Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The southern entrance (also known as Archcliffe Gate) to the western heights fortress was constructed in the 1860’s as part of a major revision of the southern defences. It was located at a point where the South Military Road attained the crest of the ridge. One of the major features of this entrance was the Drawbridge which allowed (or denied) access from South Military Road, over the ditch and through the gate. The whole South entrance was demolished in 1967 and bridge removed. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• DRAWBRIDGE (Demolished, Post Medieval to Modern - 1860 AD? to 1945 AD?)

Full description

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Summarised from report:

The southern entrance (also known as Archcliffe Gate) to the western heights fortress was constructed in the 1860’s as part of a major revision of the southern defences. It was located at a point where the South Military Road attained the crest of the ridge. One of the major features of this entrance was the Drawbridge which allowed (or denied) access from South military Road, over the ditch and through the gate. The whole South entrance was demolished in 1967 and bridge removed.

As with many of the bridges within the fort, three quarters of the bridge span was fixed with the remainder a drawbridge. The bridge was carried on three pairs of piers, of a cruciform section and probably in cast-iron, which were bolted through flanges to masonry or brick abutments in the ditch bottom. The drawbridge pivoted at its north-eastern end, the pivot incorporated into the masonry of Archcliffe Gate, and was closed by lifting chains running from pulley slots When the drawbridge was closed it acted as an outer gate to the entrance. (1)

A drawing which includes plans, sections and elevations of the bridge was produced in 1876 and gives details of its form and mechanism. (2)

<1> RCHME, 2000, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No 6: The Entrances to the Fortress: 19th-century artillery fortifications (Unpublished document). SKE17501.

<2> Royal Engineers, 1876, Hand-tinted sections, plans and an elevation of the drawbridge at the southern entrance to Western Heights (Plan). SKE51622.

Sources and further reading

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