The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate, Ramsgate, Kent

Summary

Ramsgate Royal Harbour comprising: the East Pier built under William Ockenden and Captain Robert Brooke of Margate, begun 1749, advanced pier added 1788-92 under John Smeaton and further modifications undertaken in 1812 (John Rennie Snr), 1829-30 (John Rennie Jnr), with addition of No 1 (Patent) Slipway constructed 1838 to the designs of the late Thomas Morton; the West Pier (Ockenden and Brooke), begun 1752 with modifications by Samual Wyatt 1792-1803, moveable crane added by Peter Kier in 1802, further alterations and repairs 1829-30, 1840, 1845, 1850 (John Rennie Jnr); Inner Basin Walls (Ockenden and Brooke) begun in 1750 with modifications by John Smeaton in 1777; and Crosswall and Sluices (John Smeaton), built 1777-79 with modifications in 1781, Dry dock added 1784-86 (modified in 1893 for ice storage) and further alterations to crosswall: 1810, 1816-19 (John Rennie Snr); 1835-37 (John Rennie Jnr); 1861-62 (under the Board of Trade); and subsidiary features.

Description

Ramsgate Royal Harbour comprising: the East Pier built under William Ockenden and Captain Robert Brooke of Margate, begun 1749; advanced pier added 1788-92 under John Smeaton and further modifications undertaken in 1812 (John Rennie Snr), 1829-30 (John Rennie Jnr); with the addition of No 1 (Patent) Slipway constructed 1838 to the designs of Thomas Morton; the West Pier (Ockenden and Brooke), begun 1752 with modifications by Samuel Wyatt 1792-1803; moveable crane added by Peter Kier in 1802, with further alterations and repairs 1829-30, 1840, 1845, 1850 (John Rennie Jnr); the inner basin walls (Ockenden and Brooke) begun in 1750 with modifications by John Smeaton in 1777; and the crosswall and sluices (John Smeaton), built 1777-79 with modifications in 1781; the dry dock added 1784-86 (modified in 1893 for ice storage) and further alterations to the crosswall in 1810, 1816-19 (John Rennie Snr), in 1835-37 (John Rennie Jnr) and 1861-62 (under the Board of Trade); and subsidiary features.

MATERIALS: Purbeck and Cornish granite setts, Aislaby sandstone, chalk block and rubble core; stone flag paving; cast iron newel post, gates, crane post, fairleads, sluice mechanism and mooring furniture. Granite and marble steps. Timber settings.

PLAN: a large outer harbour enclosed by piers to the east and west, with a crosswall to the north, housing the sluice mechanism and entrance gate and forming the inner basin. The dry dock is located in the south-eastern corner of the inner basin and No 1 (patent) slipway is sited next to the inner face of the east pier. The harbour is bounded to the north by Military Road, Harbour Parade to the north-east, the main sands to the east and the Port of Ramsgate to the west.

INNER BASIN WALLS: the walls, built between 1750 and around 1790 with later repairs, extend for approximately 500m along the north-western edge of the harbour basin, in a roughly north-east to south-west orientation, along the line of Military Road, after which they turn in a southerly direction, meeting the dry dock to the east and the cross wall to the west. They are constructed of coursed Purbeck stone setts in an ashlar arrangement, capped with a granite coping, which was installed in 1892. A cobbled slipway is located towards the central portion of the main length of basin wall. Two sets of stone stairs are located along the northern harbour wall. One set is located close to the junction of Harbour Bridge and York Street, the treads of which appear to have been recently replaced. The second set of stairs is located at the western end of the inner wall before it turns south towards the cross wall. A change in the size and finish of the stonework where it turns to meet the cross wall at the western end is indicative of Smeaton’s changes to this area of the harbour, in the 1770s and 1780s, following Ockenden’s abortive scheme to contract it twenty years earlier. Iron mooring rings are located at regular intervals along the inner face of the basin wall along with handhold chains. Iron railings, painted white, have been set into the granite coping.

EAST PIER: the pier began construction in 1749 and extends approximately 230m in a south-easterly direction from the concourse outside the Royal Victoria Pavillion before turning to a south-westerly direction for approximately 215m to the original octagonal pier head. The pier structure comprises a chalk and cement core faced with Purbeck, Aislaby sandstone with a granite coping. The inner walls are stepped and the outer walls are roll moulded below the parapet. The surface comprises stone flag paving, which has subsequently been covered now with C20 paving in a majority of areas. The advance pier, built by Smeaton between 1788-92, extends from the octagonal pier head in a south-westerly direction for approximately 95m. Original paving, laid in a radial pattern, survives at the later circular pier head close to where the early to mid C20 terminal building and landing stage are located. A breakwater, built of abraded, roughly hewn stone, extends for approximately 210m in a south-easterly direction from the pier head out to sea. An elaborately designed cast iron newel post, which would have originally been attached to railings (now removed), is positioned on the outer wall at the entrance to the pier. Painted grey, black and white, it features twisted columns on all four corners, and is adorned with rosettes, decorative shells and foliate detailing. One set of granite stairs, known today as the Dover stairs (also known as the Victoria stairs), serves the pier along with sets of vertical ladders which are positioned at intervals along the inner face. This face also retains vertical timber settings, used to protect the structure from the movement of moored craft and iron mooring hooks. Modern railings are set into the granite coping which also shows evidence of interventions from the presence of earlier railings or mooring posts.

WEST PIER: the western harbour pier, which started construction in 1752, runs for approximately 230m south of the crosswall in a south-easterly direction before turning north-east and continuing for approximately 125m to the circular pier head. It is constructed of a chalk and cement core faced with stepped Purbeck stone with a granite coping and stone parapet. The pier head, which was reconstructed under Rennie in 1840, comprises Aislaby sandstone for the lower courses of masonry and Cornish granite for the upper courses. A lighthouse built in 1842 by John Shaw is located at the pier head and is listed separately at Grade II (LE 1086089). Stone flag paving survives although this is largely covered with C20 tarmac, except at the head where the paving is set in a radial pattern. The low coping at the pier head contains inset iron pulleys, or fairleads, which were used to guide boats into the harbour. A vertical iron post located along the inner face of the pier, approximately 77m south-west of the lighthouse and adjacent to the modern gangway, is all that remains of the moveable crane that was erected by Peter Kier in 1802.

CROSSWALL AND SLUICES: the harbour crosswall, completed in 1779, is predominantly orientated north-east by south-west, kinking slightly at the north-eastern end from the hoverpad apron until it meets slipway No 3. It extends for approximately 415m between the east and west piers, with a single entrance allowing access from the outer harbour to the inner basin. The walls are formed of stepped and rusticated Aislaby sandstone with a granite coping. Seven sluices, characterised by arched openings with radiating rusticated stone heads, are located at intervals along the crosswall, three of them having been blocked. The twin sluices, installed under Rennie Snr in 1816-19 are extant at either end of the wall. Machinery in the form of the cast iron sluice mechanism survives on the crosswall, immediately south of the dry dock. The issuing stream was directed by the guide wall, which is faced with granite and located at the east end of the crosswall. Smeaton’s original entrance (of about 1777-79) retains iron gates with a later pedestrian swing bridge. The wing wall and adjacent steps, added by Rennie Jnr 1835-37, are positioned on the eastern side of the entrance, extending into the outer harbour and is constructed of Cornish granite with eight anti-wave openings. The secondary entrance, built by Wyatt in about 1806, was bricked up in 1957 although the original gates remain in position. The Dundee steps, constructed in 1810 of Dundee marble are located between the west pier and the crosswall. Original cobbles survive at intervals although a majority of the surface of the crossing has been covered with modern tarmac. A modern concrete pier has been added on the outer side of the crosswall to accommodate the lifeboat station and associated building. The concrete hoverpad apron, constructed in about 1966, is located at the eastern end of the crosswall, opposite the dry dock.

DRY DOCK: set into the south-eastern corner of the inner basin, adjacent to the crosswall, is the dry (or graving) dock, designed by Smeaton and built between 1789-1791 and later extended in 1816. It comprises a concrete lined floor with large sandstone blocks forming side walls and the curved end walls; all of which are altered. The lower courses of stone on the northern side walls have been replaced as part of the restoration works of about 1984. The walls are capped with a granite coping. One of the three concrete partition walls, which were installed in the late C19 when the dock was converted into an ice house, survives behind late C20 render and now functions as a railed walkway. Modern railings, painted blue and enclosing the dock, are excluded from the listing.

NO 1 (PATENT) SLIPWAY: Morton's Patent Slipway of 1838 is located adjacently to the inner face of the east pier. It comprises two sets of inclined rails set into granite blocks. The rails are surrounded by cobbles and a stepped low rise stone wall demarcates the western boundary of the slipway. The still functioning cast iron carriage (or cradle), with visible winch cabling, rests upon the rails which extend into the waterline.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: a total of 127 granite mooring bollards (painted white) are located around the harbour. 27 bollards are located along the inner basin walls, 38 are associated with the east pier, 50 with the west pier and 12 are situated on the cross wall.

History

Ramsgate is situated on the east coast of the Isle of Thanet, facing France and the Low Countries. It originated as a small fishing town in the medieval period, but by the reign of King Henry VII (1485-1509), Ramsgate Harbour was considered to be a limb of the port of Sandwich and, as such, a non-corporate member of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports. A wooden pier is said to exist during this period, as noted by antiquary John Leland (1503-1552) in his Itinerary. By the time of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the town was already trading fish and corn but Baltic trade expanded considerably, particularly between England and Russia, following the accession of William of Orange in 1689 and an end to the Dutch Wars. In 1744 the House of Commons proposed to King George II that a survey be undertaken in the area around Sandwich to establish a new harbour site for large merchant ships and men of war. Although the plan was approved it was subsequently shelved, likely due to financial strain caused by the war with France and Spain. On 16 December 1748 a violent storm caused ships on the Downs to seek shelter in Ramsgate Harbour. Many vessels and lives were saved and the following year petitions were made the House of Commons that Ramsgate be the site chosen for a new harbour, instead of Sandwich. The House duly passed an Act for the construction of a Harbour of Refuge ‘proper and convenient’ for the reception of ships up to 300 tons. On 4 July 1749 the first meeting of appointed Trustees was held at the Guildhall, London. The trustees included the Rt. Hon. William Pitt Esquire (“Pitt the Elder”) and Sir Francis Dashwood. A committee visited Ramsgate to make observations and report back to the board, noting the build-up of sullage (in this case seaweed and fine silt) caused by the existing pier and the need for a long term solution to deal with the accumulation of silt which so far had been dealt with by men, machines and barges. An advertisement was placed in the London Evening Post on 8 August 1749 and, of the many designs received, those of trustee William Ockenden and Captain Robert Brooke of Margate were accepted.

In less than a month, work on the east pier commenced. Purbeck stone was used in the construction, although the west pier was originally to be built of wood. An inspection committee recommended that ashlar, rather than shell lime, should constitute the backing of the stone pier and the constitution of its mainly chalk core revised by the addition of pebbles in place of mortar. During 1752 it was decided that the west pier would be constructed of stone as with the east. On 14 December 1753 Ockenden submitted a plan to the trustees to contract the harbour to a width of 1200 feet, offering a financial saving and allowing the west pier to head into possibly deeper water. The plan, which was approved, attracted strong local opposition causing the trust to appoint, in 1755, Captains Sir Piercy Brett and J. P. Desmaretz, R.N., to undertake a survey of the harbour and assess the viability of the scheme. They recommended extending the original line of the piers, removing the works undertaken by Ockenden and sinking a basin 16 feet below the low water spring tide mark, partially enclosed by a stone wall, against the east pier. Works eventually resumed in 1761 but by the end of the decade silting up of the harbour had become a serious issue. In response to this the Board of Trustees invited John Smeaton on 15 July 1773 to provide advice on cleaning and deepening the harbour.

Smeaton, born in 1724 at Austhorpe near Leeds, was one of the first men to style himself as a Civil Engineer. His works include the Eddystone Lighthouse (Grade I), harbours at St Ives and St Austell Bay (both Grade II*) and the River Calder Navigation (elements of which are listed at Grade II). He provided a report, on 24 October 1774, proposing the construction of a basin to take in the sea water which would be utilised to cleanse the harbour via the use of sluice gates. Examples of the use of sluices in the Low Countries (modern day Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), and recognition of the considerable rise and fall of the tide at Ramsgate, convinced Smeaton that a basin, filling at high water and releasing its contents during the ebb, offered the best hope of a lasting solution. To combat the risk of the tidal basin silting up, Smeaton drew up a plan for a double basin, although eventually a variation of the plan was accepted, submitted by Thomas Preston (the master mason), which involved the construction of a cross wall from the end of the old pier over the whole width of the harbour to the west pier, forming one basin. The variation offered a substantial cost saving and works soon went ahead. A failed test of four completed sluices on 9 August 1779 led to the modification of timber planking and the construction of flanking stone aprons to prevent rapid undermining of the cross wall during the out-rush of water. The remaining sluices were completed and in operation by August 1781. Around this time the committee recommended that 300 feet of cross-wall should be taken down at the western end and a return wall to the cliff built parallel to the west pier. During a visit in 1787, Smeaton was asked to advise a method of removing turbulence from the harbour. Experienced pilots suggested that an advanced pier from the head of the east pier some 400 ft long would help to quieten the waters and help ships coming in during a strong gale. Smeaton considered this possible as a result of the construction of the basin and sluices. Works on the advanced pier started by 1788, with Smeaton successfully employing the use of a ‘diving chest’, founded upon the well-known principle of the diving bell, in order to clear the large stones which had been thrown around the east pier head in 1774 to secure it from damage by heavy seas. The advanced pier was subsequently completed by 1792.

On the 28 October 1792, Smeaton died and the trustees appointed Samuel Wyatt as his replacement the following year. For much of the period from 1793 to 1815, England was at war with France and the harbour was used for the embarkation of troops, horses and equipment. To facilitate this work the road under the west cliff was improved and now called the Military Road. At some time between 1792 and 1803 the remaining wooden portion of the west pier was rebuilt in stone. A moveable crane was erected by Peter Kier by order of the trustees in 1802. It enabled four men to hoist up to 4 tons and was mounted upon a frame of cast-iron, 9 feet 7 inches square, weighing 2 tons. The frame was supported on four cast-iron wheels, one pair of which moved around the centre on a common axel, fixed to one side of the frame. An arm projected from the axle to the opposite side beneath the framework where a pinion, moved by a winch, twisted the wheels round upon their centre, and allowed the whole crane to be moved in any direction required. In 1806 Wyatt drew up plans for a second entrance to the basin to the east of the one completed in Smeaton's day. This entrance, although completed was removed in 1957. Wyatt died on 7th February 1807 and was replaced by renowned engineer and bridge builder John Rennie, who would go on to work on projects such as the harbour at Sheerness (Grade II*) and Bovisand, Plymouth (Grade II).

Under Rennie, the return portion of the cross-wall had been removed and its line extended to meet the west pier, by 1810. Stairs were added to the outward angle formed by the pier and the crosswall's seaward face consisting of 40 steps of Dundee marble and two iron swing foot bridges were provided over the two openings of the basin. It was noted that in 1812 the east pier head was beginning to crumble and as a result repair work was necessary. Rennie had originally proposed to surround the head with a dam, but finding the water too deep and exposed he decided to use a modified version of Smeaton's diving bell to set the masonry. Between 1816-1819, Rennie undertook a rebuilding of the crosswall. This included the replacing of sluices at either end of the wall (numbers 1 & 7) with twin culverts in order to broaden the scoured area alongside each pier. On 19 July 1821, the Prince Regent was crowned King George VI. By November 27th the Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth wrote to the trust to express the King's pleasure that Ramsgate Harbour be granted the Royal title in appreciation of the loyalty and welcome shown by the local populace during his recent embarkation and return from Hanover. In October 1821 Rennie died, to be succeeded shortly after by his son John Rennie Junior.

During 1829 and 1830 repairs became necessary to both the east and west piers, with water penetration on the former causing the partial collapse of the carriageway above. Rennie advised the opening up of the pier along its entire length and the core to be consolidated with cement. Princess Victoria visited Ramsgate in 1831, when she was 12, and agreed to officially name the stone stairs, which had been completed on the eastern pier, the 'Victoria Stairs'. They are known today as the Dover Stairs. In 1835, Sir John Rennie (knighted in 1831 for his work on London Bridge) reported to the trustees that the 'great entrance' to the basin should be increased in width to forty feet and deepened with a wing wall on the east side having eight rectangular openings to allow waves to pass through, thus preventing any recoil which might inconvenience ships entering the basin. 30,000 cubic feet of Cornish granite were employed for the work, which was completed in 1837. Following the collapse, in 1840, of twenty feet of masonry in the lower courses of the west pier head, the decision was made to rebuild the old hexagonal head to a circular plan. Hard Whitby (Aislaby) sandstone was chosen for the solid masonry below the low water mark, with Cornish granite for the upper courses. The outer walls were set five feet into the chalk bottom. Due to frost damage, fissures and deterioration, the entire west pier facing was removed, in 1845, down to foundation and rebuilt in conformity to the rest of the pier, and the core consolidated. In 1850, underpinning work on of the foundations of the west pier was carried out. A Select Committee report of the same year noted the harbour was, to all intents and purposes, complete and that only minor repairs and 'embellishments' were now being undertaken. In 1861 a Bill was passed transferring ownership and responsibility of Ramsgate Harbour to the Board of Trade. During 1861-62 the inner face of the crosswall underwent major renovation and by 1865 most repairs had been completed and the harbour was generally in good working order. In 1882 a series of improvement works were undertaken in the harbour area and beyond; the town quay was rebuilt, with adjacent berths deepened. The quay was topped with granite coping between May and September 1892.

During the C20 the Royal Harbour was utilised effectively in both the First and Second World Wars. In February 1915 the harbour became a naval base for minesweepers and patrol boats of the famed Dover Patrol. During the conflict the harbour was attacked by German seaplanes on a few occasions but managed to avoid any major damage. At the start of the Second World War, the harbour was closed and it subsequently became Number 1 Contraband Control Base. Small drifters, based at the harbour, were used for the purpose of dealing with magnetic mines in November and December 1939. Nearly 2000 officers and men were drafted into Ramsgate from other ports for Operation Dynamo, which successfully sought to bring back the men of the British Expeditionary Force trapped at Dunkirk. Heavier craft went from Dover, Folkestone and Margate, but Ramsgate had the job of manning hundreds of small boats, invaluable in shallow water on the French coast. 300,000 men were ferried back to England and of the 80,000 that landed in the Isle of Thanet, 42,000 men arrived at Ramsgate. Although the town suffered severe damage during the Second World War, the harbour escaped comparatively lightly, although many raids were made in an attempt to damage it. At the end of the war repairs were made to the basin and the gates. A new steamer landing stage was officially opened in 1948 at the end of the East Pier utilising the adjacent terminal building built ten years previously. In 1957 the second, more easterly, entrance to the inner harbour was removed. In April 1966 an international hovercraft service began operating from an apron on the eastern end of the crosswall. The 1980s and 90s saw a progressive separation of leisure aspects (typified by the marina, opened in 1976) and mercantile/industrial activities (passenger carrying, cargo handling, etc.) at the port, now known as The Port of Ramsgate, which formally co-existed in the Royal Harbour. The inner harbour is now predominantly occupied by private leisure craft, a circumstance which has rendered the use of the sluice gates unviable. The sluices were last run on 12 March 1985, and subsequent cleaning of the harbour has been undertaken by dredging.

DRY DOCK
In 1783 Smeaton was asked to design a dock for occasionally taking in vessels for repair, as by now the harbour had commercial advantages, no longer being simply a haven. Smeaton visited Liverpool to study the construction and operation of the three dry docks there. By 1784 he had produced plans for a dock 110 feet long, 15 feet deep and with a bottom width of 31 feet between stepped sides. His design for the 'dry or Graving Dock' with stone walls and a timber base was accepted. The floor was to comprise double-timber enclosed in 3 inch thick, tongue-and-grooved plank piling set into which was a 4 inch diameter non return valve, made of beech or yew. On 31st July 1784 the first stone for the walls was laid and by August 1786 the dock was complete. Despite an abortive attempt by Henry Cull (the mason) to alter the design and incorporate a stone (instead of timber) floor, the dock was eventually modified back to Smeaton’s original design, by 1791. In 1893, the Isle of Thanet Ice Company Ltd. converted a significant portion of the dry dock (which had not been in use for some years, probably as a result of the construction of the patent slipway in 1838) into an ice-house for the storage of ice brought from Norway. The sides and the floor were lined with mass concrete and a new concrete wall was constructed across the dock to keep out the water from the basin. The ice-house was further sub-divided into three compartments. A wooden single storey shed was built over this area of the dock with a wooden floor supported on timber beams. Hatchways were provided to enable the ice to be removed. In 1923, the need for storing ice had been eliminated and the store shed was removed. In order to utilise the space occupied by the dock and ice-house, the whole area was covered with a reinforced slab. In the 1980s work was undertaken to restore the dock to its original appearance, with only the concrete wall remaining to keep out the water of the basin. The works were completed in 1984.

NO 1 (PATENT) SLIPWAY
In February 1838 a slipway (No 1) was installed to increase the facilities for ship repairs at the harbour, at a cost of £14,000. It was one of the patented slipways that had been invented by shipbuilder Thomas Morton in 1818 (and who had died in 1832). Although the drawing of ships out of water up an inclined plane was an established procedure, the provision of a carriage/cradle on to which ships were floated at low water, revolutionised the process. The carriage ran on rails and, when the vessel was secured by means of sliding blocks or shores, the entire apparatus was winched clear of the water without any stress being placed on the vessel itself. The design enabled shipbuilders to equip themselves with a patent slip at the fraction of the cost of a dry dock, and effect repairs in a much shorter time and in lighter and more congenial conditions. It was portable and more than one vessel could be placed on it at a time. Originally powered by steam, the patent slipway was modified to be electrically driven in 1914 and is still in use today.

Reasons for Listing

The Royal Harbour, Ramsgate, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural and engineering interest:
* the harbour is the combined design work of a number of considerable talents in the fields of engineering and architecture including John Smeaton, Samuel Wyatt, John Rennie Senior and John Rennie Junior;
* the use and invention of a number of specialised solutions due to the unique nature and problems posed by the size and location of the harbour.

Historic interest:
* the harbour has played an important role during national events including the Napoleonic wars, the First World War, when it was a base for the Dover Patrol, and the Second World War, when it was the landing place for many of those soldiers brought home from Dunkirk in the small boats initiative;
* the harbour had a significant part in the development of the town of Ramsgate and its development as a holiday resort in the C19;
* due to George IV’s patronage, the harbour is the only one in England to have received the accolade ‘Royal’ harbour.

Group value:
* with the Clock House (Grade II*, LE 1336325) and the Obelisk (Grade II, LE 1086090) and the Powder Magazine and Walls (Grade II, LE 1376681) and numerous other buildings surrounding the harbour.

External Links

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