design
the grand shaft - amazing military engineering
here’s an incredible piece of wartime engineering - the grand shaft in dover. built between 1806 and 1809 during the napoleonic wars, this triple spiral staircase was used as a rapid route for soldiers making their way from the clifftop barracks to the town of dover and its harbour below. without it the troops had to navigate badly maintained winding roads from top to bottom.
a huge 140ft shaft was dug into the ground to house the 3 intertwined staircases, the inner shaft peppered with windows to ensure light from above reached the soldiers running down to possible battle. engineer william twiss was adamant that a single staircase wouldn’t provide a big enough route down for a huge volume of people so he wrapped 3 stairways around each other, the 3 exit points meeting at the bottom where a tunnel leads to the town of dover.
photo sources, clockwise from top: whibs, jelltecks and conundrum37
apparently at one point, after the wars had subsided and the shaft wasn’t needed by troops, each of the 3 staircases was only to be used by certain people, as pointed out by the sign at the top of each…
1. officers and their ladies
2. sergeants and their wives
3. soldiers and their women
below is the top of the grand shaft as seen on google maps. here’s the direct link.
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“…the town of dover and it’s harbour below”
OOPS.
oops why?
“…his triple spiral staircase was used as a rapid route for soldiers making their way from the clifftop barracks to the town of dover and it’s harbour below.”
If you’d quoted that much of the text, Eddie, it would have helped get the meaning
btw, Thanks for the article - I live near there and now I may well take a look
I’ve been to a very similar staircase, designed by Leonardo Da Vinci, in Chateau Chambord (located in the Loire Valley of France). I actually have a picture somewhere taken at almost the same angle (straight up). Interesting choice, thanks DD
Shaft! (Can you dig it?)
I think Eddie wants to see “its harbour” not “it’s harbour.”
I do love the sign enforcing not only the rank of the soldiers, but also the relative standing of their mates.
How many of the officers’ ladies, after an evening of wining and dining down at the beach, were up to making the return trip to the barracks?
there you go eddie, changed it. hope that makes the whole thing readable for you.
I was told long ago that in war time there was a staircase 1 for officers 1 for troops & 1 for horses . I thought it odd that they would put horses up & down stairs but when we were kids we used to play in this shaft & the forts above but I didnt think the stairs were high or even there at all but ramped .
Nothing to do about the Grand Shaft but a question about the time/clock , my last posting was at 3:12am bet I posted it at about 10:30 am ?
eddie: it’s just a timezone difference. nothing more.
I live near there, we broke the lock on the Drop Redoubt and used to go there for a smoke etc we had our own padlock on it for ages but once accidently locked some dog walkers inside it lol
the intertwined spiral staircase idea is brilliant, but must have been a massive headache to build, especially into the rock of the cliffs.; good find!
Wonder how often the soldiers and their women did not make it to the top?
‘…I thought it odd that they would put horses up & down stairs…’
Odd indeed, since a horse cannot walk down stairs, only up them (Their knee’s do not work in the manner needed to descend a stair case)
Excellent article, thank-you
I’d never heard of this before; ingenious!
Thanks for commenting on my post - More to the point, thanks for putting this post together. That’s a remarkable set of photos.
During my stay in the south of UK, I had heard of this war time shaft with a tunnel leading to Dover, but I never came across it….always wondered if it was even real, well now I know!
There is a bridge in Malaysia just like in the first pic.I have always liked Military Engineering.Because they have their own touch in it.
Wow, i live in South-east England, can’t believe i’ve never heard of this before. Looks awesome.
We have guided walks that take in this site
http://www.doverpast.co.uk
and also the annual open weekend 31 May 1 June 2008
http://www.dover-western-heights.org
This is so cool. Does anyone know if the stairs and shaft are open to the public?