Pre-Construct Archaeology conducted a level 2 built heritage survey on land occupied by nos 149-156 Snargate Street, Dover, Kent. This was done prior to redevelopment of the site.

Taken from source: 'The remains of a bread oven of late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century date had been built into a blocked arch opening within the south-eastern facing cliff face to the rear of no. 156 Snargate Street. This arched opening formed one of three similar, but not identical, contemporary brick arched openings, that together formed part of a brick lower retaining wall located at the north-eastern end of the site. The three arches, though of unequal width, were built to the same height and were clearly contemporary with each other and formed the retaining wall at the rear of 155 and 156 Snargate Street. They were each built using the same style of brick voussoir, of two on-edge header courses, also similar stylistically to the arched openings used within the Drop Redoubt. The two southwestern arches were significantly narrower than the much wider arch to the northeast. Only the central arch of the three brick arches remained unblocked, although the opening had been narrowed at the base, using brickwork, to form a door opening. The arch structure was built using a standard brick vault, built into the chalk cliff face. This bare chalk still showed a pattern of ‘pick’ marks from its excavation and remained exposed to the rear of the recess. The south-western of the three arches had been blocked using both brickwork and modern blockwork. The former comprised similar stock brickwork and was laid as a simple half brick blocking wall in stretcher bond that was built up to impost level, while the infill blockwork blocked the ‘tympanum’ of the arch. Evidence of render applied to the brickwork shows it was formerly abutted by a covered structure. As a consequence of this blocking, a new opening, allowing access to the interior of the south-western arch, was inserted in the wall between it and the central (open) arch. The oven structure is clearly a secondary addition, which was built following the blocking of the arched opening with yellow stock brickwork in stretcher bond. The brickwork of the oven structure contrasts with the blocking wall, built using both red and yellow bricks in a random bond. Its main fireplace/firebox opening is positioned roughly central to the arch, with a vertical brick flue, based to the south-west, and a tier of cast-iron ovens and warmers to the northeast. The central opening was built with a simple brick-on-edge segmental arch additionally supported by a series of wrought iron bands, integral to the surrounding fireplace structure. The depth of the opening was relatively shallow and certainly not deep enough to accommodate more than the smallest of ovens. The location of the flue would suggest this opening was the firebox or hearth and focus for heat generation. The ovens used for baking confectionaries were located to the north-west of this opening. They comprised a series of three small ovens in a vertical arrangement, which had long since lost their cast-iron doors. The lower oven, typical of a bread oven was lined with fire bricks and included an upper arched brick head. This lay below a cast-iron box or oven, also with an arched profile, and another smaller compartment towards the top of tier. They were in a poor state of preservation having lost much of their original fixtures. Given the small size of these ovens, it seems likely this was not a large scale bulk producer of bread, but, as demonstrated by the trade directories for no. 156 Snargate Street, used in the production of smaller consumables such as pastries and confectionaries.' (1)

<1> Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2016, BUILT HERITAGE RECORDING AT NOS 149-156 SNARGATE STREET, DOVER, KENT, CT17 9BZ (Unpublished document). SKE31673.