a prime target. Observers at Dover could see Napoleon’s great armies massing at Boulogne and since 1779 defences had been under construction on the Western Heights to defend this 'front line' town.

The complete defensive works which ultimately consisted of two detached forts connected by 4 miles of dry ditches, barracks and a hospital were not completed until the middle of the 19th Century (see 'The Western Heights' fact sheet for full details). The Grand Shaft was first considered in 1804.

The Building of The Grand Shaft

The shaft was first proposed by Brigadier General Twiss, a talented engineer who was in charge of the Southern District Engineering Department. In 1804 he wrote to Lt. General Morse proposing the construction of 'a shaft with triple staircase the chief object of which is the conveniency and safety of the troops'.

Up until now troops had to reach the town by Chalk tracks, which formed dangerously slippery routes in wet weather.

As a bonus Twiss considered that the shaft would be in the event of an attack

"the shortest and securist communication with the town” and that it “may eventually be useful in sending reinforcements to Troops employed in the defence of the Beach and Town or in affording them a secure retreat".

By 1806 the construction of the shaft was underway. It was difficult to build particularly as the weather was poor making the earthworks in the chalk and clay dangerous. On many occasions great weights of earth fell from the side of the shaft although miraculously no workmen were killed during the 3 years it took to complete the work. By 1809 the shaft was ready to use, built at a cost of £3,221. 2s. 10¾d. (£700 less than the original estimate).

The Use of The Grand Shaft

Within 3 years the shaft had become a local attraction used by military and civilian alike. In 1812 a Mr Leith of Walmer rode up the shaft on horseback for a bet. Cells in a guardhouse at the bottom of the shaft (long since removed) catered for soldiers too drunk to negotiate the stairs after a night in some of the Snargate Street Pubs.

Later, after the fear of invasion had subsided the three staircases, which had been designed initially to allow the maximum number of troops to descend or ascend as quickly as possible, became segregated. Notices which changed slightly over the years were erected at the top of each staircase stating who was entitled to use which set of stairs. The best remembered of them all is as follows:-

1. Officers and their ladies
2. Sergeants and their wives
3. Soldiers and their women

The Restoration of The Grand Shaft

After the second World War the Grand Shaft became more and more derelict. Much rubbish including cars was dumped into the centre of the Shaft. The old Barracks were demolished in the 1950's but happily in the late 1970's Dover District Council with the help of the Department of the Environment restored the Shaft. Further restoration was carried out in 1986 and the Shaft opened to the public on a regular basis in that year during the summer months.

For more information and photos visit the website for the Western Heights Preservation Society