Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The Tudor bulwark is located just to the south of Cannons Gate, along the southern outer curtain wall of Dover Castle. It is a rectangular structure projecting into the ditch and would have been ideally situated to protect the road from Dover town into the Castle. The exact date of construction for this bulwark is unknown though late C16th accounts make reference to a ‘Great Platform’ which may represent the Tudor Bulwark. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• GARDEN (Unknown date, Undated)
• BULWARK (ruined structure, Post Medieval to Modern - 1541 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The Tudor bulwark is located just to the south of Cannons Gate, along the southern outer curtain wall of Dover Castle. It is a rectangular structure projecting into the ditch and would have been ideally situated to protect the road from Dover town into the Castle. The exact date of construction for this bulwark is unknown though late C16th accounts make reference to a ‘Great Platform’ which may represent the Tudor Bulwark.

The structure consists of a rectangular platform with a buttress built using irregular ragstone and has a low parapet which was rebuilt in the 18th century. It is known that a now demolished structure once existed on the platform against the boundary formed by casemates during the Victorian period until the late 20th century and the location can be seen on the adjacent stone curtain wall which has traces of black paint/tar, probably from the roof line. The floor of the bulwark platform has a small pathway of flagstones laid out suggesting this was one laid out as a garden or terrace. (1-2) The earliest depiction of the bulwark can be seen on the 1542 plan of ‘Dover Hayvn’ by Richard Cavendish, which depicts a rectangular feature projecting out into the ditch, the parapet of which is situated lower down the curtain wall than adjacent towers. The bulwark is crenellated and appears to have an archway in its lower flanks, although this may be an interpretation of the buttressing. (3) Eldred’s map of 1641 shows the bulwark with three cannons (4) and Fouquets plan of Dover dating to 1737 depicts five gun positions on the bulwark showing the bulwark was still in use as a defensive structure at this time and possibly the use of smaller guns instead of the larger cannon previously shown. (5)

<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.

<3> Richard Cavendish, 1541-44, A grounde platt for Dovour (Map). SKE31978.

<4> William Eldred, 1641, The Platt of Dover Castle Towne and Harbor (Map). SKE31804.

<5> J. Foquet, 1737, Plan of the town, harbour and fortifications of Dover (Map). SKE31991.

Sources and further reading

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