Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The Cinque Ports Prison, which is located against the southern half of the western outer curtain wall at Dover Castle was likely originally constructed in the 1770’s and consists of a two storey range of domestic style brick buildings and incorporates Fulbert of Dover’s Tower. Earlier plans of the site indicate that the present building was constructed on the site of an earlier structure, known as the Debtors Prison. There have been numerous changes made to the current structure, most notably in 1796 when it was extended on the southern side to provide additional cells and an exercise yard (which has now been demolished). The prison use continued until the 1850s, after which the building provided accommodation for married soldiers and offices for the Royal Engineers. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• PRISON (Post Medieval - 1770 AD? to 1850 AD?)
• MARRIED QUARTERS (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1850 AD? to 2050 AD)
• OFFICERS QUARTERS (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1850 AD? to 2050 AD?)

Full description

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The Cinque Ports Prison, which is located against the southern half of the western outer curtain wall at Dover Castle was likely originally constructed in the 1770’s and consists of a two storey range of domestic style brick buildings and incorporates Fulbert of Dover’s Tower. Earlier plans of the site indicate that the present building was constructed on the site of an earlier structure, known as the Debtors Prison. There have been numerous changes made to the current structure, most notably in 1796 when it was extended on the southern side to provide additional cells and an exercise yard (which has now been demolished). The prison use continued until the 1850s, after which the building provided accommodation for married soldiers and offices for the Royal Engineers.

The internal spaces have been little altered since the building was vacated in the 1970s. Noteworthy features are the prison cells within Fulbert of Dover’s rectangular mural tower, which retain their heavy doors (with spyholes); the rere-arches of blocked medieval windows and remains of a garderobe on the first floor of the tower; the cramped stone vices giving access to the first floor; the mural passages cut through the thickness of the curtain wall to allow access to the southern and northern extensions; the survival of internal joinery and fireplaces, much of it dating from the 1850s. Summarised from sources (1-2)

<1> Johnathan Coad, 1995, English Heritage Book of Dover Castle and the Defences of Dover (Monograph). SKE52106.

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

Sources and further reading

Related records