Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Headquarters of Richborough Port, a large WWI port built to service allied troops on the Western Front. Subsequent research indicates that the identification of this as the headquarters may be erroneous due to a mis-reading of a published plan of the site. It is possible that the building was the headquarters of the ports stores, rather than the headquarters of the whole port. The building was in military use in WWII but appears to have since been removed by later 20th century redevelopment.

Monument Types

• MILITARY BUILDING (Modern - 1916 AD to 1945 AD)

Full description

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Owner : Private
Publicly accessible : No
How accessed for survey :
Tourism Potential :
Condition : Destroyed
Date of visit : 07/07/07

Amended description following Phase 1 of the South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey:

This site was initially recorded as the headquarters building for Richborough Port, a major WWI port serving allied troops on the Western Front (MWX43487). The site was again in military use during WWII, see below. The area was extensively redeveloped for industrial and commercial use in the later 20th century and there do not appear to be any remains of this structure visible on recent aerial photography [4]

The identification of this building as the port headquarters may be a misreading of a published plan of the site which has the labels "stores" and "H.q." at this location [1]. A plan of the site taken from "The Engineer" and included in a discussion thread about Richborough Port on the Kent History Forum [2], labels a building at this location "Garage", no HQ buidling is marked at or near this location on this plan. A building of the same plan-form as that shown on "The Engineer" plan is visible on RAF vertical aerial photographs taken during WWII [3]. Several vehicles (which look like trucks) are visible parked next to the building on this photograph [3]. The building is of a modest scale for the headquarters of such a large facility and it is possible that the building was the headquarters of the stores, in addition to functioning as a garage, rather than the headquarters of the whole port.

Robert Butler, 01/01/99, Richborough Port (Bibliographic reference). SKE14153.

<1> Robert Butler, 01/01/99, Richborough Port (Bibliographic reference). Ske14153.

<2> Kent History Forum, Topic: Richborough No 1 Shipyard (Digital archive). SWX15715.

<4> Next Perspectives consortium via English Heritage, 2003, 2007, Next Perspective PGA georeferenced aerial photograph data, PGA_TR3359_2003-08-14 (Graphic material). SWX15711.

Sources and further reading

Related records