Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The site of the foundations of an uncompleted extension to the Harbour is visible of a number of cartographic sources dating to the early post medieval period. These foundations formed the latest part of Thompsons works on the harbour which were undertaken between 1535 and 1551. (location accurate to the nearest 50m based on available information).

Monument Types

• HARBOUR (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1535 AD to 1551 AD)

Full description

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The site of the foundations of an uncompleted extension to the Harbour is visible of a number of cartographic sources dating to the early post medieval period. These foundations formed part of Thompsons works on the harbour which were undertaken between 1535 and 1551. These works are the second in three major phases of harbour development in the early post medieval period, the first constitutes the formation of Clerks pier and associated towers (c. 1500-1530?), and the third the works by Digges (1581-1595) on the Great Pent and outer harbour walls. (1)

Thompson’s original plan was to build two large timber piers from the mouth of the Paradise eastwards into deeper water, this was underway by 1535. It was hoped that by constructing longer piers, the problem of the shingle blocking the harbour mouth could be overcome by diverting it out to sea. This idea seems to have been followed throughout the 1530s, 40s and 50s and the southern pier was extended eastwards from the mouth of Paradise pent by increments over the next 20 years. Large though the scheme was, it did not overcome the problem of the build-up of the beach shingle against the back of the piers and the harbour mouth became blocked again as early as November 1535. The creation of the Kings pier and Greenway’s Ledge was part of the last works undertaken under Thompsons scheme to tackle the problem of silting, but these works were never fully completed and were left to become ruins until further developments of the harbour were undertaken in the later 16th century. (2)

Three plans by Thomas Digges dating to 1581, 1588 and 1595, clearly depict these foundations, the latest also labels them. Three labels are attributed to the incomplete works of Thompson situated just outside the mouth of the harbour; ‘The Beacon on the Mowle Head’ which is located on the most easterly end of the pier extension foundation, ‘The Foundation of the Kinges Piere’ which is depicted as a stony bank extending east, just beyond the mouth of the harbour and the ‘Greenewayes Ledge’ which is shown again as a stony bank, extending southwards at a right angle to the foundations. (3-5)

Further historic cartographic sources depicting the location and extent of these unfinished works include that by Johyn Symonds dating to 1583-1584 (6) and Thomas Miles dating to 1580 (7)

This part of the scheme, which was undertaken between c. 1541 and 1551, was by far the most ambitious of all of the Hendrician harbour works. The scheme was originally to be comprised of two massive piers, one heading eastwards from the south pier works (The Kings Pier), the other heading southwards from just north of the River Dour, of these two only the southern was actually started. The technical problems were enormous as the timber for the pier would only be available in finite lengths, consequently a large stone foundation would be needed. Elaborations of the Kings Pier were projections from its southern side known as Greenways Ledge and the Black Bulwark. Greenways Ledge was intended to restrict the continuing accumulation of beach, though this scheme was also unsuccessful. Its failure had been attributed to a number of reasons, mainly natural, but also that the construction was reliant on stone foundations, often on a very large scale, upon which the timber pier would be constructed, this pushed the limits of the contemporary technology. (8)

<1> Alec Macdonald, 1937, Archaeologia Cantiana: Plans of Dover Harbour in the Sixteenth Century Vol. 49 (Article in serial). SKE31789.

<2> Maritime Archaeology, 2008, Dover Terminal 2 EIA: Historic Environment Baseline Report (Unpublished document). SKE31717.

<3> Thomas Digges, 1581, The State of Dover Haven (Map). SKE31984.

<4> Thomas Digges, 1588, Plan of Work at Dover Harbour (Map). SKE31986.

<5> Thomas Digges, 1595, The state of Dover Haven with the New workes (Map). SKE31987.

<6> John Symonds, 1583-1584, Dover Harbour (Map). SKE32347.

<7> Thomas Miles, 1580, Proposal for Dover Harbour (Map). SKE31983.

<8> M. S. Johnson, 2015, Historic Timber-built Seacoast Piers of Eastern England: Technological, Environmental and Social Contexts (Unpublished document). SKE32003.

Sources and further reading