Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Two battery command posts were constructed at the Citadel Battery, the second replaced the first in 1908. It is situated behind the battery close to the northern edge of the ridge, in a position midway between emplacements I and II. It is a concrete structure protected by an earth mound shielding the eastern, western and southern sides. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• COASTAL BATTERY COMMAND POST (Modern - 1909 AD? to 1935 AD?)

Full description

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Summarised from report:

Two Battery Command posts were constructed at the Citadel Battery, the second replacing the first in 1908. It is situated behind the battery close to the northern edge of the ridge, in a position midway between emplacements I and II. It is a concrete structure protected by an earth mound shielding the eastern, western and southern sides and revetted on the north by a ramped retaining wall. The mound is now severely slighted on the south and east. It was originally of two floors but a third was added very shortly after completion. The new upper floor carried out the same function as the second floor. The enclosed ground floor formed a telephone room while the second and upper floors housed the Depression Range Finding (DRF) equipment. The present remains comprise the lower floor and the middle floor, though the latter has several alterations and the upper floor has gone. The ground floor telephone room, 3.17m by 2.59m by 2.40m high, was originally of cavity-wall construction with a concrete core and brick skin. The middle floor forms a three-sided platform open to the rear (north), with partly ramped side walls; it was originally reached via a steel ladder attached to the northern wall. The upper floor was originally open, with only a steel railing around the perimeter. By 1914 a simple concrete roof had been added. (1-2)

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 Report No 8: The Citadel Battery: An early 20th-century coastal battery (Unpublished document).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

<2> John A. Guy, 2013, Verbal communication from John Guy, defence expert working in the Dover area (Verbal communication). SKE24831.

Sources and further reading

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