Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A group of now demolished ancillary buildings stood to the south-west of the main barracks complex on a number of terraced areas. The upper terrace included the clerk of works quarters and a WWII deep shelter guard post, married soldiers quarters and the laundry (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information).

Monument Types

• LAUNDRY (Post Medieval to Modern - 1869 AD? to 1960 AD?)
• MARRIED QUARTERS (Post Medieval to Modern - 1869 AD? to 1960 AD?)

Full description

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Most of the ancillary structures, comprising stores, canteens, workshops and gardens etc, stood to the west of the main steps. The platforms on which these were built, along with fragments of walls and floors, are visible on four artificial terraces cut into a steep slope. Although the area is now heavily wooded and overgrown, the remains of many structures can be identified. Most of the ancillary buildings were arranged originally on two parrallel terraces with a single building on a third terrace. A fourth terrace was added in the late 1860's to accommodate the married soldiers quarters and a laundry.

The upper terrace included the married soldiers quarters and the laundry. At the time of survey, it was very overgrown and therefore not thoroughly investigated. However, it appeared to have no obvious visible remains, and the terrace appeared to be eroded and graded.

The married soldiers quarters which was constructed in 1869-70, was a brick built two storey range with a pitched slate roof, providing quarters for 26 families, each in a one room appartment with a covered verandah. Each appartment contained a cupboard and a fireplace with a small range. Stairs at the north and south end of the range reached the first floor appartments and a sink and ash bin were provided in a separate room at the south end of the range. The provision of single room apartments with a first floor verandah conform to the model plan prepared in 1860 by the office of the Inspector General for Fortifications, and first implemented at Hounslow. At the Grand Shaft barracks, the location of the married soldeirs quarters some distance from the rest of the barracks may either be the result of using the only site available by 1869 or the desire to separate families from the rough soldiery.

The laundry was a single storey building of brick with a slate roof was also constructed in 1869-70, to the south west of the married soldiers quarters. The central block housed the laundry and the wash facilities, while smaller wings contained ablutions and latrines for men, and for women and children respectively. (1)

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

Sources and further reading

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