Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Behind the scarp revetments there are three long galleries incorporating casemated rooms for both musketry and carronades, all for the defence of the ditch. These are constructed mainly in brick laid to English bond, usually with axial semi-circular vaults of stretchers, invariably whitewashed. The west Musketry gallery consists of four musketry casemates to the south and nine casemates to the north, connected to the terreplein by a flight of stairs. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• CASEMATE (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1862 AD? to 1945 AD?)

Full description

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(summarised from report)

Behind the scarp revetments there are three long galleries incorporating casemated rooms for both musketry and carronades, all for the defence of the ditch. These are constructed mainly in brick laid to English bond, usually with axial semi-circular vaults of stretchers, invariably whitewashed. Each casemate has at least one small square smoke vent, situated in the front wall at the apex with the vault. The floors are usually concreted, stone is used for load-bearing, notably for lintels to doorways (gritstone) where there are structural elements above. The musket loops are mainly brick, stepped and splayed in profile and plan, the splay varying according to the ground covered in the ditches. The apertures can be either horizontal or vertical, the former utilised to cover straight sections of ditch, the latter to cover the angled faces of the revetments. Most loops have a shallow segmental arched head with a relieving arch of two or three header courses. Cut sandstone is used for the lintels of the horizontal loops.

The west musketry gallery was approached down a stairway from the terreplein, the brick steps have stone treads, with low stone wheeling platforms on the flanks to facilitate hauling of artillery and supplies. At the base of the stair there is a small landing, from which two shorter flights lead west and north respectively. The west flight leads down into the short western portion of the gallery comprising four musketry casemates connected by central rectangular openings in the party walls. The first casemate is slightly smaller because its rear wall is finished, whereas in the remaining three there is unrevetted chalk rock. The north flight of steps descends to the longer section of the west gallery. This has a continuous axial vault along the rear of nine casemates. (1)

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

Sources and further reading

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