A six-figure sum has been awarded to the country’s biggest Napoleonic fortification to help conserve and regenerate it.
Historic England has given a £149,000 grant for the nationally famous Dover Westen Heights, which is classed as the town’s second great fortress after Dover Castle.
Match funding from Dover District Council (DDC) will double that figure to almost £300,000 for the overall project.
The money was awarded to DDC for a three-year project to support vital work there and improve how the area connects with the town and waterfront.
The site is described as one of Britain’s “most important and impressive fortifications”.
The capacity building grant will fund a project officer whose tasks will include co-ordinating and increasing volunteering opportunities and building visitor numbers through promoting the site and hosting different events.
They will work closely with the Western Heights Preservation Society charity.
The Western Heights is an extensive site of national importance, including a scheduled monument, two listed buildings, a conservation area, a local nature reserve with protected species and a wildlife site with chalk grassland.
The grant follows Dover’s Western Heights Masterplan which sets out a range of objectives, including enhancing the area as a destination of national and international significance, complementing Dover’s other heritage attractions.
Cllr Charlotte Zosseder (Lab), DDC cabinet member for corporate property, said: “We look forward to working with all our partners to continue to enhance and regenerate this important area, and to develop how this connects to the range of amazing attractions in the town.”
Alice Brockway, development advice team leader at Historic England, said: “This grant will enable Dover District Council, its partners and local people to better understand, care for and enjoy the Western Heights – Dover’s second great fortress.
“We see this as an important step toward securing a long-term sustainable future for the fortress and making the most of Dover’s remarkable heritage.”
The Western Heights are a series of forts linked by miles of ditches on the western hilltop above Dover. The steep hillsides are a natural barrier and defences were dug into them.
The fortification is the biggest Napoleonic one in the country but the defences were begun during the American Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783, when it was feared the country’s European allies might invade Britain.
The Heights were also used for barrack accommodation during the First and Second World Wars.
In particular, the Citadel complex, which after army use was a prison and immigration removal centre, is being continually redeveloped as a business and tourism hub.
Owners Dover Citadel Ltd this spring put in a planning application for a welcome centre and cafe just outside the main entrance.
Hotels, restaurants, art galleries, and music studios are all planned as part of the ambitious project, estimated to cost £100 million.
