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Monument details
| HER Number: | MWX43107 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | WWII coastal defensive barbed wire, gun pits and military structures to north of Ramsgate Harbour |
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Summary
WWII coastal defences to north of Ramsgate Harbour including 2 barbed wire entanglements, two gun pits and a possible pillbox, visible on military aerial photographs.
| Grid Reference: | TR 38873 65182 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR36NE |
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| Parish: | RAMSGATE, THANET, KENT |
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Monument Types
- BARBED WIRE ENTANGLEMENT (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- MACHINE GUN EMPLACEMENT (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- MILITARY BUILDING (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- PILLBOX? (Modern - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
- BARBED WIRE ENTANGLEMENT (Modern - 1942 AD to 1945 AD)
- MACHINE GUN EMPLACEMENT (Modern - 1942 AD to 1945 AD)
Full description
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WWII coastal defences to north of Ramsgate Harbour including four gun pits, two military structures, and barbed wire visible on aerial photographs from 1942.
Photographs from February 1941 [1] show three gun pits; two closely constructed circular ones on the lower Ramsgate esplanade with an internal diameter of approximately 2m (638923.63E, 165206.89N and 63890.72E, 165214.80N), and a square gunpit in the main town above the esplanade with an internal diameter of 1.8m (638787.52E, 165120.53N), all of which are banked up with presumably sandbags. By May 1942 [2] a fourth gun pit has been constructed on the cliff above the esplanade and has an internal diameter of 2.8m (638907.97E, 165254.76N).
Two structures are visible on the esplanade by February 1941 [1]. The larger of the structures (638951.83E, 165221.79N) measures 9m by 7m, whilst the smaller structure (638865.94E, 165114.48N) measures 2.5m by 2m and could be a pillbox.
Several lengths of barbed wire are visible within this monument; the earliest of which appears in February 1941 [1] measuring 37m and is to the east of the square gunpit. More barbed wire is visible by December 1941 [3] and by May 1942 [2] two more lengths are visible at the top of the cliff and a small enclosure has been erected on the esplanade (638913.29E, 165195.11N).
All the features within this monument are gone by April 1946 [4].
A transcription of the features recorded from aerial photography exists within a GIS layer held by this HER [5].
<5> Wessex Archaeology, 2009-10, South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions (Digital archive). SWX15705.
<5> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document). SKE25955.
<5> Cornwall Council Historic Environment Projects and Gloucestershire County Council, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Components 1&2: Results of NMP Mapping (Unpublished document). SKE25954.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <5> | Unpublished document: Cornwall Council Historic Environment Projects and Gloucestershire County Council. 2011. South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Components 1&2: Results of NMP Mapping. |
| <5> | Unpublished document: Wessex Archaeology. 2011. South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report. |
| <5> | Digital archive: Wessex Archaeology. 2009-10. South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions. |
