Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Substantial remains of an early gun battery which once stood in front of the Elizabethan Customs House were found and rapidly recorded by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust ahead of the destruction of the remains by the construction of the same pedestrian underpass that, at a lower level, produced the remains of the Bronze Age Boat. (Location is accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information).

Monument Types

• BATTERY (Post Medieval - 1580 AD? to 1800 AD?)

Full description

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Substantial remains of an early gun battery which once stood in front of the Elizabethan Customs House were found and rapidly recorded by CAT ahead of their destruction by the same pedestrian underpass that, at a lower level produced the Bronze Age Boat. The battery stucture, although quite well known from historic maps and documents, had remained buried below the ground since it was incorporated into the New Bridge in 1800 and its exact location, size and construction remained largely unknown.

Originally built in 1560, the open battery stood in front of the contemporary Customs House overlooking the mouth of the River Dour, and seems to have been designed primarily to protect the harbour facilities here. Something which was never entirely clear from the early documents was the battery's precise relationship to the Medieval town and the Boldware Gate which led through it. Excavation however has clarified the situation showing that Boldware Gate and the curtain wall had been largely destroyed by the sea before the construction of this battery. The Customs house and battery were of one build, with the customs house being set upon the collapsed remains of the Boldware gate-tower, which itself may have housed an earlier customs office. There was no real distinction between the remains of the Customs House foundations and the battery; the complete structure consisted of a solid rectangular platform projecting from the northern bank of the river. Measuring some 13m (E-W) by 21m (N-S), its strong walls were faced with large neatly cut blocks of mortared ragstone over a metre thick. The core of the structure was filled with alternate layers of beach shingle and rammed chalk, although no traces of the original battery floor had survived. (taken from source) (1)

Over a period of 18 months Trust members were able to record various sections of the battery, which was surprisingly well preserved in many places. Eventually it was possible to produce a complete ground plan of the work, allowing its precise position in relation to the modern town and its dimensions to be recorded for the first time. No traces of the later Customs House had survived. (2)

The location of Three Gun Battery is clearly noted at the south eastern end of Bench Street on William Eldred's plans dating to 1641 (sheet 1/2) (3) and 1631 (4).

<1> Keith Parfitt, 1993, Ravelin: One Lost and One Found: Two Gun Batterys at Dover. Vol. 35 (Article in serial). SKE31756.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2001, Dover Sewers/A20 Project 1991–3, Assessment Report and Updated Project Design (Unpublished document). SKE31815.

<3> William Eldred, 1641, The Platt of Dover Castle Towne and Harbor (Map). SKE31804.

<4> William Eldred (?), 1631, Plan of lands belonging to the Priory and now to Master Buffkyn (Map). SKE31988.

Sources and further reading