Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Dover Convict & Military Prison, Langdon Barracks, Dover.

Monument Types

• PRISON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• MILITARY CAMP (Modern - 1901 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The convict prison was built in 1884 in response to the need to employ convicts in major projects of national value, then completing works at Chatham and Portsmouth harbours. Fox Hill Down was chosen as the site and the prison built with a tunnel to the Eastern Docks so that convicts could reach the point of work without coming into contact with the public. The prison comprised of a main outer wall with a main entrance on the western side, with a gated archway. There were rooms on either side of the archway which were used for signalling and training stores pre1939 and one of the rooms then used as a guardroom during WW2. Parts of the footings of the wall can be traced along the southern side of the establishment. On the left, once in the compound was the Barrack Quartermasters Store which was probably the site of the prison stables, Further along the access road on the leftwas the range of blocks A and B. Between the blocks and C block Solitary Confinement Cells is level 2 and thought to be the exercise area. At the western end was the laundry, bakery and bathouse. In the far NW corner was the infirmary. A house was built outside the compound above the road for the Governor's accommodation. For whatever reason the use of convict labour did not materialise. The prison was closed in the mid 1890s. It was handed over to the War Dept and used as a military prison (sometimes called Broadleas Prison). It served the local South-East Military Forces. Additional buildings were constructed, the two stores or skidding sheds (one of which was used as a drill hall), the Chief Warder's accommodaation, and the Governor's House was enlarged with a stable block added. An iron railing fence was erected around these two and also enclosed gardens and a levelled area which might have been a tennis court or croquet lawn. The married quarters for the convict prison and also for the civilian married staff were sited in a coombe to the north of Fax Hill Down at TR33284242. By Feb 1908 it was again closed. For a short period it served as a Barracks in WWI. In 1925 most buildings had been demolished except for the outer wall, Infirmary and two storage sheds, which were used in the 1939-45 War to house the skidding equipment for 'gun bucking'. By 1950 the site had been cleared.(1)

In 2012 Archaeology South-East carried out a watching brief on the site. Remains possibly of a previously unrecorded prison building were found in one area, consisting of brick foundations. (3)

In 2010 Archaeology South East was commissioned by the National Trust to undertake an archaeological watching brief during ground works associated with the improvement of the path linking the coach park to the visitor centre at the White Cliffs Experience, Dover, Kent (NGR 633499 142200). A brick wall and a parallel feature containing slate edging were revealed during the works, probably relating to the site’s former use as a prison. A gap in the slate edging possibly indicates the position of an entrance into the building and a return in this feature possibly indicates the position of the corner of the building.
A shallow linear feature was uncovered, which may be a garden feature also relating to the period when a penal institution stood on the site.(3)

In 2012 Archaeology South-East carried out a watching brief on the site. Remains possibly of a previously unrecorded prison building were found in one area, consisting of brick foundations. (4)

Corbet, E. E., 1991, Langdon Convict Prison, Military Prison and Langdon Barracks (Unpublished document). SKE6603.

Corbet, E. E., 1991, Langdon Convict Prison, Military Prison and Langdon Barracks (Unpublished document). SKe6603.

<1> Nicola Bannister, 1999, Langdon Cliffs Survey (Unpublished document). SKE6595.

<3> Archaeology South-East, 2010, An Archaeological Watching Brief on Land at The White Cliffs, Dover (Unpublished document). SKE29270.

<4> Archaeology South-East, 2012, Archaeological Watching Brief Report: White Cliffs Visitor Centre, Dover, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE17586.

Sources and further reading

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