Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Canon’s Gate, the bridge and its Caponier were built between 1796 and 1798. The gateway replaced an earlier postern gateway, possibly called Canon’s or Monk’s gate. The gateway itself comprises a brick-vaulted passage that is protected by two sets of doors within, which are likely to be the original fittings. The bridge and caponier are also made of London stock brick, and their position commands the ditch area. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• BRIDGE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1796 AD? to 2050 AD)
• CAPONIER (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1796 AD? to 2050 AD)
• GATE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1796 AD? to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Canon’s Gate, the bridge and its Caponier were built between 1796 and 1798. The gateway replaced an earlier postern gateway, possibly called Canon’s or Monk’s gate. The bridge initially had a raised drawbridge at the western end, which appears to have remained in place, possibly with alterations until works in the mid 20th century to stabilise the structure replaced this with a concrete and steel structure inserted into the fabric of the caponier below. The use and layout of the bridge caponier is hard to discover as it is not depicted on many plans due to its location directly beneath the bridge. Despite its good defensive location the caponier was not used during the Second World War due to concerns raised in 1940 over the stability of the structure following movement. The gateway itself comprises a brick-vaulted passage that is protected by two sets of doors within, which are likely to
be the original fittings. The bridge and caponier are also made of London stock brick, and their position commands the ditch area. The caponier is a three storey brick structure situated directly beneath the Canon’s Gate bridge and is currently accessed via two spiral staircases set within the northern wall of the gate, each entered through a wooden door. A further doorway within the one stair allows access to the upper floor of the caponier and the remaining stair to the lower floors. A further stair appears to be located adjacent to these, with access via the Gunpowder Magazine, however this is blocked off and it is not known to where this leads. As with much of the tunnelling within the cliffs the stairs and passages are a mixture of brick lined and exposed chalk. There are numerous examples of graffiti carved into the soft chalk walling. Within the caponier the rooms are in a general state of disrepair. Many of the slit windows have been blocked and areas of flooring are exposed. Summarised from sources (1-2)

<1> English Heritage, 2014, Dover Castle Conservation Management Plan Volume 2 Gazetteer (Unpublished document). SKE52105.

<2> Johnathan Coad, 1995, English Heritage Book of Dover Castle and the Defences of Dover (Monograph). SKE52106.

Sources and further reading

Related records