Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The Grand Shaft Barracks (initially called the Western Heights Barracks) were commissioned in 1804 and completed in 1805. They continued to develop over the next 150 years of use and were served by the Grand Shaft. The buildings were demolished in 1965 (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information).

Monument Types

• BARRACKS (Demolished, Post Medieval to Modern - 1805 AD to 1965 AD)

Full description

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Summarised from report:

The barracks were completed rapidly, in 1805 to provide accommodation for 700 men and the earliest plan depiction of the completed works dates to 1810. The site chosen for the barracks was in a combe directly overlooking the harbour, with cliffs preventing direct access between the two. In the second half of the 19th century, the barracks reached their maximum extent, with various buildings added around the original core. These buildings, including a church, a school, a gymnasium, a laundry and married soldiers’ quarters, were located either higher up the slopes of the combe or on a detached site on the top of the ridge north-west of Centre Road. This new work was the result of the Barracks and Hospitals Improvement Commission, appointed by Palmerston in 1857 as a result of pressure from a growing group of reformers. Their report of 1858 for Western Heights Barracks saw the need for additional buildings and sanitary improvements; some 1,071 men were accommodated in 51 rooms. By 1896, there were 912 officers and men stationed in the barracks. A few minor additions were made to the buildings - e.g. a Troop Stable and Mobilization Vehicle Store in 1899 and an Infants School in 1902-3 - while existing buildings were modified for new functions. Several temporary buildings were erected during the Second World War, some replacing structures demolished by enemy action. In addition, a large shelter was built underground on the south-western part of the barracks site and its entrance can be found in the woodland there. The barracks were decommissioned in 1960 and most of the buildings levelled in 1965, although two buildings were left standing: the Gymnasium survived in 1979 but was removed by 1983, while the Troop stable/Transport Shed stood until 1997. (1)

Further information about the historical development of the Grand Shaft Barracks is avilable in the Built Heritage Conservation Framework for Dover Western Heights. (2)

The earliest plan which shows the completed Napoleonic works which were undertaken at the Grand Shaft Barracks dates to 1810. (3) A later plan which dates to 1861, immediately prior to the 1860's scheme of works which were undertaken at the barracks site, gives further detail of the buildings constructed during the Napoleonic works, including lables of specific buildings. (4)

<1> RCHME, 2000, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No 4: The Grand Shaft Barracks, 19th and 20th-century infantry barracks (Unpublished document). SKE17499.

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

<3> Major W H Ford, Royal Engineers, 1811, Plan Shewing the Appropriation of the Ordnance Lands on the Western Heights Dover 1811 (Map). SKE51523.

<4> Unknown, 1861, Dover, General Plan of the Western Heights Barracks (Plan). SKE51541.

Sources and further reading

Related records