Ramsgate is situated on the east coast of the Isle of Thanet, facing France and the Low Countries. It originated as a small fishing town in the medieval period, but by the reign of King Henry VII (1485-1509), Ramsgate Harbour was considered to be a limb of the port of Sandwich and, as such, a non-corporate member of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports. A wooden pier is said to exist during this period, as noted by antiquary John Leland (1503-1552) in his Itinerary. By the time of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the town was already trading fish and corn but Baltic trade expanded considerably, particularly between England and Russia, following the accession of William of Orange in 1689 and an end to the Dutch Wars. In 1744 the House of Commons proposed to King George II that a survey be undertaken in the area around Sandwich to establish a new harbour site for large merchant ships and men of war. Although the plan was approved it was subsequently shelved, likely due to financial strain caused by the war with France and Spain. On 16 December 1748 a violent storm caused ships on the Downs to seek shelter in Ramsgate Harbour. Many vessels and lives were saved and the following year petitions were made the House of Commons that Ramsgate be the site chosen for a new harbour, instead of Sandwich. The House duly passed an Act for the construction of a Harbour of Refuge ‘proper and convenient’ for the reception of ships up to 300 tons. On 4 July 1749 the first meeting of appointed Trustees was held at the Guildhall, London. The trustees included the Rt. Hon. William Pitt Esquire (“Pitt the Elder”) and Sir Francis Dashwood. A committee visited Ramsgate to make observations and report back to the board, noting the build-up of sullage (in this case seaweed and fine silt) caused by the existing pier and the need for a long term solution to deal with the accumulation of silt which so far had been dealt with by men, machines and barges. An advertisement was placed in the London Evening Post on 8 August 1749 and, of the many designs received, those of trustee William Ockenden and Captain Robert Brooke of Margate were accepted.

In less than a month, work on the east pier commenced. Purbeck stone was used in the construction, although the west pier was originally to be built of wood. An inspection committee recommended that ashlar, rather than shell lime, should constitute the backing of the stone pier and the constitution of its mainly chalk core revised by the addition of pebbles in place of mortar. During 1752 it was decided that the west pier would be constructed of stone as with the east. On 14 December 1753 Ockenden submitted a plan to the trustees to contract the harbour to a width of 1200 feet, offering a financial saving and allowing the west pier to head into possibly deeper water. The plan, which was approved, attracted strong local opposition causing the trust to appoint, in 1755, Captains Sir Piercy Brett and J. P. Desmaretz, R.N., to undertake a survey of the harbour and assess the viability of the scheme. They recommended extending the original line of the piers, removing the works undertaken by Ockenden and sinking a basin 16 feet below the low water spring tide mark, partially enclosed by a stone wall, against the east pier. Works eventually resumed in 1761 but by the end of the decade silting up of the harbour had become a serious issue. In response to this the Board of Trustees invited John Smeaton on 15 July 1773 to provide advice on cleaning and deepening the harbour.

Smeaton, born in 1724 at Austhorpe near Leeds, was one of the first men to style himself as a Civil Engineer. His works include the Eddystone Lighthouse (Grade I), harbours at St Ives and St Austell Bay (both Grade II*) and the River Calder Navigation (elements of which are listed at Grade II). He provided a report, on 24 October 1774, proposing the construction of a basin to take in the sea water which would be utilised to cleanse the harbour via the use of sluice gates. Examples of the use of sluices in the Low Countries (modern day Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), and recognition of the considerable rise and fall of the tide at Ramsgate, convinced Smeaton that a basin, filling at high water and releasing its contents during the ebb, offered the best hope of a lasting solution. To combat the risk of the tidal basin silting up, Smeaton drew up a plan for a double basin, although eventually a variation of the plan was accepted, submitted by Thomas Preston (the master mason), which involved the construction of a cross wall from the end of the old pier over the whole width of the harbour to the west pier, forming one basin. The variation offered a substantial cost saving and works soon went ahead. A failed test of four completed sluices on 9 August 1779 led to the modification of timber planking and the construction of flanking stone aprons to prevent rapid undermining of the cross wall during the out-rush of water. The remaining sluices were completed and in operation by August 1781. Around this time the committee recommended that 300 feet of cross-wall should be taken down at the western end and a return wall to the cliff built parallel to the west pier. During a visit in 1787, Smeaton was asked to advise a method of removing turbulence from the harbour. Experienced pilots suggested that an advanced pier from the head of the east pier some 400 ft long would help to quieten the waters and help ships coming in during a strong gale. Smeaton considered this possible as a result of the construction of the basin and sluices. Works on the advanced pier started by 1788, with Smeaton successfully employing the use of a ‘diving chest’, founded upon the well-known principle of the diving bell, in order to clear the large stones which had been thrown around the east pier head in 1774 to secure it from damage by heavy seas. The advanced pier was subsequently completed by 1792.. <1>



<1>Historic England The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate

Ordinance Survey, 1872, Ramsgate Kent XXXVIII.1.22 (Map). SKE56202.

Ordinance Survey, 1872, Ramsgate Kent XXXVIII.1.23 (Map). SKE56259.

Ordinance Survey, 1872, Ramsgate Kent XXXVIII.5.2 (Map). SKE56205.

<1> Historic England, The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate (Digital archive). SKE56260.