Wanstone Rediscovered

Sept/Oct/Nov 2024

Drainage and brickwork

During the autumn, work on the Jane emplacement has focussed on improving the drainage of the gun pintle and breech pit. During heavy rain, both structures rapidly filled with water, with the pintle overflowing into the breech pit. The drainage team have focussed on restoring the original drainage with a succession of workdays clearing a large amount of debris from the drains and in doing so discovering a lot of old cables, which would likely have carried power and signals to the gun. Samples of the cables have been taken and these will be analysed to attempt to determine their purpose. Drainage is now much improved, with the pintle and breech pit draining freely and the training rail largely water free, save for some shallow ponding due to originally inconsistent concrete levels.

The rest of the team have been clearing the Clem magazines' brickwork. As with Jane, the brickwork at Clem has suffered from frost and invasive vegetation damage, leading to 'spalling' where some of the brickwork at the entrances has detached from the base structure. A large amount of vegetation overgrowth was cleared from the brickwork, while leaving the surrounding areas undisturbed. The detached brickwork will be removed and will be replaced by our restoration partner in a similar manner to that achieved at Jane (see the blog entry for April/May 2023). The removed vegetation has been used to create natural dead-hedges and invertebrate habitats elsewhere on the site.

Download images: Upper Lower

June/July/August 2024

Rooves and Holes

The 'Jane' emplacement crew shelter roof had been leaking during the heavy rain earlier in the year. Excavations for the power and water supply to the building showed that the thick bitumen flashing, applied during construction, had cracked and, in some cases, separated from the building. The back and two sides of the roof that were buried under the earth bund were excavated and a heavy-duty sealing membrane was applied. The flashing on the front of the building was surprisingly intact, despite being exposed to the elements for over 80 years. Initial trials with the recent thunderstorms showed that the roof was once again watertight. The bunding around the roof edge was restored in early September and with vegetation regrowth, the repair will soon be invisible.

During the work to excavate the emplacement infrastructure, we discovered many underground chambers. Some were nearly 9 metres deep, where cables, pipes and drains were run into the gun pit and to the surrounding buildings and services. In most cases, the inspection covers had been buried or scrapped and were either badly corroded or completely missing. Additionally, the 1957 demolition of the gun had badly damaged some of the concrete surrounds for these pits, causing the brickwork to give way. For safety, temporary covers had been placed over the holes. During the summer, the team proved it could turn its hand to (almost) anything and meticulously rebuilt the concrete and brickwork and set new covers in place.

While this was going on, maintenance on the rest of the site continued.

Download images: Upper Lower

April / May 2024

Power and Glory!

The weather finally abated (somewhat) and we were able to continue the project. Following the rediscovery of the Clem gun store and ready use magazine, the doors and window shutters couldn't be reused. Thanks to some kind donations we were able to have new ones made and fitted. When we compare the new ones to the originals in archive photographs, they are an amazing likeness. Huge thanks to Brightarc Welding.

We were able to proceed with getting power and water connected to the Jane crew shelter and power to Jane 1 magazine and Jane gun store, which is now our archaeological finds store. The new internal windows and radiant heaters in the crew shelter and gun store will enable our teams to carry on their important conservation and recording work throughout the winter months.

We've also investigated a blocked drain in the Jane 1 magazine western entrance area and created a large soakaway while the excavator was with us. This will hopefully alleviate some of the flooding in the magazine during wet weather.

Download images: Upper Lower

February / March 2024

Progress despite the rain!

With Southeast England breaking a 200-year rainfall record in February and March, outdoor progress was slow and muddy. Between the deluges, we’ve been controlling vegetation close to the buildings.

Results from a trial excavation at the Clem emplacement are being analysed to determine if further work is feasible. The long-lost buried gun store emerged from the mud and we are in the process of securing the buildings  with the same style of steel doors originally fitted, to match those at the Jane emplacement.

At the Jane emplacement, some careful budgeting coupled with kind donations means that power and water can be connected to more of the wartime buildings. Following design and costing, the project was deemed viable and we started procurement of the cables, electrical equipment and pipework. After over 70 years, the crew shelter could once again serve this function – this time for the staff and volunteers – and Jane 1 magazine and the Jane gun store would also have power.

At D2, our volunteers, assisted by KURG (Kent Underground Research Group) have been tracing drains using signal tracking equipment, while another team have been investigating one of the shelters alongside emplacement 1.

We're hoping for better weather as the year progresses.

Download images: Upper Lower

December 2023 /January 2024

Mid Term Review

In January we held our mid-term review for the project, which is now halfway through. This is held to check that we are on-track to deliver what we promised and enables any corrective actions to be applied while the project is still active. The meeting is chaired by an independent assessor – in this case, our project partner, White Horse Ecology. The assessor’s summary was as follows:

‘It was excellent to see the progress that you have made and the way that the project is being managed.  I have a very high level of confidence that you are on track to achieve all of the approved purposes of your project… as well as meet the proposed outcomes.  It is also encouraging to see that you will over achieve in many areas, in a large part due to the incredible input of volunteers to not only the delivery but the management of the project.  To accomplish the volume of work your team has within the original budget is really quite something.’

We’re very proud of this assessment result, which enables us to go into the final half of the project knowing that we are heading in the right direction.

The images show two direct results of the project - the excavation of the 'Jane' 15-inch gun emplacement at Wanstone, and Fan Bay emplacement 3, with the partial excvavation of Fan Bay emplacement 2. Despite the bad weather in December and January, we’re continuing to maintain the sites and to prepare for this year’s work and we’ll report more on this in our next update.

Download images: Upper Lower

October 2023 / November 2023

Clearing the 'wriggly trench'

Over the past two months, we’ve focused on clearing the ‘wriggly trench’ at Wanstone. Discovered in late 2020, and almost certainly a trenched pathway for the soldiers moving from one location to another, it was deliberately dug with bends to reduce the risks from aerial strafing and from travelling shockwaves due to shell and grenade explosions.

Originally constructed in an unwooded area and abandoned in the mid-1950s, this part of the site has laid virtually untouched for many decades. The trench would have been much deeper than it is now, as, over the years, it has filled with eroded soil and leaf mulch, likely to be well over 1 metre deep. The trees and bushes have created natural clearings that we have tidied, forming ‘dead hedges’ around them, protecting the remaining ‘wilderness areas’ for wildlife to proliferate, while they provide habitats for invertibrates, fungi and many other species.

These clearings will be used by us and some of our partner organisations as places to study wildlife, and to provide time in peaceful surroundings for those with neurodiverse conditions.

Download images: Upper Lower

August 2023 / September 2023

Stabilising the No. 3 emplacement site

Once the excavation at the Fan Bay emplacements had been completed, the full extent of the damage wreaked on the emplacement buildings by the demolition work in the 1970s became apparent. In some places, the brickwork had been crushed to powder, in others, brick piers had been forcibly detached from the rest of the structure, leading to large cracks.

We have chosen to stabilise the site and present the ruins as they have been discovered. This helps to show the later phases of the site’s history and Eyesore Clearance. It also has parallels with our existing conservation approach at Fan Bay Deep Shelter.

We have chosen reclaimed railway sleepers for the work as this is a material extensively used during the war years in Fan Bay Deep Shelter and using these helps to achieve a visually sympathetic approach. A kind donation secured the necessary sleepers.

The team set to work in unseasonably high temperatures, focused in the enclosed area of the emplacement. The sleepers were cut and secured enabling the brickwork and soil to be retained by the new walls.

The soil slopes will be further stabilised by sowing grass seed. Aided by plentiful seeds from nearby flowers adding to the growth, the roots will bind the soil together, adding further stability.

Download images: Upper Lower

June 2023 / July 2023

The Fan Bay Excavations

This year’s excavation centred on the Fan Bay gun battery. The three six-inch gun emplacements were partly demolished and covered over in the 1970s to hide the remnants of war and a scrubby, grassy slope with some large pieces of masonry was all that could be seen. During the winter and early spring of 2023, we cut back the scrub and grass and maintained the site through June, to avoid the risk of disturbing nesting birds. Starting on July 10, with our partners, Isle Heritage CIC and Rhino Plant Limited and our dedicated staff and volunteers, our excavations centred on emplacement 3, this being the least damaged of the three sites.

The gun emplacement was found in good condition with most of the concrete structures intact. The remains of the brick and concrete buildings, that formed the rooms behind the gun were in a poor state, with some of the walls requiring support. We have left some of the rooms unexcavated for stability and to show what happened to the site. Very few significant artefacts were found, which was predictable given that the site lay derelict for nearly 20 years, before being covered.

To give perspective, we uncovered the gun ring and blast apron of emplacement number 2, but due to its poor condition, we will not be excavating this further.

In just 12 days we transformed a little known part of the White Cliffs into a historically significant monument. Professor Alice Roberts and the Digging for Britain team were on site, and we hope we will feature in series 11 of this programme. We will be opening the site in the future, but for the moment it is fenced off, due to the presence of sheer drops and the need to carry out stabilisation work on the structures.

Download images: Upper Lower

April to May 2023

Wanstone Magazines Brickwork Repairs

Following removal of the failed brickwork on the Jane magazines and thorough cleaning of the remaining structures, we obtained some bricks that were matched as closely as possible to those existing. Although the new bricks were not an identical size, our brickwork partner, Brick Guru, was able to cut the bricks to size and lay them to match the existing joint patterns.

Despite the cold, wet weather in early spring, the work continued and the new brickwork is now solidly bonded to the structure behind, as well as to the existing brickwork. Cracks that were allowing rainwater to penetrate into the structure were cut out and pointed and the remaining brickwork was repointed where needed. Once the new brickwork has aged, it should match the existing structure.

The vegetation that had penetrated through the brickwork and hastened the deterioration has been cut back and will be maintained without excessive removal. The magazines will continue to remain covered with the natural overgrowth that occurred after the land had been handed back to agriculture. This marks the happy ending of just a small part of the project to conserve the 25 historic structures on this site. The four magazine portals should withstand the ravages of the coastal weather for many years to come.

Download images: Upper Lower

February to March 2023

Maintenance and Restoration

We’re working to repair the broken gutter around the base of the D2 gun store. The gutter suffered badly from frost and tree root damage and in places was completely detached from the building. The soil level around the building had been eroded by many years of rainwater flow from the roof. The gutter has been replaced, reusing existing gutter sections where possible and new sections have been cast to replace missing pieces. The new gutter will allow the building to drain as originally intended and will prevent further erosion from occurring.

Removal of the loose brickwork on the Jane 1 and 2 magazines is now complete and the imperial size bricks have arrived. The specialist bricklayer will be starting work in May to replace the brickwork that has been damaged by many years of water ingress and frost. We hope that in the next few months the magazine buttresses will be restored to their former majesty.

At Fan Bay Plotting Room, the new drain has been installed, pointed in and the floor in the emergency escape tunnel has now dried out, preventing further deterioration.

Work continues to clear vegetation and spoil from the D2 emplacements. Great care is being taken to avoid further delamination of the concrete screeds in the emplacements, which has been caused by tree roots.

Download images: Upper Lower

December 2022 to January 2023

Brickwork and drainage

Work has started on conserving and restoring the dilapidated brickwork buttresses on the ‘Jane’ magazines. Parts of the vertical brick walls had suffered ‘spalling’, with sections separating from the rest of the structure. This was mostly due to water ingress and frost damage, over the many years of dereliction. In places, the separated sections were in a delicate condition, particularly on number 2 magazine's eastern entrance. The affected sections are being carefully taken down and where possible, whole bricks recovered. The walls will then be rebuilt by a specialist bricklayer, using a mix of recovered and new compatible-size bricks, taking care to preserve the original appearance of the structure. Ties and water drainage are being included to prevent a recurrence of the delamination.

Working in the Fan Bay Plotting Room emergency escape tunnel to create a new drainage channel. This area has suffered from water ingress and ponding, due to subsidence that appears to have occurred soon after completion in 1941. Because of the need to conserve the tunnel, the hardness of the concrete and the extremely cramped surroundings, we decided to core-drill a channel, rather than risk damage by using percussive methods. Over two-and-a-half days, in freezing conditions, 80 shallow cores were diamond-drilled by our specialist, who then carefully cut between the cores to make a channel. We’ll be installing a proprietary drainage duct and making good in the early spring.

Download images: Upper  Lower

October / November 2022

Autumn maintenance 2022

We took advantage of the fine autumn weather, while it lasted, to construct a path on the Jane emplacement, between the main roadway and the gun store/compressor room and lamp room. This path will make access easier and will provide an alternative route for us, for when heavy machinery movements make the emplacement a no-go area.

Also, while the fine weather lasted, we took the opportunity to solve a persistent drainage problem. Whenever it rained the D2 east magazine would flood to several inches depth, making the space unusable and risking the long-term future of the building, through reinforcing corrosion, etc. Although there were drains both in front and behind the building these were solidly blocked after around 75 years of disuse.

During late October, while we had the excavator on site, we dug down and located the offending blocked drain, approximately 20m behind the magazine. Having broken into the drain, we then used a mixture of pressure washing and rodding to work our way back to the gullies at the building end. A sludge of soil, leaf mulch and roots emerged. Eventually – after a couple of days of work, breakthrough occurred, with both gullies running freely. We’ve now turned the excavation into a soakaway before backfilling. Our measure of success – no further flooding has occurred – even with the record rainfall in November.

Download images: Upper  Lower

October 2022

Fan Bay Exploratory Dig

Building on the success of our excavation of the Wanstone ‘Jane’ 15-inch gun emplacement, we undertook an exploratory dig at Fan Bay during 3-5 October. The aim was to establish the condition of the three 6-inch gun emplacements and the associated rooms at the rear. 

Our team of volunteers worked with our partners Rhino Plant Hire and archaeological advisors Isle Heritage for three days, performing trial digs on each of the three Fan Bay emplacements. Our excavations showed that while the reinforced concrete gun emplacements were largely intact; the upper levels of the rooms to the rear of each emplacement – the gun store, officer’s shelter and men’s shelter, had been demolished.

The remains of these rooms, along with the entrances to the magazine tunnels and shafts had then been filled with demolition rubble and spoil and the site dozed over with spoil and topsoil as part of the 'Eyesore Clearance Programme' of the 1970s. 

The rooms on No. 1 and No. 2 emplacements and the emplacement-end entrances to these magazines were in a poor and unstable condition. These have been permanently sealed and re-buried. No. 3 emplacement’s buildings have been re-buried and the site levelled pending a decision on next steps. 

Our dig was a success and the information gathered will enable us to construct our plans for 2023, which we hope to publish in the New Year. 

Download images: Upper Lower

July / October 2022

Summer maintenance 2022

During August, the team built a viewing platform and staircase into the ‘Jane’ emplacement and added a robust barricade to prevent people and vehicles from falling into the gun pit. In October, a smaller set of steps onto the emplacement, close to the boundary on the eastern side was built.  

The work done in clearing the buildings of vegetation growth revealed a small room to the rear of D2 emplacement 3 that we were unaware of and we are still researching its purpose. It was most likely a small storeroom - equally, it may have housed a chemical toilet. Many of the concrete structures at D2 had suffered from the ravages of time, weather and penetration by roots and branches.  

The concrete roof slabs did not have gutters, and the roof over-hangs, that prevented water running down the sides of the buildings, had deteriorated. The team improvised some shuttering and recast the missing concrete. Once this was set, a layer of bitumen was spread, returning the buildings to their wartime appearance and weatherproofing them once more. 

D2 east magazine has been prone to flooding due to blocked drains and in early October, the team, aided by Rhino Plant Hire’s excavator unearthed the offending pipes. Some heroic efforts by the team succeeded in rodding the drain through and constructing a soakaway. 

Almost all of this was achieved by the volunteer team, while keeping up with our usual maintenance tasks of mowing, strimming, brush cutting and the myriad of other jobs that are needed to keep the site under control. 

Download images: Upper Lower

15 & 18 September 2022

Heritage Open Days 2022

Nearly 270 people from all over the world attended our Heritage Open Days on 15 and 18 September 2022. With convenient parking, free admission and guided tours, the feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. In addition to the 'Jane' gun emplacement and buildings, visitors were able to browse our extensive collection of photographs – some showing the gun in operation. 

We’d like to thank everyone who attended for their support and encouragement – as well as our own staff and volunteers for their hard work. The site is now closed for the season. Please don’t try to access the site yourself as there are some steep drops and some areas will be slippery. We’ll be holding more open days in 2023, which will include some of the other work we are doing elsewhere on the site. 

Group tours can be arranged at mutually convenient times. If you represent a group and would like to find out more, or if you have any questions about our work, please use the Contact Us section on the White Cliffs of Dover home page. 

We’ll be working on the site over the winter as weather permits and we’ll post updates here and on our White Cliffs of Dover Facebook page. As soon as we have details of our next open days, we’ll post them here and on Facebook. 

Download images: upper: lower

11 - 17 July 2022

Big dig July 2022

The first major objective for the project was to excavate the foundation of the 15-inch cross-channel gun 'Jane'. Exploratory work showed the structure was likely to be largely intact, but no-one knew what would lie beneath the many tonnes of soil and rubble that needed to be moved. Using an 8-tonne excavator, our partner, Rhino Plant Hire, carefully removed the extraneous material. This exposed, for the first time in over 60 years, the reinforced concrete holdfast, breech pit and sump that supported the huge gun. Work was supervised by our archaeological parter Isle Heritage CIC's staff, Paul Samual-Armour and Annie Partridge. Our staff and volunteers painstakingly sifted through each bucket of material for artefacts that would provide clues about the gun, its construction and its subsequent demolition.

By 17 July, the entire structure had been exposed and cleaned. The earth bund walls that had helped obscure the gun from sight during the war and break up blast from incoming fire were restored. The true scale of this majestic weapon could now be appreciated. The site was opened to the public during the entire excavation and over 500 visitors came to admire this almost unique piece of British Second World War history. 

Download images: upper: lower

27 June 2022

Archaeology Training June 2022

Prior to the commencement of the project, National Trust staff and volunteers underwent an intensive day's training on archaeological techniques, led by our partners, Isle Heritage.  Because the site was backfilled, after it had been abandoned, some artefacts from other parts of the site may have been included that may give clues on the origin of the material and when the filling occurred. 

Owing to the sheer volume of material that must be removed, great care will be needed to ensure that any objects of interest, along with the nature of the layer within which they are found and the relationships to other layers, known as 'context' is recorded or valuable information will be lost for ever. This will involve our volunteers sifting through many tonnes of soil and debris as the excavation proceeds, under the watchful eye of our archaeological partner, Isle Heritage. Clues to precisely what happened once the gun was decommissioned may exist and a great deal of effort will be needed to ensure that the context of finds, including changes in soil structure, composition and level is fully recorded.

The images show our volunteers being trained on section recording, where each layer of soil is categorised for depth, relative position, colour, texture, etc. Dowload images: upper; lower

Sept 2017 / June 2022

Getting ready

Since acquiring the site in 2017, we've been working to cut back and remove vegetation from the historic buildings. We’ve retained much of the wilderness of scrub that has overgrown the site, maintaining most of the wildlife habitats, so important to the area.  We've excavated the crew shelter for one of the cross-channel 15-inch guns, with its accommodation hut bases and we've made some exploratory excavations of the foundations of the gun.  Our volunteer team has also started to conserve some of the buildings associated with the gun and with the D2 Heavy Anti-aircraft Battery.  

Our newly-started project will take this work forward.  We'll be starting with a full archaeological excavation of one of the 15-inch gun bases starting in mid-July and exploratory digging work at the Fan Bay Battery site in October.  This will be followed by a full excavation of one of the Fan Bay gun emplacements in 2023.  Subject to permission being granted, we're planning further excavations on the site in 2024. 

We’ll be updating this timeline regularly as work proceeds. Please come back to check our progress and share it with your family and friends. Better still - come and visit us at one of our open events. Download images: upper; lower