Summary
This monument consists of the remains of a redoubt, constructed in c1794. The redoubt covers a roughly rectangular area of ground measuring approximately 130 square meters. The northern half of the site consists of a relatively flat area following the levelling of part of the defensive earthworks. The southern half of the site contains a number of earthworks (surviving to a height of c.4m) relating to the redoubt structure.
Reasons for Designation
The Shorncliffe Redoubt, a large late-C18 earthwork field fortification, built as an anti-invasion measure during the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: a rare surviving, large-scale field fortification from the early years of the Napoleonic period. The redoubt is a reminder of the urgent measures taken in response to the threat of invasion from Revolutionary France. It is also the last surviving structure at Shorncliffe contemporary with the founding, by Sir John Moore in 1803, of the hugely influential camp for light infantry;
* Form: one of the last of such earthwork redoubts constructed. This style of redoubt was shortly to be superseded at the start of the C19 by circular brick and masonry designs, intended principally as artillery platforms rather than protection for infantry;
* Potential: archaeological potential for evidence of its construction, original appearance and internal buildings, also for military artefacts from the whole period of its occupation;
* Group value: part of a particularly strong group of designated Napoleonic coastal defence structures including the Royal Military Canal, Shorncliffe Battery and Martello Towers Nos. 7-9.
History
Redoubts are independent defence works, usually square or polygonal in shape, consisting of a rampart with fire step and protected by a ditch but without any flanking defences. Normally of earthwork construction, redoubts were sited ahead of main defences or at strategically important locations to deter an enemy from making a direct assault. They were seen as an alternative to conventional bastioned fortifications and were regarded as fieldworks rather than permanently garrisoned forts, although some were built for longevity, sometimes incorporating brick or masonry elements. In England a number of C17 examples from the Civil War period survive and in the C18 detached redoubts were employed during the invasion crisis of 1779-80 when a series were constructed as outworks to the defences of Plymouth and Chatham. Later, more heavily armed versions were devised during the Napoleonic War, often with substantial garrisons. Three such redoubts, at Eastbourne, Dymchurch and Harwich were built in the early C19 as an integral part of the Martello Tower system of coastal defences. The effectiveness of such detached redoubts was demonstrated by their use in the Lines of Torres Vedras which successfully defended Lisbon during the Peninsula campaign.
Shorncliffe Redoubt was constructed c1794 as an anti-invasion defence to defend against a possible landing on the beaches to the west of Folkestone. Following the declaration of war on Britain by the French revolutionary government on 1 February 1793, a report was prepared in early 1794 by the Board of Ordnance on the state of coastal defences. It concluded that only the defences of the naval dockyards at Plymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham were adequate to face a possible French invasion. In 1794 land was purchased at Shorncliffe and a design for a redoubt was prepared by Lieutenant Colonel William Twiss (1744/5-1827), commanding Royal Engineer for the southern military district. Twiss had already supervised changes to Fort Cumberland in Portsmouth and subsequently was to oversee the construction of four bastions at Dover Castle and the defences on the Western Heights, as well as the 74 Martello towers erected on the south coast.
Construction of the Shorncliffe Redoubt probably started soon after the land was purchased. Twiss’s plans of 1794 show a square rampart surrounded by a ditch with various unidentified buildings inside. The ramparts are shown with rounded corners except for an angled north-west corner. In the north-east and south-west corners of the ditch counterscarp galleries reached by tunnels are shown on the plan. These would have provided enfilade fire along the ditch. On the north, east and south faces of the glacis, three small triangular place-of-arms are indicated. No physical evidence of any of these features has been found and they were probably never built for reasons of expediency or cost, since the counterscarp galleries would have been substantial brick-built structures. Although access ramps to the ramparts are indicated on the plan, it is unclear whether these were built either as later plans do not show them and it is uncertain whether the ramparts were intended to mount positional artillery. It seems more likely that the redoubt was primarily for the use of infantry, deployed to defend the headland and road leading up from the beach (Hospital Hill) and to support the Shorncliffe battery constructed above the beach to the south-west of the redoubt. Field artillery would have been mounted in the redoubt as required for its defence. Entrances to the redoubt are shown on a later Ordnance Department plan of 1824 as being located in the centre of the south rampart and at the eastern end of the north rampart. The 1794 plan shows only a tunnel entrance in the south face which was also presumably never built.
In May 1803, war with France, now under the rule of Napoleon, was resumed after the brief Treaty of Amiens and invasion was once again an imminent danger from the French army encamped at Boulogne. On 9 July 1803, Sir John Moore (1761-1819), was appointed to command a brigade of infantry stationed at Shorncliffe to guard this part of the coast. It also marked the start of the celebrated camp for light infantry which resulted in a significant change in both the tactics and quality of the British Army. The units at Shorncliffe, including the green-jacketed 95th (Rifle) Regiment, the first British infantry regiment to be wholly armed with the Baker rifle, provided the basis of the elite Light Division, which served with great distinction under Moore and Wellington in the Peninsula campaign. Designed to provide whole units of light infantry trained as skirmishers and able to combat the large numbers deployed in this role by the French, training placed an emphasis on self-reliance, self-improvement and professionalism for both officers and men. The camp consisted of temporary buildings and tents used during the summer training season and set out on the land to the north and east of the redoubt. A permanent training camp was eventually laid out from the late 1850s.
After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the long period of peace following Waterloo meant that the redoubt ceased to have a defensive role, although it possibly played a part in training exercises. In 1838 material from the buildings of the redoubt were sold off at auction and by 1844 the site was empty. In the 1850s a house, serving as the Camp Commandant’s house, was built in the centre of the fortification. Redoubt House, enlarged in the late C19, included a stable block to the north-west and the interior of the redoubt was laid out as gardens. It appears that the ramparts on the south side of the redoubt were lowered in order to provide sea views from the upper storey of the house. A carriage road with an entrance through the eastern rampart was laid out and is shown on an 1899 plan of Redoubt House. The house was demolished at some point between 1907 and 1938, possibly during World War I by which time the redoubt was being used by the Royal Engineers. During both World Wars the area was heavily defended and trench systems are evident to the south and west of the redoubt. The redoubt continued in use as a storage area until the 1950s when the buildings were demolished and much of the north rampart and the northern part of the east rampart were levelled into the ditch. A telecommunications mast was erected in the centre of the redoubt in the first decade of the C21.
The site was the subject of investigation in 2006 as part of the Time Team series. The investigation, given the form of the Time Team programme, was carried out over only three days and included the excavation of eight trenches. It answered some of the questions regarding the redoubt’s original layout and construction, and a number of Napoleonic military artefacts were found, but much of the site remains uninvestigated.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
Shorncliffe Redoubt is situated at the south-western extremity of Shorncliffe Camp on a headland sloping down to the south, east and west. It consists of earthern ramparts and a ditch, which survive on the western, southern and parts of the northern and eastern sides of the redoubt, square in plan with sides approximately 110m in length. Much of the north rampart (with the exception of the north-west corner) and the northern part of the east rampart have been levelled although the ditch survives as a buried feature. The remaining sections of rampart survive to a height of between 4m and 5m from the inside of the redoubt.
DESCRIPTION
Investigations in 2006 revealed that the ramparts were constructed of carefully compacted deposits from the excavation of the ditch. Clear vertical edges to the bank were discerned, perhaps indicating that the bank was revetted or supported by earth-filled wicker gabions although no evidence of these was found. The best preserved sections of the rampart are in the west where evidence of the parapet and fire step survive although the south rampart is also very substantial with a near-vertical external profile. The south rampart is pierced by the southern entrance indicated on the 1824 plan. Excavation of the infilled northern ditch established that its original depth was approximately 5 metres. Where the ditch is extant, the edges have been subject to natural erosion so that it now survives as a hollow, approximately one metre deep, at the foot of the ramparts.
The interior of the redoubt contains the foundations of the various phases of buildings occupying the site. The 2006 evaluation found evidence of the 1850s Commandant’s house and stables, and the hard standings of C20 structures are apparent, although no indication of any buildings of Napoleonic date was found. A telecommunications mast and its ancillary buildings stands at the centre of the redoubt.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The scheduled area extends slightly beyond the known extent of the redoubt on the eastern side and south-western corner for the protection of the monument and for clarity of the boundary.
EXCLUSIONS
The C20 telecommunications mast, its ancillary buildings, hard standings, fencing and access road, as well as metalled track surfaces, are all excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.
