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Monument details

Summary

North Centre and Detached Bastions formed an important element of the Western Heights defences, protecting part of the land front to the north-west of the port of Dover. They were built into the linear defences of the Heights and provided a platform for artillery and infantry. Work on the bastion was started in 1805 though was left in an unfinished state until 1860 when a major phase of improvements to the fort as a whole was underway. By 1862 the bastion comprised two distinct elements (north centre, and detached bastions) built to a more powerful and coherent design. Both bastions supported some artillery until around 1900, after which their use for any purpose was intermittent; small scale re-occupation for local defence probably occurred in both the first and second world wars. (location accurate to the nearest 100m based on available information)

Monument Types

• BASTION (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1805 AD? to 1945 AD?)

Full description

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Summarised from report:

North Centre and Detached Bastions formed an important element of the Western Heights defences, protecting part of the land front to the north-west of the port of Dover. They were built into the linear defences of the Heights and provided a platform for artillery and infantry. Its purpose was to defend the land front, particularly to provide flanking fire along the north slope of the Heights. Both bastions also had intricate measures for their own defence and were designed to operate independently if the need arose. North Centre Bastion was started as part of the Napoleonic works; construction began in 1804 for a bastion to support six 24-pdr carronades, two on the east and west flanks respectively and one in each salient angle with the northern face. In form it was an un-revetted earthwork which had incorporated and earlier linear fieldwork, dating probably from the American war of the 1770’s and 80’s which was aligned east to west along the north face of the Heights, outside and parallel to the later North Lines. By 1805 the earthworks were complete although it was left unfinished at the end of hostilities in 1815. The completion of the work at North Centre and Detached Bastions took place between 1858 and 1867 as part of a wider scheme for the Dover defences as a whole. They were in an advanced state of construction in 1862, when alterations were proposed to its southern caponier. These new fortifications which took up much the same ground as the older works, comprised two distinct elements built to a more powerful and coherent design. The southern element was called the North Centre Bastion (or inner Bastion) and the northern element, Detached Bastion. Both were protected by huge ditches with brick revetments, behind which were casemates musketry galleries and gunrooms for their defence. Rising above the ditches, massive earth ramparts housed infantry positions, artillery emplacements and entrances, protected by traverses, leading to the musketry galleries and gunrooms. North centre and Detached bastions were linked only through the South Caponier which panned the base of the cross ditch between them. A larger more powerful caponier at the north west angle defended sections of the ditch of the detached bastion. Both bastions supported some artillery until around 1900, after which their use for any purpose was intermittent; small scale re-occupation for local defence probably occurred in both the first and second world wars. Today the bastions are derelict and partially vandalised, overgrown and not easily accessible. The original entrances have all been removed. (1)

A plan dating to 1810 shows the Detached bastion as it was originally constructed and before any improvements were made under the 1860's scheme of works, (2) while another dating to 1862 shows the bastion after the major improvements have been made and includes details of the gun emplacements and some of the interior structures. (3)

Further information about the historic development of the North Centre and Detached Bastion is available within the Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights. (4)

<1> RCHME, 2001, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No 7: North Centre and Detached Bastions: 19th-century fortifications (Unpublished document). SKE17503.

<2> E B Metcalf, Royal Military Surveyor and Draughtsman, 1810, Kent: Dover. Map showing fortifications. At the Western Heights
Kent: Dover. Map showing fortifications. (Map). SKE51587.

<3> Office of Works, 1862, Plan showing the improvements to the defences for Dover at the North Centre Bastion at the Western Heights (Plan). SKE51590.

<4> Liv Gibbs, 2012, Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights (Unpublished document). SKE17708.

<5> Kent Defence Research Group, c. 1993, Kent Defence Research Group 'Fort Logs' (Unpublished document). SKE52251.

Sources and further reading

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