Photos by John Latter : on the map, in Google Earth (KML)

Looking west along a large part of the eastern two-thirds of the pre-Napoleonic Earthwork that runs between the North Centre Bastion and the Outer Bastion on the Western Heights above the town of Dover in England.

The pre-Napoleonic mound comes in from the bottom between the leafless tree on the right and the dark area of the Upper Ditch on the left, and then veers towards the centre of the photo after passing beneath the patch of brambles.

After the clump of trees, the earthwork returns to the original course and then runs straight as a die until it almost reaches the East Moat of the Outer Bastion

Left of centre on the skyline is the low wedge-shape of one of the 'chocolate-bar segments' of the Outer Bastion.

The above photo is a 'zoomed shot' that has resulted in the centre section, which runs between the briar patch and the clump of trees, being fore-shortened.

I like the apparent, "Progression of Autumn" along the mound from the vibrant green of the trees in the top-left of the photo to the leafless tree at bottom right.

Standard information for the Pre-Napoleonic Earthworks:

Click on the Earthworks tag to see all photos of this location.

The apparent length of this east-west pre-Napoleonic mound and flanking ditches is about 275 hundred yards. It runs parallel to, and some 50 yards downhill from, the North Lines (or Moats) that connect the North Centre Bastion* (behind the viewer) to the Outer Bastion (in front).

On Google Earth (and on location) the earthwork can be seen to have been truncated to the west by the later construction of the Outer Bastion; the ground drops away on the other side of the Outer Bastion so the earthwork almost certainly once terminated within it confines.

Today's North Centre Bastion and Detached Bastion are a 'second edition' (built 1858 - 1867) with the earthwork now stopping well short of the Detached Bastion's west flanking moat. Before this mid-Victorian alteration, however, the earthwork extended much further to the east.

The original North Centre Bastion (built 1804 - 1815), for example, was constructed around the earthwork which created a dog-leg in the moat (or cross ditch) that seperated the Detached Bastion (as it was then) from the North Centre Bastion proper.

An 1859 map indicates the eastern end of the earthwork terminated near the Outer Bridge of the North Entrance, and that today's moat from the east side of the North Centre Bastion to the Outer Bridge may have replaced it.

As far as I am aware, this is the only pre-Napoleonic earthwork still identifiable as such on the Western Heights of Dover, Kent, UK.

I grew up in Westbury Road and Clarendon Place which lie below this part of the Western Heights and since childhood had vaguely assumed the earthwork was a First World War or Second World War construction.

The ditch above the mound is shallow ("Man-sized") while that below it is much deeper ("No Men here, thank you."). In other words, I thought it was a simple trench built to fill the gap between the North Centre Bastion and the Outer Bastion - it never occured to me that the construction dates might be the other way around!

The Wikipedia entry for the Western Heights states they were "First given earthworks in 1779" without giving any of their locations.

An English Heritage "Archaeological Investigation" (Report No. 7 - North Centre and Detached Bastions), on the other hand, specifically refers to the earthwork in the above photo, states how it existed before the first North Centre Bastion and was subsequently incorporated into it, etc., but also says it is only probable that it dates from the 1770s and 1780s.

• The North Centre Bastion is also known as "Dead Man's Island" and "Smokey".

Click to see a video of the North Centre Bastion.

Click to see a video of the North Entrance.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

Click to see a satellite view of the Detached Bastion.

Click to see a satellite view of the Detached Bastion.

Click to see a satellite view of the Detached Bastion.

Turn right at the top of Belgrave Road (actually a hill) and you're in Westbury Crescent; turn left and you're on grassland behind Clarendon Place and can choose from a number of pathways which then spread all over the northern slopes of the Western Heights.

This photo was taken from a short path which leads from the Belgrave/Westbury turning up to "The Dump" at the foot of the Detached Bastion Glacis*.

In the middle foreground, other paths run behind Clarendon Place until they eventually meet the North Military Road (aka "Military Hill) on its way to the North Entrance*.

On the distant skyline, and below the 12th Century Norman Keep, or Great Tower, of Dover Castle are the massive walls of the Inner Bailey, to the right of which are the Roman Pharos and Saxon church of St Mary-in-Castro.

Below the Inner Bailey are the Western Battlements, or Western Curtain Wall; Peverell`s Gate is clearly visible.

*The Detached Bastion is connected to the North Centre Bastion by the South Caponier and they, along with the North Entrance, are parts of an extensive Napoleonic and Victorian defense system embedded into the Western Heights.

Dover Castle and many locations on the Western Heights are English Heritage sites.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

Details of the Remembrance Day Service held at the Dover War Memorial on Sunday, 8th of November, 2009, are on this Dover Town Council webpage.

After the service there was a Parade from the War Memorial to the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Cannon Street via Biggin Street.

Information on the figure of Youth statue can be found in the caption to the Dover War Memorial Maison Dieu House photo (first and third entries) and at The War Memorial. The inscription on the statue reads:

"To the Glorious Memory of the People of Dover who gave their lives in the Great Wars 1914-1919, 1939-1945".

The building in the background is Maison Dieu House which was built in 1665, and according to Dover Town Council, is possibly the oldest domestic building in the town:

It was converted into a Navy Victualling Office, to serve as a residence for the Agent Victualler. It continued to be used for this purpose until after the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Subsequently it was used by the Ordnance Department as a residence for the officer commanding the Royal Engineers at Dover until 1834.

After this it was sold as a private residence. Mr R. W. Mummery, who was three times Mayor of Dover, lived there and died there in 1869. In 1855 the famous mountaineer Albert Mummery was born in the house.

In 1904 Maison Dieu House was purchased by Dover Corporation and used as the offices of the Borough Engineer and Electricity Department. In the 1920s the town's War Memorial was erected on the lawn in front of the house.

After being damaged during Second World War the building was converted for use as a public library. The Library opened in Maison Dieu House in 1952, moving from the Biggin Hall where it had been housed after it's original premises were destroyed during the war.

As well the fine red brick façade many original features can be seen inside the present library. There is the magnificent Jacobean staircase, together with exposed ceiling beams and in some rooms original wall panelling has been retained.

This beautiful building was home to Dover's excellent library until June 2003 when it closed prior to its move to the Dover Discovery Centre. During early 2004 the building was converted into offices for Dover Town Council, who moved into their new home in late summer 2004.

The Town Hall is to the left of Maison Dieu House.

Dover in World War Two: 1942 (1) is a ten minute British Ministry of Information film, released by the US Office of War Information, and narrated by the American journalist, Edward R. Murrow.

(1) Original titles: Dover (1942) or Dover Front Line.

Also see Dover's Indian Mutiny War Memorial (1857 - 1859).

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

An Autumn 2009 view of Plum Pudding Hill taken from near the North Centre Bastion (1) on the hills almost directly above Belgrave Road.

The area in shadow on the left is part of the northern slopes of the Western Heights (1).

The road entering from the bottom centre of the photo is Westbury Crescent which only has houses on its left-hand side at this western end.

The 6 houses forming a "T" with the end house of Westbury Crescent are a relatively new development occupying what was once Buttercup Meadow.

To the right of Westbury Crescent, but at a lower level, the double row of houses belonging to Westbury Road disappear into the bottom right-hand corner.

There are three blocks of houses above the 'white house' on the left-hand side of Westbury Road: I used to live in the middle block, in the corner house nearest to the camera (77 Westbury Road).

To the right of Westbury Road is Longfield Road (2). At right-angles to Longfield Road are, from right to left, Church Road (2), Malmains Road (2), and Lascelles Road who all join Folkestone Road (parallel to Longfield Road, but not in view).

Elms Vale Road (2) arcs around behind Plum Pudding Hill on the centre right-hand edge of the photo; Whinless Down is above Elms Vale Road.

Click to see a view of Plum Pudding Hill from the Outer Bastion.

The Dover War Memorial Project website states:

On 3 October 1943, three boys were injured by a bakelite grenade, which they had found on Plum Pudding Hill. Donald Smith was then 16; he sadly lost one hand, with the other being seriously injured, and there was damage to his eyes. He lived at 185 Folkestone Road. John Earl, from 48 Longfield Road, then 14, and Peter Bocutt, then 13, of 30 Longfield Road, were injured in their faces, arms, and bodies.

The WPA Film Library has some footage whose caption reads:

Motor powered truck drives up steep "Plum Pudding Hill" in a Dover park. Crowd gathered on hill to watch; houses below in BG (Background). 1920's.

The 1892 History book, "Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire" by Mary Thompson, says:

Plum-Pudding Hill is said to be the high ground between Lexington and Arch streets, in Dover city.

I had to smile at the use of 'ancient' in the book title, but I do like the idea of some long-forgotten emigrant from this Dover looking at a hill in New England and saying, "This reminds me of home..."

(1) More specifically, the above photo was taken from the outer moat encircling the North-West Caponier, part of the Detached Bastion which is connected to the North Centre Bastion proper by the South Caponier. The North Centre Bastion is part of an extensive Napoleonic and Victorian defense system (an English Heritage site) embedded into the top of the Western Heights. The eastern end of a pre-Napoleonic Earthwork is close to where this photo was taken from.

(2) The Streets of Dover website has the following entries:

Church Road:

At Maxton was so named when this area began to develop at the end of the last century and St. Martin’s Church was built to serve the new area. The name was chosen despite the fact that there then existed a Church Street a Church Court and a Church Place in the centre of the town.

Elms Vale Road:

The name Elms has for long been attached to this thoroughfare and the valley leading up to Hougham, and some fine elm trees are still to be seen along the valley at Chilverton Elms. A name plate on the flint cottage at the Folkestone Road junction still designates it as Elms Road. At the other times it has been known as Elms Bottom. After the dissolution of the Priory of St. Martins some of the corn lands in Elms Bottom passed through various owners until they became attached to the Manor of the Elms. Until late in the 19th.century there were only two properties in the valley, a farmhouse at the corner of the Stebbing Down footpath and Mr Henry Adams dairy farm further up the valley.

Longfield Road:

There appears to be no other reason for this name than there may in years gone by have been a meadow here under the hills, which was known as the Long Field. A little further on behind Maxton and Farthingloe the hill is known as Long Hill.

Malmains Road:

The Malmains were a well-known Kentish family whose name appears in the old records of many parishes around Dover and further afield. They possessed many manors in Kent including Waldershare, Alkham, Elvington and Lenacre Court Whitfield. The original Manor house at Waldershare some distance from the present mansion was known as Malmains. A member of the family came over with William the Conqueror and his descendent William de Malmains was buried in St. Radigund’s Abbey in 1224. Other owners of Lenacre Court included the Monins who gave their name to another road in the Maxton district.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

Ralf_G., on November 16th, 2009, said:

Thank you for sharing this lucky snapshot, and for the funny description! :-D

I'm inviting you to have a look at my similar snapshot of two nutrias relaxing on the banks of a ditch.

Greetings from Germany, Ralf

Thank you for your comments, Ralf :)

Your photo of the nutrias is very good - and I'm very impressed that you provided an interesting caption in both German and English!

Greetings from Dover, England,

John Latter

A Western Heights view of Plum Pudding Hill taken from near the Outer Bastion (1) and the Second World War pillbox (2) above what used to be the Buttercup Meadow end of Westbury Crescent and Westbury Road.

Folkestone Road (3) runs through the Maxton district from left to right across the bottom of the photo (Dover is to the right).

To the right of the allotments behind the small terrace with the orange roof (bottom centre) is Lascelles Road and then (most of) Malmains Road (3).

Above Malmains Road, Elms Vale Road (3) arcs around the far side side of Plum Pudding Hill. Just below the distant skyline, Whinless Down, with its flattened Round Barrows out of view to the right, looks down on Elms Vale Road.

Opposite the building with the orange roof are the first few houses of Maxton Road (3) before it disappears from view beneath the straw in the immediate foreground

The Dover War Memorial Project website states:

On 3 October 1943, three boys were injured by a bakelite grenade, which they had found on Plum Pudding Hill. Donald Smith was then 16; he sadly lost one hand, with the other being seriously injured, and there was damage to his eyes. He lived at 185 Folkestone Road. John Earl, from 48 Longfield Road, then 14, and Peter Bocutt, then 13, of 30 Longfield Road, were injured in their faces, arms, and bodies.

The WPA Film Library has some footage whose caption reads:

Motor powered truck drives up steep "Plum Pudding Hill" in a Dover park. Crowd gathered on hill to watch; houses below in BG (Background). 1920's.

The 1892 History book, "Landmarks in Ancient Dover, New Hampshire" by Mary Thompson, says:

Plum-Pudding Hill is said to be the high ground between Lexington and Arch streets, in Dover city.

I had to smile at the use of 'ancient' in the book title, but I do like the idea of some long-forgotten emigrant from this Dover looking at a hill in New England and saying, "This reminds me of home..."

(1) The Outer Bastion (an English Heritage site) is part of an extensive Napoleonic and Victorian defense system embedded into the top of the Western Heights. The western end of a pre-Napoleonic Earthwork abuts a flanking moat of the Outer Bastion, close to where this photo was taken from.

(2) The pillbox has Monument No. 933173 on English Heritage's Pastscape website.

(3) The Streets of Dover website has the following entries:

Elms Vale Road:

The name Elms has for long been attached to this thoroughfare and the valley leading up to Hougham, and some fine elm trees are still to be seen along the valley at Chilverton Elms. A name plate on the flint cottage at the Folkestone Road junction still designates it as Elms Road. At the other times it has been known as Elms Bottom. After the dissolution of the Priory of St. Martins some of the corn lands in Elms Bottom passed through various owners until they became attached to the Manor of the Elms. Until late in the 19th.century there were only two properties in the valley, a farmhouse at the corner of the Stebbing Down footpath and Mr Henry Adams dairy farm further up the valley.

Folkestone Road:

Dover does not abound with roads, which give no obvious indication of their direction - there is no Canterbury Road or Deal Road . As a main route Folkestone Road is not ancient although there is a track to the Elms valley. As the main outlet to Folkestone it was formed in 1762 under the Turnpike Acts. The toll house stood near the existing flint cottages at the junction with Elms Vale Road and for some years before it’s demolition in 1877 was a lollipop shop kept by George Rummery.

Malmains Road:

The Malmains were a well-known Kentish family whose name appears in the old records of many parishes around Dover and further afield. They possessed many manors in Kent including Waldershare, Alkham, Elvington and Lenacre Court Whitfield. The original Manor house at Waldershare some distance from the present mansion was known as Malmains. A member of the family came over with William the Conqueror and his descendent William de Malmains was buried in St. Radigund’s Abbey in 1224. Other owners of Lenacre Court included the Monins who gave their name to another road in the Maxton district.

Maxton Road:

Takes its name from the Manor of Maxton. In the 13th century the Lord of the Manor was a William Archer the chief of the 21 Dover Master Mariner's who provided the 21 ships for the Kings Service and worked the channel passage.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

Background: looking east towards the Drop Redoubt and Dover Castle from the northern slopes of the Western Heights directly above Westbury Crescent.

Foreground: to the right of the tree standing just right of centre there's a black line that wanders down to the bottom of the photo which is, of course, the path I'm standing on.

To the left of the tree an apparently similar black line first arcs into, and then goes under, the brambles in the bottom left-hand corner.

This second black line is a shallow ditch flanking a low mound to its left that runs for some distance both in front of, and behind, the viewer. Unseen on the other side of the mound is a second, deeper ditch.

The mound and two ditches are pre-Napoleonic earthworks - older than the Drop Redoubt, North Centre Bastion, Grand Shaft, Citadel, and all the other related structures on the Western Heights that Dovorians may be more familiar with.

The Pre-Napoleonic Earthworks on the Western Heights, Dover, Kent, UK photo is taken from on top of the mound and gives a clearer view of both the mound and its flanking ditches.

Click on the Earthworks tag to see all photos of this location.

This is an abridged version of the caption that accompanied the first photo of the Pre-Napoleonic Earthworks to be uploaded:

The apparent length of this east-west pre-Napoleonic mound and flanking ditches is about 275 hundred yards. It runs parallel to, and some 50 yards downhill from, the North Lines (or Moats) that connect the North Centre Bastion* (in front of the viewer) to the Outer Bastion (behind).

On Google Earth (and on location) the earthwork can be seen to have been truncated to the west by the later construction of the Outer Bastion; the ground drops away on the other side of the Outer Bastion so the earthwork almost certainly once terminated within it confines.

Today's North Centre Bastion and Detached Bastion are a 'second edition' (built 1858 - 1867) with the earthwork now stopping well short of the Detached Bastion's west flanking moat. Before this mid-Victorian alteration, however, the earthwork extended much further to the east.

The original North Centre Bastion (built 1804 - 1815), for example, was constructed around the earthwork which created a dog-leg in the moat (or cross ditch) that seperated the Detached Bastion (as it was then) from the North Centre Bastion proper.

An 1859 map indicates the eastern end of the earthwork terminated near the Outer Bridge of the North Entrance, and that today's moat from the east side of the North Centre Bastion to the Outer Bridge may have replaced it.

As far as I am aware, this is the only pre-Napoleonic earthwork still identifiable as such on the Western Heights of Dover, Kent, UK.

I grew up in Westbury Road and Clarendon Place which lie below this part of the Western Heights and since childhood had vaguely assumed the earthwork was a First World War or Second World War construction.

The ditch above the mound is shallow ("Man-sized") while that below it is much deeper ("No Men here, thank you."). In other words, I thought it was a simple trench built to fill the gap between the North Centre Bastion and the Outer Bastion - it never occured to me that the construction dates might be the other way around!

The Wikipedia entry for the Western Heights states they were "First given earthworks in 1779" without giving any of their locations.

An English Heritage "Archaeological Investigation" (Report No. 7 - North Centre and Detached Bastions), on the other hand, specifically refers to the earthwork in the above photo, states how it existed before the first North Centre Bastion and was subsequently incorporated into it, etc., but also says it is only probable that it dates from the 1770s and 1780s.

• The North Centre Bastion is also known as "Dead Man's Island" and "Smokey".

Click to see a video of the North Centre Bastion.

Click to see a video of the North Entrance.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.