Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The North West Bastion of the Citadel was completed as part of the early 19th century works on the fort and was likely largely complete by 1810. It is a complex work of three tiers, descending northwards and providing flank defence for the North Lines. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

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

Full description

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The North West Bastion of the Citadel was completed as part of the early 19th century works on the fort and was likely largely complete by 1810. It is a complex work of three tiers, descending northwards and providing flank defence for the North Lines. Although it is defined by the main ditch of the Citadel, it is separated into three self-contained parts - Inner, Centre and Outer - by two cross ditches set at a higher level than the main ditch. The terreplein of each part overlooked and provided close defence for the one below, while the cross ditches were defended by small arms fire from casemates behind the scarp revetments and by flanking fire from similar casemates behind the east counterscarp revetment of the main ditch. The Inner North-West Bastion also had artillery positions for longer range defence. Separate underground galleries that served all parts of the bastion and its casemates were located within the bastions.

The defensive arrangements of the inner bastion have been extensively built over and now only the rampart remains. The centre part of the bastion was designed for infantry defence. The enclosed space contains a large surface-built bombproof infantry shelter, referred to as a ‘Guard Room’ in
the later 19th century. The outer bastion is an earthwork without provision for its own defence but carefully profiled to allow fire over it from the Centre North-West Bastion. (1)

The North West Bastion of the citadel is shown on a plan dating to 1811 detailing the new Napoleonic works undertaken at the fort (2)

<1> English Heritage, 2004, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent: Report No. 2: The Citadel (Unpublished document). SKE17690.

<2> Major W H Ford, Royal Engineers, 1811, Plan Shewing the Appropriation of the Ordnance Lands on the Western Heights Dover 1811 (Map). SKE51523.

Sources and further reading

Related records