The Bulwarks, Mill Wall, Rope Walk and The Butts, are four sections of the old town boundary providing an unusual public walk around the historic town of Sandwich. A wide path runs along the top of the steep, grassy ramparts that once formed the medieval defences. These are now shaded by tall limes and plane trees, and yew and hornbeam clothe the embankments.

There are views over the inner town and outwards over the countryside. Information boards give the history of each section and of the Delf and Butt streams on either side of the wall. These attract water fowl and where there is adequate level ground, flowering trees and roses have been planted.

The evidence was reviewed by the Kent Gardens Trust as part of a 2017 review of dover district. From the report:

"SUMMARY OF HISTORIC INTEREST
The Butts, Rope Walk, Mill Wall and the Bulwark make up more than two thirds of
the town walls that surround Sandwich. As such, they form the major part of the
most complete example of medieval earth ramparts that have survived in
England to the date of this report. From the mid C19, they have been managed
to provide public walks and open space.

CHRONOLOGY OF HISTORIC INTEREST
Sandwich, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a Cinque Port, emerged
as an important centre for trade and military operations during the early medieval
period. Its position on the English Channel with a large natural harbour gave it
access to Europe and the rest of the world while a network of roads going inland
meant that goods could easily be transported from the port to larger towns.
This strategic position gave the town two important advantages: it was
acknowledged by the king as an important place for the royal navy, and it had a
deep sea fishing fleet. These two factors gave the town enormous negotiating
powers with both the church and the crown and its resultant prosperity was
reflected in the growth of the town to a population of around 2000 by the end of
the C11. The importance of the town’s location also meant that, in the first half of
the C14, Sandwich acquired defensible walls. Archaeological evidence shows
that the development of these walls was carried out in several phases. The
stretches of rampart on the west side of the town, away from the waterfront, now
known as The Butts and Rope Walk, were probably built at an earlier date than
the ramparts to the east, now known as Mill Wall and the Bulwark.
Also in the early C14, a royal castle was built on the east side of Mill Wall
supposedly to muster troops on their way to France. It no longer stands, but
there is substantial archaeological evidence of its existence. In the Calendar of
Patent Rolls (CPR) of 1385, masons, carpenters and other workmen were called
to work on Sandwich Castle.

There were four main gates into the town: Sandown Gate to the east, New Gate
to the south, Woodnesborough Gate to the west and Canterbury Gate to the
north. These were demolished in the C19 and very little remains of them. The
Sandwich historian, William Boys (1735-1803), describes and illustrates them in
his book ‘The History of Sandwich’ published in 1792. Due to the destruction of
the Sandwich Year Books dating before 1430, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact
date they were built.

William Boys’ map of Sandwich, dated 1787, gives a detailed description of the
town. The Butts and Mill Wall are named on this map but not Rope Walk or The
Bulwark although the ramparts are clearly drawn.

The Butts is said to have been so called, because of its use for archery practice
in Medieval times when there were laws that made all Englishmen aged between
15-60 carry bows and arrows. In the Calendar of Patient Rolls of 1360 during the
Hundred Years War it says that 80 archers and the strongest and bravest men of
the country were to be selected and duly furnished with arms, armour, bows and
arrows and brought to Sandwich. Butts were usually located on the outskirts of
villages and towns, on flat areas of land up to 200m long. Here in Sandwich, the
Butts field was situated on the town side of the rampart. Being approximately
200m long, however, this field could in principle have been used for archery
practice although there is no record of this specifically happening.
Rope Walk is so named because reputedly it was used to lay the ropes for the
rigging of sailing ships. There was ship building in Sandwich in the first half of
the C18 and before Sandwich ceased to be a port, fleets were anchored here.
The fact that the Walk is 375m long and the average length of rope was 305m,
supports the theory of its use for this purpose. On the north side of the walk
there is a drainage ditch and on the south side a wet moat. These provided an
important new element in the land drainage system at the time of their
construction. Archaeologists think that Rope Walk and The Butts were
constructed in the second half of the C13 and have very similar profiles when
looked at in sections (Clarke and Pearson 2010). They also think that the shallow
moat that runs on the west side of The Butts must have had the same effect on
drainage as the moat on the south side of Rope Walk.

There are references in the CPR of murage grants (tolls for the building or repair
of the town wall) being given in 1385 and again in 1386. These presumably
relate to the fortifying of the town from the east to defend against invasion by the
French, and it is thought that Mill Wall was constructed in this period.
Excavations also show that this section was constructed at a later date than The
Butts and Rope Walk; Mill Wall is also much steeper and higher than the other
fortifications.

Mill Wall is so called because of the wind powered corn mills that stood on it.
These can be seen on the Andrews, Dury and Herbert map of Sandwich dated
1769. The main mill was described as the Town Mill. This burned down in 1895.
On the north-east corner of the town wall is the Bulwark. In the Year Book of
1451, it was described as a two-storey wall for guns. Year Books during the C15
show that money was regularly spent on its up keep and its armaments This part
of the rampart differs from the others being enclosed by yellow buff bricks (HER
No 35 NW 689 ).

A mention of the walls is made in ‘The Iternarary of John Leland In and About the
Years 1535-54’. Leland comments that Sandwich was ‘meatly welle walled’ at the
points ‘wher the town standeth most in jeopardy of enemies’ and was ‘dichid and
muddied waulled’ in the ‘residue of the town’
The 1522 Year Book describes how the fortifications were used for pasture and
grazing animals. This was deemed to be an offence but apparently the practice
continued.

During the late C14 and C15, Sandwich continued to be a thriving town. By the
mid C16, however, the port of Sandwich started to decline. Michael Zell and
Dorothy Gardiner, two C20 historians who researched Sandwich’s Medieval
period, attributed this to the silting up of the harbour and the monopolies that
were now given to London merchants and the East India Company taking trade
away from Sandwich.

In the C18, travellers give descriptions of the walls: Edward Hasted described
them as ramparts and ditches, and T Fisher in ‘Kentish Travellers Companion’,
1794, described them as being made by throwing up earth. Later, in 1818, L
Fussell in his book ‘Journey Round the Coast of Kent’ comments that the walls
round Sandwich were mouldering in decay and that the town was ditched with
muddied walls.

The first description of the ramparts being used as public amenities comes in
1864 in William Miller’s book ‘Jottings of Kent’. Miller comments on the ancient
walls being converted into a pleasing walk. The cast iron bollards (dated 1860
AD), which stand at some of the entrances to the walks on the ramparts,
presumably formed part of these improvements (KCC monument report) and the
ramparts must have become formally pedestrianised during this time. The OS
map of 1862 -75 names The Butts, Rope Walk, Mill Wall and The Bulwark.
Photographs taken in the early C20 show the pathway on Rope Walk with trees
planted on both sides.

The minutes of the General Purpose Committee, between 1910 and 1949, give
an over view of what the ramparts were like during the early C20. Tree planting
and care was regularly discussed. In April 1921, it was recommended that the
poplar trees on The Butts be lopped and the grass on Rope Walk be mown. In
February 1928, there was a recommendation that a row of limes be planted
between the path and the ditch on The Butts, 30 feet apart and 6 feet from the
footpath. There is also a recommendation that the dead trees on The Butts and
Rope Walk be removed and replaced with standard limes. In 1924 and 1936,
there were concerns about boys interfering with the two walnut trees at the
entrance of Mill Wall on New Street; it was minuted that they should be
reprimanded by the mayor. General repair work on the ramparts was regularly
discussed and the use of the dykes, that had up to that point been used as town
drains, was prohibited as a modern sewage system had been put in place.
A bandstand committee was formed in 1924 and it was recommended that a
bandstand be situated on a platform in the centre of Rope Walk. It was to be
octagonal in form and without a roof, with lattice fencing around it. A dozen seats
were to be put on Rope Walk at the cost of £2.15s a piece. Later in 1930,
applications were made from the Chislet Band and The Salvation Army to play
there. It is minuted that the bandstand was demolished in 1947 because it was in
a bad state. In 1939 the minutes show that a fair was to be held on The Butts for
the benefit of The Nursing Association. Indeed local people can remember fairs
being held on the site up until the 1950s.

In 1928, land to the west of The Butts was converted into a recreation ground.
The land was privately owned and was donated by the owner on condition that
the town council laid it out for football, cricket and lawn tennis in perpetuity. A
playing field sub-committee was set up in September 1929 for its organisation. In
1937, an area of the ground was designated as a cricket club and money was
donated for a “movable” cricket pavilion.

During WW2, there were requests for the land east of The Butts to be used to
store barrels, and as a brining plant for the war effort. In March 1941, it was
resolved that the playing fields and any other unoccupied land belonging to the
corporation fit for cultivation, be made into allotments.
In 1972, Sandwich Council became part of Dover District Authority and funds
were made available for a new cricket pavilion and play area for children on the
recreation ground.

SITE DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING, ENTRANCES
AND APPROACHES
The ramparts form a 1.6km footpath, in the shape of a U, beginning with the
entrance to The Butts on Strand Street, and encircling the town to the west, south
and east, ending at the entrance to the Bulwark on The Quay.
The Butts runs for 525m along the west side of the town from its entrance on
Strand Street at the site of the former Canterbury Gate to the north, southwards
to the entrance on Moat Sole. 75m south of the Strand Street entrance there are
eight C19 cast iron bollards. The Butts is bounded to the west by the town ditch
and the recreation ground to which it is connected by two small footbridges over
the ditch

The recreation ground, 3ha in extent, is shaped like an anvil with its longest side
to the west abutting the railway line. Its north and south boundaries are bounded
by depots. At the southern end of the recreation ground is a children’s play area
and a skate park, and on the north side is the cricket pavilion and cricket pitch.
There is access to The Butts from its eastern, town, side, from what is now
(2017) the CO-OP supermarket car park. This measures 200m in length where
it abuts The Butts footpath and 50m on the town side, and was the site of The
Butts field. The car park is bounded by the gardens and houses of Tannery
Lane to the north, and Moat Sole to the south, with the supermarket standing to
the east. Elsewhere, the eastern side of The Butts is bounded by private houses
and their gardens.

Rope Walk lies to the south of the town and is 375m long. It has two main
entrances: one to the west off Moat Sole, where the Woodnesborough Gate
stood (opposite the entrance to The Butts), the other to the east opposite the
entrance to Mill Wall in New Street. The entrance on Moat Sole is marked by
C19 bollards. There is also a small footpath, named Fellowship Walk, 50m east
of the entrance in Moat Sole, which leads off the path towards the town car park.
Rope Walk is bounded to the south by the town ditch. The northern boundary on
the town side consists of, to the west, the end of the gardens from the houses in
Whitefriars Meadow and Moat Sole, and to the east, a drainage ditch connecting
to a culvert.

The Mill Wall has two main entrances: that to the east of New Street (opposite
the entrance to Rope Walk), where New Gate stood. On the south of the
entrance there are mid C19 railings on the bridge over part of the town drain. The
other entrance is to the north-east in Sandown Road where Sandown Gate once
stood (opposite the entrance to the Bulwark). Here there are seven C19 bollards.
In total, the path is 425m in length, leading initially 200m eastwards from the New
Street entrance, before dog-legging to continue north-eastwards for 425m to
Sandown Road. There are two entrances from the town side, one off Mill Wall
Place, and one off Knightrider Street. The path is bounded on the town side by
housing and the town bowling club. An electricity sub-station stands south of the
walk, just to the east of the New Street entrance. On the south-east side, it is
bounded by a field that was the site of the Castle.

The Mill Wall rampart is very steep. Two footbridges bridge the dry moat to the
south, the one opposite Knightrider Street entrance being of wooden lattice work
structure as described in the General Purpose Committee minutes in February
1928 as a rustic bridge. The other footbridge is 50m to the east of the New Street
entrance. Both lead south away from the rampart to St Georges Road. There are
many mature trees on both sides of the path and in the moat, some of which are
yew and copper beech.

The entrance to the southern end of The Bulwark stands on Sandown Road
(opposite the entrance to Mill Wall). From here, the Bulwark leads north for 75m
before leading westward for a further 125m to its entrance on The Quay. Both
entrances are marked by C19 bollards.

The Bulwark thus forms a 200m footpath along the top of the north-east corner
of the raised bank of the ramparts, above the exposed brickwork that would have
formed the two-storey wall for guns. To its north, it is bounded by the grass field
beside the River Stour and to the east by the dry moat. The moat is now grassed
over and houses an enclosed children’s play area. The west and south side of
the path is bounded by the fence of the 2.5ha Salutation gardens (registered
grade II). Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) designed The Salutation house and its
accompanying gardens, in 1912.

Gardens and Pleasure Grounds

The ramparts are formed by earthen banks of soil with a central tarmac path
running along the entire length of the them. Along the south side of Rope Walk
and the east side of the Butts runs the town drain. The drain had been dredged to
make it a town feature for wildlife and fishing. Lime and poplar trees are planted
along the sides of the paths to form avenues and there are also mature trees
doted along the side of the stream. On the south side of Rope Walk there is
formal planting in the form of several square beds at regular intervals which
consist of roses and crab apple trees. The Bulwark is a managed area for
recreation with the topography of the dry moat forming gentle slops of mown
grass. The Mill Wall contrasts with the other ramparts, its very steep sides giving
it a dramatic and sublime atmosphere. The mature yews and other trees and
shrubs are a sanctuary for wildlife. All the walks have mature trees growing
alongside them which include yew, limes, holly and chestnut trees. At the
Sandown entrance to the Buwark are two large wingnut trees. (1)

<1> Kent Gardens Trust, 2017, The Kent Compendium of Historic Parks and Gardens for Dover: The Butts, Rope Walk, Mill Wall and the
Bulwark, Sandwich (Unpublished document). SKE51721.