Southern Breakwater, Including Knuckle and Southern Breakwater Lighthouses, Dover, Kent

Description

DOVER

685/0/10028 Southern Breakwater, including Knuckle
16-DEC-09 and Southern Breakwater Lighthouses

II
Harbour breakwater. Completed by 1909. Constructed by the firm of Coode, Son and Mathews as part of Admiralty Harbour. Later C20 additions.

MATERIALS: Constructed of concrete blocks from 26 to 42 tons each, faced above sea level with granite. Two cast iron lighthouses.

PLAN: Island breakwater, 4212 feet in length, running east to west between the southerly ends of the Eastern Arm and the Admiralty Pier. East end curves to north.

DESCRIPTION:
Batteries to the east and west ends of the breakwater comprise a flat-roofed terrace of barracks and magazines constructed of granite block and concrete, they are set back from the landward side allowing a walkway along the breakwater. Concrete gun emplacements sit above the barracks, accessed by stone steps from the walkway. Some early C20 fittings survive, such as cast iron railings, panelled timber doors and urinals. The gun emplacements remain, the guns have been removed. Some barrack rooms have early-C20 murals and graffiti, for example Popeye is depicted above the fireplace in one room.

A white painted cast iron lighthouse known as the West Head Light is situated on the west end. It has a cylindrical base and four stages, tapering between the second and fourth stages. An external walkway supported on curved brackets surrounds the dome-headed light. A second lighthouse known as the Knuckle Light is approximately three quarters of the way down the length of the breakwater to the east, marking the point where the breakwater begins to curve to the north. The Knuckle Light sits on a large rectangular granite plinth, constructed of cast iron painted white; the lighthouse has three stages and is cylindrical, stepping in above the first stage. An external walkway, supported on brackets surrounds the dome-headed light.

HISTORY: The Southern Breakwater was begun in 1898 and completed by 1909 as part of the Admiralty Harbour, which also included the Eastern Arm and an extension to the Admiralty Pier. In an era of torpedo assaults this harbour was designed to provide a protected anchorage for the naval fleet and increase the protection of the already existing commercial harbour. Admiralty Harbour was constructed by the firm of Coode, Son and Mathews, the successor firm to Sir John Coode, probably the greatest harbour engineer of the C19. Each of the three component parts of the Harbour had defences; the Southern Breakwater receiving two six-inch guns installed in concrete emplacements with associated accommodation and magazines. The defences were installed to the far west end of the breakwater, and became known as the Breakwater Battery.

During the First World War the Harbour protected the Dover Patrol, a fleet of about 40 warships, motor boats and fishing vessels which kept control of the English Channel. Following the end of the War, in 1926, it was decided that the harbour had limited military use and the three component structures were handed over to the Dover Harbour Board for administration as a commercial undertaking. With the outbreak of the Second World War, however, the harbour once again became a naval base. The breakwater batteries were reinforced, the Southern Breakwater receiving a new twin six-pounder battery in May 1940. The 'Knuckle', as the curved east end of the Southern Breakwater was known, was equipped with searchlight emplacements and towards the end of the war two four-inch guns were added. During the Second World War, the harbour was particularly important in the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation as 200,000 men were returned from Dunkirk to Dover in eight days. After 1945, the Navy withdrew and the harbour was once again returned to commercial activity.

SOURCES:
Colonel B.E. Arnold, Conflict Across the Strait (1982)
English Heritage, Dover Harbour, Notes on Historical and Engineering Interest (2008) Unpublished
Dover Terminal 2 Historic Environment Baseline Report, Maritime Archaeology Ltd (2008)
A Hasensen, Dover Harbour (1980)
R A Otter, Civil Engineering Heritage. Southern England (1994), p 247-248
A Saunders and R Smith, 'Kent's Defence Heritage', 2001, Vol 1. KD 107 Dover Harbour Breakwater Defences

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The Southern Breakwater is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It was designed as the southern breakwater to a vast artificial harbour called Admiralty Harbour designed by the firm of Coode, Son and Mathews and built between 1898 and 1909, designed to provide a refuge for the British Fleet.
* This was a huge and impressive engineering project and the first artificial harbour to be built in the C20.
* The Southern Breakwater survives little altered apart from the removal of its guns.
* It is an integral part of the Admiralty Harbour with the Eastern Arm and Admiralty Pier also both listed at Grade II.
* It has historical interest for its wartime role during both world wars; in the First World War as a haven for battleships and submarines protecting the Channel, and in the Second World War for its part in the Dunkirk evacuation.

Reasons for Listing

The Southern Breakwater is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It was designed as the southern breakwater to a vast artificial harbour called Admiralty Harbour designed by the firm of Coode, Son and Mathews and built between 1898 and 1909, designed to provide a refuge for the British Fleet.
* This was a huge and impressive engineering project and the first artificial harbour to be built in the C20.
* The Southern Breakwater survives little altered apart from the loss of its guns.
* It is an integral part of the Admiralty Harbour along with the Eastern Arm and Admiralty Pier.
* It has historical interest for its wartime role during both world wars, in the First World War as a haven for battleships and submarines protecting the Channel, and in the Second World War for its part in the Dunkirk evacuation.

External Links

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