The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No. 2: The Citadel. Survey Report
Author(s): Paul Pattison, Adam Menuge, Andrew Williams
Between April and July 1998, the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) undertook an archaeological investigation and analytical field survey of the earthworks, buildings and structures of the Citadel, a key element in the extensive defences on the Western Heights in Dover, Kent. The first remarkable thing about the Citadel is its survival. This is due mainly to its remaining in the public domain after the military departed in the mid 1950s. Many buildings survive and constitute a remarkable ensemble that illustrates the gradual transformation of the Citadel from a defensible garrisoned fortress to a mobilisation centre and barracks. Particularly striking is the eclectic yet impressive Officers’ Quarters - a building of quality and pretension - the casemates of the Western Outworks with their exquisite brickwork detail, and the honeycombe of underground casemates and galleries, much of which are in a relatively undisturbed state that has not been subject to vandalism. Initially planned as a tiered and bastioned fieldwork, it was adapted during the Napoleonic conflicts into a permanent work which looks like an unusual hybrid between the older bastion system and the newer polygonal system of fortification. As such it is a rare example of such a land front fortress in the British Isles.
- Report Number:
- 119/2002
- Series:
- Other
- Pages:
- 165
