Powder Magazine and walls

Summary

Powder magazine and flanking walls, constructed by John Shaw in 1828.

Reasons for Designation

The Powder Magazine and walls at the south-west end of the Cross Wall at the Royal Harbour, Ramsgate, of 1828 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a good survival of a specialist military building type; highly functional in form, with minimal embellishment and little-altered.

Historic interest:

* it represents an important episode of our national history with regard to relations with rival foreign powers and a demonstration of military technological development.

Group value:

* the powder magazine contributes to the historic interest of the development of the Royal Harbour and its constituent elements.

History

Ramsgate is situated on the east coast of the Isle of Thanet, facing France and the Low Countries. Originating as a fishing village within the medieval parish of St Laurence, Ramsgate’s development from the C16 was driven by the strategic importance of its coastal port. Ramsgate became associated with the Cinque Ports as a limb of Sandwich from the C14. Late C17 trade with Russia and the Baltic resulted in a wave of investment and rebuilding in the town. In 1749 the construction of a harbour of refuge from storms in the North Sea and Channel was approved, and a cross wall and inner basin were completed in 1779 to the design of John Smeaton.

The supply of gunpowder to the army and navy was a key function of the Board of Ordnance from the C16 until 1855 when it was incorporated into the War Office. Gunpowder, a dangerous and valuable commodity, required cool, dry and secure storage, and early magazines were located within extant fortified buildings, the earliest recorded example being the Square Tower, Portsmouth (1494). Purpose-built, free-standing structures, comprising vaulted compartments in which the powder was stored in barrels in neat regulated stacks, appeared in increasing numbers in the C18. The construction of ordnance-related buildings increased after the breakdown of the Peace of Amiens in 1803 and resumption of hostilities with France, which heightened the threat of invasion.

A powder magazine was constructed at the harbour in Ramsgate in 1802 when works were being undertaken to improve its defences during the War of the Second Coalition against France (1798-1802). This included the addition of eight guns and the 9m x 3.35m magazine, built to contain 500 barrels of gunpowder. Previously the powder had been stored outside the town and the new magazine was built to save carrying gunpowder through the streets in a covered wagon. However by the 1820s the need for more storage meant that a larger magazine was required. This was designed by John Shaw in 1828, and comprised the magazine that currently stands in the harbour. The new structure increased in size from its predecessor in order to contain 100 additional barrels of gunpowder, taking the total to 600. Naval ships would deposit their gunpowder in the magazine whilst they were in the harbour.

Two leather buckets to contain sand or water in case of fire in the magazine have been preserved and are kept in the Maritime Museum.

Details

Powder magazine and flanking walls, constructed by John Shaw in 1828.

MATERIALS: ashlar walls with slate roof and timber doors.

PLAN: a single cell, rounded lozenge shaped building with a high flanking blast wall which extends about 5-6m beyond the magazine at either end.

EXTERIOR: the magazine is a single storey structure, constructed of large stone ashlar blocks, supporting a slate roof with swept hipped ends and parapet gutter. The building lacks fenestration but two single wooden panelled doors are located on the curved ends. A small buttress has been built within the north-east angle between magazine and flanking wall. Scarring at the south-east angle suggests a matching buttress was once present there. The extending walls are downward stepped to either side of the magazine.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

171986

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Matkin, R B, Maritime Thanet, (1982)
Busson, C, Book of Ramsgate, ()
Hunt, Michael, A History of Ramsgate Harbour, (2007)

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