New Funding to Improve Dover's Second Great Fortress
A £149,000 grant from Historic England is set to help conserve and regenerate Dover’s Western Heights over the next 3 years.
One of the most important and impressive fortifications in Britain, the Western Heights are a series of defensive forts linked by miles of ditches on the western hilltop above Dover.
Historic England has awarded funding to Dover District Council to improve the condition of this vast, extraordinary site – currently on the Heritage at Risk Register – and how it connects with the town and waterfront below. It will be match-funded by the Council.
"This grant will enable Dover District Council, their partners and local people to better understand, care for and enjoy the Western Heights - Dover’s second great fortress. This exciting project is the result of a shared vision to improve the area, provide better access, and celebrate this cherished place. We see this as an important step toward securing a long-term sustainable future for the fortress and making the most of Dover’s remarkable heritage."
Alice Brockway, Development Advice Team Leader
The capacity building grant will fund a project officer who will deliver a range of work including coordinating and increasing volunteering opportunities, building visitor numbers through promotion and events, and the creation of a ‘vision’ document for the Western Heights.
The project officer will work closely with the Western Heights Preservation Society to continue the positive progress made by their passionate volunteers, along with English Heritage which cares for part of the site.
This is such good news. The backing of Historic England and Dover District Council is so important to the work we are doing on the Heights. It will mean that we will be able to do so much more in partnership with them and with English Heritage.
The Western Heights is an extensive site of national significance and includes:
- A scheduled monument, with remains of a Roman lighthouse and medieval chapel
- 2 listed structures – the Administration Block and Grand Shaft Stairs
- A conservation area
- A local nature reserve with protected species and important chalk grassland
A brief history
The Western Heights began as a series of field fortifications during the American Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). They were strengthened and extended in brick during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792 to 1815), extended and amended again in the 1860s, and finally completed in the 1890s.
The Heights were also used for barrack accommodation during the First and Second World Wars, and some of the fortifications were adapted for modern warfare.
The Drop Redoubt is one of two independent forts on the Western Heights and is linked to the other, the Citadel, by a series of dry moats, or ‘lines’. It is a large and impressive fortress intended to defend against the attack of an invading force attempting to capture Dover from the north-east.
The Grand Shaft was built during the Napoleonic Wars to link the harbour to the barracks on the Western Heights. This unique 19th-century triple staircase provided a shortcut for troops from the Western Heights to the town.
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