BUILT HERITAGE CONSERVATION FRAMEWORK FOR DOVER WESTERN HEIGHTS A Report to Dover District Council, English Heritage and Kent County Council Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Final version February 2012 © Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D., Dover District Council and English Heritage Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights CONTENTS Abbreviations iii Glossary iv Acknowledgements xii Introduction 1 Understanding the site 2 Assessment of significance 136 Analysing the site 136 Approach to assessing significance 136 Applying the approach 137 Strand 1 137 Strand 2 138 Strand 3 140 Strand 4 141 Strand 5 141 Summary of the significances at the Western Heights 142 The whole site 142 The Citadel (western fort) 143 The Western Outworks 148 The North Lines 149 The North Centre Bastion and Detached Bastion 149 The North Entrance 151 The Drop Redoubt (eastern fort) 152 The North-East Line 156 The South Lines 157 The South Front, South Front Barracks and South Entrance 157 The Grand Shaft and Grand Shaft Barracks 159 The Military Hospital 160 The Citadel Battery 160 The Battery on the North Lines 161 The Drop Battery 161 St Martin’s Battery/Western Heights Battery 161 The South Front Battery 162 The Gun Shed 162 The Fortress Interior: ground between the western fort and eastern fort 162 The network of military roads 169 The Round Church 170 Conservation issues and recommendations 172 The aims of conservation 172 The approach 172 Conservation issues and recommendations relating to the Western Heights 173 1. The whole site 173 2. The Citadel (western fort) 182 FINAL VERSION February 2012 i Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights 3. The Western Outworks 185 4. The North Lines 186 5. The North Centre Bastion and Detached Bastion 188 6. The North Entrance 189 7. The Drop Redoubt (eastern fort) 192 8. The North-East Line 197 9. The South Lines 198 10. The South Front, South Front Barracks and South Entrance 199 11. The Grand Shaft and Grand Shaft Barracks 204 12. The Military Hospital 206 13. The Citadel Battery 207 14. The Battery on the North Lines 209 15. The Drop Battery 210 16. St Martin’s Battery/Western Heights Battery 210 17. The South Front Battery 211 18. The Gun Shed 212 19. The Fortress Interior: ground between the western fort and eastern fort 212 20. The network of military roads 214 Bibliography and sources 216 Published sources 216 Books, articles and reports 216 RCHME Survey Reports 219 Biographies 220 Unpublished sources 221 The National Archives, Kew 221 National Monuments Record, Swindon (English Heritage) 226 Her Majesty’s Prison Service 229 Kent Archives 231 Appendix I: Heritage designations at the Western Heights 232 FINAL VERSION February 2012 ii Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights ABBREVIATIONS AA anti-aircraft BC battery command BCP battery command post BL breech loader BL British Library BOP battery observation post CDMU Coastal Defence Maintenance Unit CO Commanding Officer CRE Commanding Royal Engineer DRF depression range finder DWH Dover Western Heights HAA Heavy anti-aircraft HMPS Her Majesty’s Prison Service IGF Inspector General of Fortifications KA Kent Archives LMG light machine gun MT motor transport NA National Archives NCO Non-commissioned Officer NMR National Monuments Record OP observation post pdr pounder PF position finding QF quick-firing RA Royal Artillery RBL rifled breech loader RCHME Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England RE Royal Engineer REME Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers RGA Royal Garrison Artillery RML rifled muzzle loader SB smooth bore WD War Department WO War Office YOI Young Offenders’ Institution FINAL VERSION February 2012 iii Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights GLOSSARY Sources: RCHME Survey Reports Nos 2-10, except where otherwise stated Apron A sloping concrete surface, forming the front face of a gun emplacement, designed to deflect incoming shells over the top of the position Artillery store A subsidiary building in a fortification for the storage of equipment for the operation and maintenance of artillery pieces Banquette A low platform in the rear face of a rampart, with a low parapet to enable infantry to fire over it. Same as an infantry step Barbette A protective breastwork or forward edge of an emplacement, over which guns fire Bastion Part of a fortification which projects from the main work to provide flanking fire for its defence Batter The inward slope of the face of a wall or revetment (Saunders) Battery A work, either permanent or temporary, where artillery is mounted Battery observation post A position from which the area commanded by a battery is observed Berm A level space between the base of a rampart and the scarp face of a ditch, designed to absorb the weight and pressure exerted on the latter by the former Board of Ordnance The government department responsible for supply of arms, ammunition and warlike supplies to the country’s fighting forces on land and sea, until abolition in 1856 Bofurs gun A light anti-aircraft gun built by the Swedish company Bofurs Bombproof A thick covering of earth and other material over a vaulted room (barrack, store, magazine, etc.), providing protection against incoming fire Breech-loader (BL) A gun which is loaded from the rear of the barrel FINAL VERSION February 2012 iv Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights Caponier A covered communication, usually in the form of a trench with raised sides, running from the enceinte to a detached work or A powerful casemated work, projecting perpendicularly across a ditch for the purpose of delivering flanking fire (Duffy) Carronade A short heavy cannon, with a large bore, for close range defence Cartridge An amount of gunpowder or other explosive made up into a measured charge, usually contained in a silk bag, which was placed in a gun behind the shell. Firing the gun ignited the cartridge and thereby propelled the shell out of the gun towards its target Cartridge store A chamber used to store powder that was already made up into cartridges Cascable A round or ring-shaped projection at the breech end of a gun, so shaped to anchor a rope Casemate A bombproof vaulted chamber used for a variety of purposes, including artillery or small arms positions, storage of ammunition and to provide troop accommodation Chemin des rondes A passage or sentry path on the top of the scarp wall with a parapet for cover Citadel A self-contained fortress intended as a place of last resort (Saunders) Cordon A continuous rounded projection situated at a change in angle on the face of a fortification, usually between the scarp revetment and the parapet Counterguard A defensive work with two faces forming a salient angle, usually placed in front of a bastion to cover and protect its flanks Counterscarp The exterior slope or revetment of a ditch Counterscarp gallery A casemate built behind the counterscarp of a ditch providing flanking fire along the same ditch Covered way A continuous walkway, protected from enemy fire by an earthwork parapet Curtain A length of defensive wall or rampart, protected from enemy fire by an earthwork parapet FINAL VERSION February 2012 v Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights Davit A simple crane, usually an iron post, curved at the top and fitted with a pulley, for hoisting heavy ammunition from one level to another Depression range finder An instrument used to work out the position of a target in order to set the range and bearing for guns to fire upon it Drawbridge A bridge which was hinged at one end only so that the other could be raised, usually by chains or strong ropes Embrasure An opening in a parapet or wall through which a gun – usually an artillery piece – can be fired En barbette A gun mounted to fire over the forward edge of its emplacement Enceinte The main defensive enclosure of a fortress excluding the outworks. Also known as ‘the body of the place’ (Saunders) Enfilade fire Fire coming from a flank which sweeps the length of a fortification Entrenched camp A protected area for the assembly or re-grouping of an army (Saunders) Escarp See scarp Expense magazine A small magazine in which ammunition was stored for immediate use in part of a fortification Fenestration The arrangement of windows in the elevation of a building Fieldwork A temporary or semi-permanent fortification, usually an unrevetted earthwork, constructed during a field campaign or to meet an emergency need Fixed ammunition Ammunition in which the shell and cartridge are combined in a single casing Flanking fire Artillery or small arms fire coming from a flank (e.g. in a bastion or caponier) to sweep the length of the fortification FINAL VERSION February 2012 vi Liv Gibbs BA MA (Cantab.) Ph.D. Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights Glaçis An external slope beyond an outer ditch, usually carefully and gradually extended in a long slope towards the field or ground level and often massively reinforced with earth and other materials to absorb incoming shell fire Gorge The rear of a fortification; usually the neck of a bastion or a detached work Guard house In this particular eighteenth-century context, a building fortified with thickened walls and loopholes for defence of a defined area. Normally, the guard house is found at the entrance to a military establishment,