During a small archaeological excavation and watching brief undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust for a pipe trench within Archcliffe Fort, Dover, part of the late 19th or early 20th century yard surface or parade ground was uncovered. The work established that the central courtyard/parade ground which presently occupies much of the interior of the fort was once more extensive and originally continued towards the ramparts on the north-east side. A substantial area of the fort’s former parade ground should lie buried and preserved below the modern lawn, sealed by a dump of soil and rubble probably laid during the 1950s. The central yard itself does not seem to have been a primary feature of the Victorian fort because a large-scale plan of the site dated 1884 shows most of the open areas inside as then being occupied by lawns or a kitchen garden, cut across by various metalled paths and roadways rather than being one continuously surfaced area. The creation of the main internal yard would thus appear to be a subsequent development at the fort, first laid down sometime just before or during the First World War. (summaried from report) (1)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2017, Archcliffe Fort, Dover Watching Brief and Excavation Inside the Fort (Unpublished document). SKE51706.