Main Magazine, Bomb Shelter, North Centre Bastion, Western Heights, Dover, Kent, UK

The long triangular-shaped main magazine on the surface of the North Center Bastion 'island' is bisected by the arch shown above.

There is a single windowless room to the left with no exit. There are two rooms to the right, divided by a wall with various openings, and a door at the far end.

The faint outline of Dover Castle's Norman Keep can be seen on the skyline through the arch.

Part of the Napoleonic defenses on the Western Heights

(Alt: North Centre Bastion)

Also see: Satellite view of the North Center Bastion annotated with tunnel system locations, surface features, drawbridges, etc.

See the North Centre Bastion video.

The English Heritage Pastscape entry for the North Centre Bastion and Detached Bastion reads (1):

TR 3110 4083 North Centre and Detached Bastions

North Centre Bastion was begun in 1804 during the Napoleonic Wars, as part of the Western Heights fortress in Dover. It remained unfinished at the end of the war in 1815 but was completed to a revised design between 1859 and 1867; this resulted in two linked bastions known as North Centre Bastion and Detached Bastion (2).

Both were surveyed and researched by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England between 1998 and 2001 as part of the Dover Western Heights Survey Project (event UID 1316220 and monument UID 467989). See the archive report and plans for full details: Pattison P The Western Heights, Dover, Kent; Report no 5 North Centre and Detached Bastions.

An English Heritage site and Scheduled Monument; the Detached Baastion is also known as "Dead Man's Island".

Photos of the Detached Bastion are included under the North Centre Bastion tag.

(1) Pastscape: North Centre Bastion

(2) The bastions are linked by the South Caponier (see South Caponier interior; South Caponier exterior).

All photos of Dover's 'Forgotten Fortress' can be found under the Western Heights tag which includes the Drop Redoubt, Grand Shaft, North Entrance, Pre-Napoleonic Earthworks, and St Martins Battery.