Visited with: @UrbanZ
History:
At the foot of the cliffs beneath the western moat of Dover Castle is Moats Bulwark.
It was originally a 16th century gun battery, but has since been heavily modified and additions added.
A pathway once led from the west to the gatehouse along a ledge in the cliff, but this has all but vanished. The only other means of access was via a set of stairwells known as the Guilford Shaft, which comprised of 214 spiral steps and passageways, some lined, tunnelled through the cliff from the rear of the battery upper platform to the castle above.
A zig-zag stairway leads links the upper and lower platforms.
Greater and more in-depth information can be found at:
www.dover-kent.co.uk/castle_bulwark.htm
Explore:
Suffering from a severe case of underground expore withdrawal syndrome my one and only concern was... you guessed it, getting the fuck back underground! So, fast forward a few days and WhatsApps later we found ourselves in Dover, again, and what a wonderful place.
Not being local our trips are, unfortunately, few and far between and, as a result, my perception may be slightly skewed. However (in my opinion), this place seems just seems to keep on giving, it's great.
Anyhow, after getting slightly distracted by an uninteresting and almost unrecognizable Norman architectural ruin along the way we eventually caught sight of our target! "We're almost there", we thought to ourselves, not realising the final part of the trek had been subjected to Britain's finest winter weather for a few days making it, ermm, slightly tricky and muddy to say the least.
Upon entry we were greeted with a long tunnel and doors (one with parts of the frame still attached), leant up against the wall.
These looked very similar to the partial remains of doors at the bottom of the spiral stairs, so I can only assume they would once have sectioned off the stairwells from the main tunnels, although please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Venturing upwards we came across the corrugated steel lined section which was once used as a shelter, and judging from the different materials used it would appear that certain areas had been blocked off some time ago.
Roof collapses in this area are evident, and it is not in the best condition.
That being said, and despite the repetitive nature of all but the lined sections of tunnels, the place is in surprisingly good shape and definitely worth a mooch if in the area, if not just to tick it off the list.
Onto the pics...
1. Doors and frame lining wall.
2. Stairwell wall & rustic bars.
3. One of many stairwells
4.
5.
6. Partially lined section.
7. Evidence of roof collapse
8. More stairs.
Thanks for looking
History:
At the foot of the cliffs beneath the western moat of Dover Castle is Moats Bulwark.
It was originally a 16th century gun battery, but has since been heavily modified and additions added.
A pathway once led from the west to the gatehouse along a ledge in the cliff, but this has all but vanished. The only other means of access was via a set of stairwells known as the Guilford Shaft, which comprised of 214 spiral steps and passageways, some lined, tunnelled through the cliff from the rear of the battery upper platform to the castle above.
A zig-zag stairway leads links the upper and lower platforms.
Greater and more in-depth information can be found at:
www.dover-kent.co.uk/castle_bulwark.htm
Explore:
Suffering from a severe case of underground expore withdrawal syndrome my one and only concern was... you guessed it, getting the fuck back underground! So, fast forward a few days and WhatsApps later we found ourselves in Dover, again, and what a wonderful place.
Not being local our trips are, unfortunately, few and far between and, as a result, my perception may be slightly skewed. However (in my opinion), this place seems just seems to keep on giving, it's great.
Anyhow, after getting slightly distracted by an uninteresting and almost unrecognizable Norman architectural ruin along the way we eventually caught sight of our target! "We're almost there", we thought to ourselves, not realising the final part of the trek had been subjected to Britain's finest winter weather for a few days making it, ermm, slightly tricky and muddy to say the least.
Upon entry we were greeted with a long tunnel and doors (one with parts of the frame still attached), leant up against the wall.
These looked very similar to the partial remains of doors at the bottom of the spiral stairs, so I can only assume they would once have sectioned off the stairwells from the main tunnels, although please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Venturing upwards we came across the corrugated steel lined section which was once used as a shelter, and judging from the different materials used it would appear that certain areas had been blocked off some time ago.
Roof collapses in this area are evident, and it is not in the best condition.
That being said, and despite the repetitive nature of all but the lined sections of tunnels, the place is in surprisingly good shape and definitely worth a mooch if in the area, if not just to tick it off the list.
Onto the pics...
1. Doors and frame lining wall.
2. Stairwell wall & rustic bars.
3. One of many stairwells
4.
5.
6. Partially lined section.
7. Evidence of roof collapse
8. More stairs.
Thanks for looking
