Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Citadel Battery situated immediately west of the Western Outworks, an extension to the Citadel made in the late 1850s and 1860s, on the prominent east-west ridge of Upper Chalk which dominates the western side of the port and town. It was constructed between 1898 and 1900, to house three 9.2-inch Mark X breech-loading guns, with a primary role of counter bombardment of enemy shipping in the Channel, threatening to shell the port of Dover. commands an extensive view of the seaward approaches to both east and west. To the east, the battery overlooks the port as far as Langdon Cliff. With a range of almost 10 miles, these guns were an important element in the defence of the port and seaway and remained in use until 1956. (location accurate to the nearest 100m based on available information)

Monument Types

• COASTAL BATTERY (Post Medieval to Modern - 1898 AD to 1956 AD)

Full description

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Summarised from report:

Citadel Battery situated immediately west of the Western Outworks, an extension to the Citadel made in the late 1850s and 1860s, on the prominent east-west ridge of Upper Chalk which dominates the western side of the port and town. It was constructed between 1898 and 1900, to house three 9.2-inch Mark X breech-loading guns, with a primary role of counter bombardment of enemy shipping in the Channel, threatening to shell the port of Dover. commands an extensive view of the seaward approaches to both east and west. To the east, the battery overlooks the port as far as Langdon Cliff. With a range of almost 10 miles, these guns were an important element in the defence of the port and seaway and remained in use until 1956.

By the time the citadel battery was constructed warfare had demonstrated the futility of massive artillery forts with casemates and heavy armour, which had become vulnerable to accurate long range bombardment. The military engineers of the day had realised that protection could be better afforded to a small battery with a low profile, protected by a concrete barbette and a sloping earth and sand glaçis. The battery comprised three emplacements for 9.2-inch BL mark X guns, installed between 1901 and 1902, on barbette mountings. The Report of the Committee on the Armament of Home Ports, dated 1905, severely criticised Citadel Batttery. It considered, first of all, that the 9.2-inch guns did not provide sufficient cover against bombarding cruisers, especially with the position-finding (PF) equipment in use. Secondly, it was the view of the Committee that the location of the battery was too retired, leaving dead water south and south-west of Shakespeare Cliff. In 1908, probably in response to its findings concerning the PF equipment, a new Battery Command (BC) post was established behind the battery. It had two floors comprising a telephone room below an open Depression Range Finding (DRF) position. In February 1910, the three 9.2-inch guns were still in place, with close defence provided by two parapet-mounted Maxim machine guns which were in place by December 1907. Later, in 1910, the parapet carriages for the machine guns were replaced by tripod mountings, and in December of the same year one of the 9.2-inch guns (no II) was removed to Woolwich and the emplacement remained empty thereafter. The battery was fully operational during the Second World War, for some of that time manned by 295 Battery Royal Artillery. Aerial photographs taken in 1945 show the guns in emplacements I and III, complete with metal turrets and loading platforms to the rear. High walls protected the rear of the guns in both emplacements. Several other buildings, including pillboxes, were established in and around the battery. During the 1960s, the ditch around the Western Outworks was infilled. Structures between it and the battery were partially levelled, a process which removed surface traces of many of the buildings associated with this battery (1)

Further information about the historical development of this battery is available within the Built Heritage Conservation Framework (2)

<1> RCHME, 2000, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No 8: The Citadel Battery: An early 20th-century coastal battery (Unpublished document). SKE17504.

<2> Liv Gibbs, 2012, Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights (Unpublished document). SKE17708.

Sources and further reading

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