Monument record TR 34 SW 1045 - No. 2 gun emplacement, Citadel Battery, Western Heights, Dover
Summary
Location
Grid reference | Centred TR 3040 4031 (27m by 26m) (3 map features) |
---|---|
Map sheet | TR34SW |
County | KENT |
District | DOVER, KENT |
Civil Parish | DOVER, DOVER, KENT |
Map
Type and Period (1)
Full Description
Summarised from report:
Three gun emplacements were constructed and armed at the Citadel Battery between 1901 and 1902, these were for 9.2-inch BL mark X guns on barbette mountings. A Report of the Committee on the Armament of Home Ports, dated 1905, severely criticised Citadel Batttery: it considered, first of all, that the 9.2-inch guns did not provide sufficient cover against bombarding cruisers, especially with the position-finding equipment in use. In 1910, the parapet carriages for the machine guns were replaced by tripod mountings, and in December of the same year one of the 9.2-inch guns (no II or B gun) was removed to Woolwich and the emplacement remained empty thereafter. The three emplacements are arranged in series, each one comprises a gun pit defined by a barbette, 2.2m high, which splays to the rear and joins with parapet walls which run between the emplacements. Each emplacement is essentially identical, with only slight variation in the positioning of particular features. Construction is of concrete and steel throughout. Emplacement for gun no II varies slightly, not least because the gun was dismantled and removed in 1911. There is only one ready-use ammunition locker in the barbette; a cartridge recess in the eastern wall. The scars marking the positions of three carbine racks are evident. The concrete within the holdfast has been lowered by 8cms, further exposing the steel bolts. A concrete platform, the base of a small structure, occupies the southern part of the gun pit floor. This was part of a flat-roofed building, visible on air photographs of 1945. The steel loading platform has been totally removed from the gun pit and the sides of the barbette. (1-2)
<1> RCHME, 2000, The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No 8: The Citadel Battery: An early 20th-century coastal battery (Unpublished document). SKE17504.
<2> John A. Guy, 2013-, Verbal communication from John Guy, defence expert working in the Dover area (Verbal communication). SKE24831.
Sources/Archives (2)
- <1>XY SKE17504 Unpublished document: RCHME. 2000. The Western Heights, Dover, Kent. Report No 8: The Citadel Battery: An early 20th-century coastal battery. [Mapped feature: #92435 No. 2 gun emplacement, Citadel Battery, Western Heights, Dover, ]
- <2> SKE24831 Verbal communication: John A. Guy. 2013-. Verbal communication from John Guy, defence expert working in the Dover area.
Finds (0)
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Related Monuments/Buildings (0)
Related Events/Activities (1)
- Non-Intrusive Event: Survey of the Citadel Battery, Dover Western Heights fortress (EKE11881)
Record last edited
Mar 1 2019 2:38PM