I wrote a letter to the Dover Express last week without an answer.
What amazes me is the construction of the Admiralty Pier, Eastern Arm and Breakwater over 100 years ago. The waters here are very deep (up to 90 feet?).
Given the pounding these constructions had from the elements, they must have been made very well.
If you think of it, without the water, they are very precarious being very tall and thin. Did they have to dig down into the sea bed to create level ground and give good foundation? Or is just the weight of construction and bonding that gives it the strength to withstand the wind, waves and undercurrents?
All this done without modern technology. It really was a job well done.
Terry Sutton (Dover Express)reported that the 1839 Parliamentary Commission called for three harbours of refuge along the coast with priority for Dover. If Folkestone was the second does anyone know what was the third please?
This enquiry is from 2010 but I was interested in finding out more info on the POR status of Folkestone for my modeling project of that place. And as yacht sailor on the south coast was more than interested in case of emergency whilst out on the water.
I know that Folkestone was considered for POR status but was rejected because it was impossible to guarantee access for ships at all levels of tide. The first southern pier was a timber and steel rail affair and was built in 1867, but even with the first solid block extension pier in 1883 the harbour was not granted POR status. There was some idea that a pilot station could be provided but this appears not to have been taken forward.
The following is from Lorraine on the Dover Historian,
'In the General election of 1837, John Minet Fector junior was rejected in favour of Edward Royds Rice (1790-1878), who lived at Dane Court, Tilmanstone. He was a partner in the Latham Bank and his manifesto centred on a harbour refuge at Dover. Following his arrival at Westminster he pursued his objective with vigour and in 1839 he successfully laid a motion calling for an inquiry into the need for more harbours of refuge and a Commission was set up to look into the proposition. Under Sir James Gordon the Commission included William Cubitt who had given evidence at the 1836 Inquiry and was, by this time, working for the South Eastern Railway Company (SER). The Commission concluded that there should be three large harbours of refuge along the south coast. For its part, SER had bought Folkestone harbour in March 1843 for £18,000 and were pressing for the proposal to be in Hythe Bay. At last, in 1847, approval was given for four large harbours of refuge – Holyhead, Portland, Alderney and Dover.'
This extract is a part of much more detailed history of the events leading to the building of Dover as we know it today.
