Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A well was first sunk at the Citadel during the Napoleonic Phase of works at the fort. It was located at the eastern end of the Parade ground close to the former site of the temporary barracks which were constructed in the same year. The original construction consisted of a large square underground chamber and likely existed in this form until the 1860’s. The Engine House and pump room was modernised and expanded as a consequence of the 1858 Barrack and Hospital Improvement Commission which noted the inadequacy of the early arrangements, and the resulting building still survives today. (location accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information)

Monument Types

• WELL (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1805 AD? to 1945 AD?)
• ENGINE HOUSE (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1860 AD? to 1945 AD?)
• PUMP HOUSE (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1860 AD? to 1945 AD?)

Full description

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Summarised from report

A well was first sunk at the Citadel during the Napoleonic Phase of works at the fort. It was located at the eastern end of the Parade ground close to the former site of the temporary barracks which were constructed in the same year. The original construction consisted of a large square underground chamber and likely existed in this form until the 1860’s. The Engine House and pump room was modernised and expanded as a consequence of the 1858 Barrack and Hospital Improvement Commission which noted the inadequacy of the early arrangements which supplied water to the whole of the Western Heights. Shortly afterwards a much larger Pump House was constructed over the existing well, to take a larger engine. It was probably completed in or around 1861, the date of the earliest surface water tank, or 1863, the date of a winch installed in the Engine Room. The Pump House of the 1860s survives and comprises two large sunken chambers – an Engine Room and Boiler Room - with only c1 metre of brickwork visible above ground, where the end walls are carried up to twin gables with a cogged raking cornice. The Engine Room occupies the position of the earlier Well House but extends further south. Adjoining it to the west is the Boiler Room, which projects slightly further to the north. Both chambers have segmental brick vaults, covered in concrete laid to shallow pitches (giving a central valley over the spine wall) and topped with a layer of asphalt. The roofs have been stripped of their bombproof layer of earth, leaving a ventilator exposed above the Engine Room vault. Both chambers were lit by a series of glazed timber screens and windows looking out onto apsidal light wells, giving an unusual lobed appearance to the plan. Beneath floor level there is an elongated pit extending southwards from the well shaft. This appears to have formed the bed for the steam engine, and incorporates a raised base towards the southern end - possibly a cylinder base. The Boiler Room contained two boilers in 1930, and this probably reflects the original arrangement. They were served by a large stack positioned in the northern light well. Although the boilers have been removed, the footings for a wall supporting them at the fire-box (south) end are still visible. (1)

A plan dating to 1811 which details the extent of the Napoleonic works which were undertaken at the Citadel, shows a small structure in the location of the present pump house, this is likely the original Well House. (2)

A Later plan dation to 1871, which shows all of the works which were undertaken under the reccomendations of the Royal Commission, Shows the pump house/well house in a more developed state. (3)

<1> English Heritage, 2004, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent: Report No. 2: The Citadel (Unpublished document). SKE17690.

<2> Major W H Ford, Royal Engineers, 1811, Plan Shewing the Appropriation of the Ordnance Lands on the Western Heights Dover 1811 (Map). SKE51523.

<3> Captain H S Palmer (?), 1871, War Department OS 1:2500 Sheet LXVIII.15, revision of 1871, annotated with positions of magazines in the Citadel in 1877 (Map). SKE51524.

Sources and further reading

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