Several attempts to carry out conservation were made over the years but all ended prematurely due to excessive vandal activity. Even the spotlights which were installed in 1994 to illuminate the Redoubt at night to match the Castle’s flood lights had been either smashed or stolen in a comparitively short space of time.
The latest conservation programme carried out by English Heritage, carried out between 1994 and 1998 had been reasonably vandal-proof thanks to the vigilance of the workmen and EH. This is not to ignore the copious amounts of tools that have been stolen from on-site lock-ups and the odd attempted break-in.
Those 4 years were spent re-pointing the brickwork round the scarp of the Drop Redoubt. This work included replacing ceramic water drain pipes and replacing brickwork where necessary. That conservation programme finished due to 'an assessment of regional priorities' by English Heritage. The approximate cost of this work was £250,000.
English Heritage's contractors carrying out re-pointing work in 1998
The guns are now long gone, of course, but three of the four emplacements and their magazines are still extant at North Lines Right Battery. Emplacement number 1. was on the piece of land that was removed when the 1967 road was cut through the ditch, no.2 is on private property but no’s. 3 & 4 are on open ground adjacent to the Drop Redoubt ,(this area is owned by English Heritage), and can be easily visited.
Access to the St. Martin's Battery deep shelter is now impossible due to a steel grate having been fixed in its entrance. For many years all the magazines were open and thorough investigation was possible (if not highly dangerous), but again, thanks to the vandals all accesses have been closed off.
For many years St. Martin’s Battery had been badly vandalised just like the rest of the Heights, with fires being lit in the gun houses and the deep shelter behind. The shelter had apparently also been the home to other unsocial activities.
In 1993 it was proposed by Dover District Council, who incidentally owns the site, that the area be turned into a Western Heights Discovery Centre using EEC funding via the European Regional Development Fund. In July 1993 the Dover Express and East Kent Mercury reported that in excess of £70,000 was to be spent on the Heights with £15000 being spent on St. Martin’s Battery by ‘improving and installing one or more guns’ and another £15000 by creating ‘A Soldier’s Life’ heritage trail centered around the Grand Shaft. Most of this didn't happen !
New Wayside Boards
In 1998 a ‘Gun Battery’ trail was created around the battery by Dover District Council. This trail incorporates 13 new sign boards in full colour describing life around the Victorian and WW2 batteries. It was thought that by creating correct interpretation of the area it would give some meaning to the various buildings and structures and cancel out the vandalism. This is a major step in prolonging the useful life of St. Martin’s Battery although the new sign boards are regularly themselves vandalised and it seems to be some time before they are replaced. There is evidence of the local ‘wasters’ using them as targets for brick throwing and air rifle practice. Consequently we are still waiting for the ‘one or more guns’.
The new signs are incidentally, in English and French and the technical details of the battery were contributed by Dover Museum and the Kent Defence Research Group.
There are no guns now at Citadel or Langdon Batteries although at the Citadel Battery sections of the steel gun platform of number one gun are now lying on the ground and the concrete emplacements and underground magazines are still easily accessible. Langdon Battery is now the site of a coastguard lookout (built on top of one of the emplacements) and although emplacements and magazines are still there they are fenced off from the public.
The remains of the rifle galleries off the site of the Archcliffe Gate are half-buried and inaccesible. And being shrouded in trees are often the attention of vandalism.
To see some March 1977 pictures of the inside of these rifle galleries have a look at Keith Slade's White Cliffs Underground
IMPACT
In 1993 work started on rebuilding the original guardhouse and entrance gate to the Shaft from Snargate Street.
Reconstruction of The Guardhouse on Footings of Original, 1995
Compare with 1909 Postcard Above
This work was carried out by IMPACT;
‘The Dover and Deal IMPACT Partnership is the latest in a series of urban environmental programmes, targeted on Kent’s economic priority areas.
The IMPACT project is jointly funded by Kent County Council and Dover District Council and delivers a package of town centre improvements in Dover and Deal. It aims to make the most of the opportunities presented within its three year programme which is due to end in March 1996, and encourages partnership working such as this one with Dover Museums Services.’ ***
Construction of the Replica Guardhouse in 1995 by IMPACT
The original guardroom and cells were demolished around 1969 and it is on the original footings of the guardroom and entrance gate that the ‘replica’ was built in order to give Dover:
‘a fitting entrance.....on the A20, complementing the other improvements already achieved by IMPACT, working in partnership with the Department of Transport and private owners in the Snargate Street area.’ ***
***Taken from IMPACT Bulletin No. 11, August 1995
The replica buildings were constructed using imperial size Ockley brick, Smeed Dean and London Stocks. Lime mortar was used to obtain the correct appearance, and the arch segments were specially made, with sawn brick arch voussoirs.
In August 1998 the firm of architects responsible for the work received a Downland Prize for the work carried out at the Shaft.
The new guardhouse and gate create a much improved look for visitors to the Shaft, the guardhouse also doubling as ticket kiosk and interpretation centre. The entrance to the shaft passage was however, left as is.
