Historic Properties : South East

The year saw the opening of 2 new areas of Dover Castle when the former Second World War hospital tunnels were opened to visitors. This grid of tunnels was excavated in 1941 as an hospital and dressing station but later in the war was used primarily as dormitories. Extensive research was necessary to establish the precise use of each part of the system and with generous help from the medical museum at Aldershot it had been possible to recreate salient parts of the tunnels as they would have been in the early years of the war. Considerable conservation work as well as the introduction of safety features was necessary. The latest in display technology creates the sights, sounds, and smells of a front-line hospital under bombardment; little is left to the imagination, least of all in the operating theatre. This is not a visit for the squeamish or faint-hearted! The cliff-top area to the rear of Admiralty Lookout will also be opened during the summer. Once the site of the Garrison Hospital and a series of gun-batteries, the area had long been covered in spoil, derelict, and closed to visitors. A documentary evaluation was followed by limited archaeological investigation to establish a level to which turf could be laid without disturbing archaeological remains. For safety reasons, new railings have been erected back from the cliff-edge. A new metal staircase has been installed to the rear of the Admiralty Lookout which will allow visitors onto the roof from where there are spectacular views across the English Channel. The second phase of this project will be to conserve and open the interior of the Admiralty Look-out, to carry out further clearance of the area to display the 1870's Hospital Battery, and to lay out the surrounding area to its 1945 levels.

Elsewhere in Dover Castle, conservation work on the inner Bailey Wall is nearly complete. This has entailed extensive recording and survey work, the results of which are still being evaluated, followed by minimal conservation work consistent with securing the long-term stability of the fabric. Like most parts of Dover Castle, Henry II's Inner Bailey Wall has seen numerous repairs and maintenance works by the army over the centuries, but it is still substantially as completed in the 1190s.

At Battle Abbey a continuing programme of recording and conservation work reached the west claustral range of abbey buildings. This range, now Battle Abbey School, has had little conservation work done to it since it was restored by Sir Harold Brakespear following the serious fire in January 1931. Work is also proceeding conserving the church crypt, excavated in the 19th century. Again little work has been done here since the 1930s. Proof, if such was needed, that conservation of buildings, especially ruined ones, is a never-ending cycle, has been provided by the need to carry out further work on the remains of the reredorter, excavated in the late 1970s and first conserved some 15 years ago. Here, a combination of soft sandstone, decay of the original lime mortars, and a series of heavy frosts has led to a further phase of conservation which has included limited stone replacement where the originals had perished.

At Pevensey Castle, work is well advanced on the conservation of the medieval castle walls. At Fort Cumberland, a start has been made conserving the brickwork of the counterscarp walls. Fort Cumberland, which guards the eastern sea approach to Portsea Island and the Hayling Island Channel, shows the development of the bastioned fort in its final form. It is one of the most impressive artillery forts in Britain and came into guardianship when it was vacated by the Royal Marines. At Osborne House, work is continuing to restore the estate to its former glory. After archaeological and documentary work, the parterres (ornamental flower beds) on the upper terrace have been reinstated and planted with flowers appropriate to the late-19th century. As well as these major conservation projects, the task of recording the region's monuments continues. In addition this year has seen the start of the project for a new museum and visitor centre for St Augustine's Abbey which will open in time for the 1400 anniversary celebrations in 1997.