Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The northern supr earthworks, Spur redan and associated tunnels which linked this area and St. Johns tower to the northern entrance, were originally constructed in the 13th century after the 1216 siege, but were very different to was is visible today. The spur as it is today is mainly of an 18th century date; it was remodelled in the 1750’s and then again in the 1790’s. Now the Spur Redan comprises a great earthwork in the shape of a barbed arrowhead, projecting to the north and a redan (a raised gun battery) within this with brick revetted ditch immediately in front of it sunken into the spur. The redan is raised c.3 - 3.5 m above the main ground level of the spur and the base of the ditch is a similar depth below it. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• EARTHWORK (Post Medieval to Modern - 1755 AD to 2050 AD)
• CAPONIER (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1790 AD to 2050 AD)
• DITCH (Post Medieval to Modern - 1790 AD to 2050 AD)
• GUN EMPLACEMENT (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1790 AD to 2050 AD)
• BASTION (Post Medieval to Modern - 1794 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The northern supr earthworks, Spur redan and associated tunnels which linked this area and St. Johns tower to the northern entrance, were originally constructed in the 13th century after the 1216 siege, but were very different to was is visible today. The spur as it is today is mainly of an 18th century date; it was remodelled in the 1750’s and then again in the 1790’s. Now the Spur Redan comprises a great earthwork in the shape of a barbed arrowhead, projecting to the north and a redan (a raised gun battery) within this with brick revetted ditch immediately in front of it sunken into the spur. The redan is raised c.3 - 3.5 m above the main ground level of the spur and the base of the ditch is a similar depth below it.

The Medieval spur is likely to have been oval in shape (though there is considerable uncertainty about this) and the medieval tunnel towards the spur incorporated three passages which it is thought led to three towers, probably similar to St. Johns tower, the junction of these three truncated passages survives beneath the redan. The medieval spur was replaced by the current earthwork which comprises a projection in the shape of a barbed arrowhead with extended northern end and brick parapets along the perimeter wall. There is some uncertainty regarding the means of access to the reformed spur following the 1750s alterations but presumably they reused the medieval tunnels. Further extensive modifications were also undertaken at the end of the 18th century. These works included the construction of the redan (a raised gun battery) and then a small brick-revetted ditch in front of it (constructed in 1801). A bomb proof guardroom and passages together with drawbridge and hanging doors also formed part of this phase. The redan is raised c.3 - 3.5 m above the main ground level of the spur and the base of the ditch is a similar depth below it.

Behind the spur redan are a series of structures within the main ditch which connect the 18th-century redan to the medieval St John’s Tower. In detail, these structures comprise three separate but adjoining works erected in the moat – the Main (central) Caponier; the West Wing Spur Caponier and the East Wing Spur Caponier. Such caponiers were protected covered galleries from which muskets and artillery could be used to provide flanking fire along the ditch
if the castle came under attack.

The moat/ditch associated with this part of the castle is potentially the product of three periods of work: a primary ditch of either Iron Age or Anglo-Saxon date; a medieval ditch associated with the outer defences of the medieval castle proper and an enlarged and re-cut ditch connected with the additional defences constructed here during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. It seems likely, however, that the earlier ditches in this area have been at least partially, if not wholly, destroyed by the post-medieval re-modelling of the moat here. (summarised from reports (1-3)

<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> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2010, Report on a watching-brief at the northern caponiers of Dover Castle (Unpublished document). SKE16846.

Sources and further reading

Related records