The Downs Beach Fortifications (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Great Turf Bulwark; Little Turf Bulwark; Great White Bulwark of Clay; Black or Walmer Bulwark

In the civil parish of Deal, Walmer.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Kent.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TR37595430
Latitude 51.23840° Longitude 1.40228°

The Downs Beach Fortifications has been described as a certain Artillery Fort, and also as a certain Linear Defence or Dyke.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Circular earthen bulwarks and linear trench system which linked Sandown (TR 3759 5430), Deal (TR 3777 5220) and Walmer (TR 3775 5010) Castles. Built between 1539-43 in response to the invasion crisis of 1538. The exact locations of the Great Turf Bulwark (poss TR 376 536) and Little Turf Bulwark (poss TR 376 529) between Sandown and Deal are uncertain, yet more accurate locations are known for the Great White Bulwark and Black Bulwark between Deal and Walmer. The four bastions, or blockhouses, were linked by a trench, poss. by a covered way. The bulwarks were first manned in October 1540, and were defaced and without guns as early as 1547, though they were not disassemled until 1550. In a 1640 estate plan, the earthworks are named the 'Great White Bulwark of Clay' and the 'Blacke Bullwork' (Saunders; HKW). There is no trace of their existence today, yet at the proposed site of the Great White Bulwark (TR 376 514, near the modern lifeboat station) are three semi-circular banks of mounds which resemble the shape of the bulwark. Similar evidence exists for the Black Bulwark (TR 376 507), where there is a slightly raised rectangular area at the proposed location. The bulwarks were represented on an Admiralty Chart of 1795 and were overlayed with a current map of the area to derive the proposed locations (Harlow). (Kent HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TR 35 SE 388.

Books
- Harrington, Peter, 2007, The Castles of Henry VIII (Oxford: Osprey) p. 11-18, 22, 38, 53-4 (well illustrated) partial preview
  Saunders, Andrew, 1997, English Heritage Book of Channel Defences (Batsford) p. 49-50
  Saunders, Andrew, 1989, Fortress Britain (Beaufort) p. 37-8
  Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol. 4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p. 455-65
  Hasted, Edward, 1800 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 10 p. 1-23 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Harlow, Ray, June 1997, 'Bulwarks at Walmer' Ravelin p. 18-19
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Gairdner, J. and Brodie, R.H. (eds), 1898, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII Vol. 16 p. 168-9 no. 372 online copy
  Gairdner, J. and Brodie, R.H. (eds), 1896, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII Vol. 15 p. 131 no. 323 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Kent County Council, December 2004, Kent Historic Towns Survey (Kent County Council and English Heritage) view online copy
  Saunders, A. and Smith, V. 2001. Kent's Defence Heritage (Kent County Council HFN Project): 47-59

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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