Kent Coastal Redoubt protected once again
A Napoleonic structure threatened after sea defences at the MOD’s Hythe Ranges were battered by the Christmas and New Year storms is now safe thanks to prompt action by Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) staff.
Over the Christmas and New Year break, DIO’s Cinque Ports Training Area (CPTA) in Kent battled the elements and high tides and gale conditions threatened the sea defences at both Lydd and Hythe Ranges.
DIO surveyors alerted the Environment Agency to flooding danger posed by a breach in sea defences at Hythe. This allowed the agency to repair the damage and head off the flood threat to local residents and the Grand Redoubt at Dymchurch.
Tom Dauben from the Environment Agency said:
“Working around the clock with DIO and our contractors enabled us to stabilise the breach and repair the damage. The quick response of all parties ensured that the breach did not deteriorate further and cause flooding to properties or infrastructure.”
The work has now been completed, leaving the Grand Redoubt safe once more. A Scheduled Monument, the fortification was built during the Napoleonic War as part of a large defensive scheme to protect the country from an expected French invasion.
The structure remains the property of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and is used as a training facility.
Richard Goslett, Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s Rural Estate Surveyor at CPTA, said:
“When the storms began at Christmas we monitored the situation closely and alerted the Environment Agency, who carried out emergency repair works on the sea defences at the Redoubt.
“The completion of the repairs has taken longer than expected because the horrendous weather conditions meant that the contractors were only able to work at low tide. They also had to use quick drying concrete to fill in the holes in the sea defences before the next high tide.”
At Hythe Ranges, the heavy seas were so severe that they badly eroded the sea defences in front of the Grand Redoubt. A small hole in the protective sea wall before Christmas had eroded the sea defences and created a hole the size of a volleyball court by the New Year, threatening to flood the Ranges and low lying parts of Dymchurch and Hythe.
Mackley Construction, on behalf of the Environment Agency began work to repair the sea defences in the middle of January. The work was expected to last two weeks, but the continuing bad weather and high tide meant that the work was delayed. Work on the scheme was completed on 14 February 2014.
Talking about the project Lt Col Dickie Bishop MBE, Commander DIO SD Training South East said:
“Completing this work has enabled the DIO to protect a historic coastal Monument and ensure that local residents and their properties – along with our military Ranges and training facilities – are protected from flooding in the future.“
Further information:
Press enquiries to Tony Moran, Senior Communications Officer 0121 311 3879
or email tony.moran572@mod.uk
DIO website: www.gov.uk/dio
Twitter: @mod_dio
Read DIO’s blog: https://insidedio.blog.gov.uk/
Notes to Editors
1) The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) plays a vital role in supporting our Armed Forces by building, maintaining and servicing what the men and women who serve our country need to live, work, train and deploy on operations.
2) DIO is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is responsible for managing and maintaining land and properties, as well as providing related support services, to meet the current and future needs of the MOD and personnel at home and abroad, and to support current operations.
3) Our work includes supporting operational units by providing and improving single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic military sites. DIO actively manages these to ensure the needs of Defence are met, value for money is achieved, and its heritage is protected, and to achieve its environmental goals.
4) Dymchurch Redoubt was built during the Napoleonic War. It is circular in form and built of brick with granite and sandstone dressings, measuring up to 68 metres in diameter and stands 12 metres above the floor of its nine metre-wide dry moat. Beyond the moat, an earth bank or glacis helped to protect the masonry from artillery fire. Built on two stories, the upper floor had open emplacements for ten 24 pounder guns mounted on wooden traversing platforms. The lower floor featured twenty four vaulted barrack and storage casemates, which opened onto a circular parade ground. They were designed to accommodate 350 officers and men. Entry was originally via a wooden footbridge supported by stilts, which could be collapsed in an emergency.
The redoubt is the property of the Ministry of Defence and is still used as a training facility. It is a Scheduled Monument and is listed by English Heritage as a Building At Risk, although a conservation plan has been agreed.
5) Hythe Ranges is one site encompassed within the Environment Agency’s Folkestone to Cliff End Strategy area. This Strategy sets out the Environment Agency’s plans to manage flood and erosion risks along the coastline of Romney Marsh over the next 100 years, taking the predicted impacts of climate change into account.
6) Schemes at Dungeness and along the western Rother have already been completed, with works due to start on a scheme at Broomhill this year. The Environment Agency is currently seeking to progress business cases for the remaining schemes identified by the Strategy, which include works at both Hythe and Lydd Ranges. The existing defences at Hythe and Lydd would be improved to ensure a greater standard of protection against the risk of flooding is provided for both the Ranges and surrounding areas. The Environment Agency is committed to working in close partnership with the MOD to ensure that schemes brought forward for Hythe and Lydd Ranges are both mutually beneficial and sustainable.
7) Picture captions – please credit ‘Crown copyright/MOD 2014’:
Lt Col Dickie Bishop MBE, Commander DIO SD Training South East, inspects the site at Hythe with Dan Burden (left), Site Agent with Mackley Construction, working on behalf of the Environment Agency
Work underway to repair sea defences at Hythe
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