Ramsgate: Coastal Emergency Trail
This virtual guided-walk looks at Ramsgate's Royal Harbour heritage and shows how it is deeply rooted in a history of coastal emergency.
Image source Charles Turner after Joseph Mallord William Turner, A Shipwreck 1806-7, Photo © Tate. CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 (Unported)
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*Our self-guided Low Tide Trails can be followed virtually as well as physically. If you do go for a physical walk using our trail as a guide you are responsible for your own welfare and safety. MOLA/CITiZAN cannot accept any liability for injury/damage/trespass as a result.
Ramsgate Clockhouse & harbour origins
Image source (thanetonline.blogspot.com)
In 1703 one of the worst storms documented in English maritime history hit the SE coast.
Known as The Great Storm it caused more costly damage than the fire of London. Eddystone lighthouse in Plymouth was swept away & HMS Association was blown from Harwich all the way to Gothenburg in Sweden. In Kent a boat was washed 800ft inshore while the counting of fallen trees was abandoned at 17,000. Occurring during the War of Spanish Succession, the Navy had been preparing for a raid on Cadiz. 13 ships from the fleet were blown off their moorings & wrecked on the Goodwin Sands with the loss of almost 1,500 men in one night alone. The only ships that survived were those that managed to shelter at Ramsgate.
The refuge Ramsgate was able to provide for ships navigating this dangerous stretch of water in subsequent storms contributed to the decision to build a harbour in the 18thC, as a matter of sea safety.
Work didn't commence on the harbour until 1749 & in 1817 the Clockhouse was built. Designed by Samuel Wyatt as the harbour office, it was later adapted by John Rennie. Famously it had its own meridian line called Ramsgate Meridian 5m 41s ahead of Greenwich MT.
Behind the Clockhouse are the slipways. These are built on the site of a Roman pier where 4thC Roman coins have been found. In front of the Clockhouse, in the eastern corner of the harbour, the remains of a dry dock designed by John Smeaton can be seen.
Sundowner: Dunkirk little ship
Image source © IWM HU 104607
Sundowner was built in Sheerness (1912) & may have served as a harbour launch in WWI, though little is known of its history at this time.
In 1930 she was discovered laid up in Conyer Creek by Sylvia & Commander Lightoller, who bought her for conversion to a ketch rigged sailing yacht.
Commander Lightoller, already a famous character, had started his career as an apprentice on a Barque out of Liverpool docks & by just 14 had survived his first shipwreck in the Indian Ocean. In 1912 he set out as Second Officer on a famous new ship, the Titanic. Diving off the side of the ship he clung to a raft and was rescued by the Carpathia, making him the most senior surviving officer.
In 1939 the Lightollers were charged with an espionage mission which sent them undercover to the East Frisian Islands, where they had sailed recreationally in the past on Sundowner. Posing as holidaying yachters they produced survey reports of the German Baltic coast. After their return Sundowner was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1940 for Operation Dynamo & the evacuation of Dunkirk. Insisting on captaining the vessel, Lightoller set sail on June 1st with his youngest son & a seacout. They returned to Ramsgate with 130 men. There was said to be a dark humour amongst the soldiers on boarding, when they realised the identity and history of their famous captain.
Sundowner spent the rest of the war as a coastal patrol boat, rescuing pilots from aircraft including Spitfires & a Walrus Seaplane.
Cervia: steam tug
Image source © IWM A 14822
This recently restored steam tug was built in 1946 by William Watkins with insurance money from his two former tugs, Napia & Muria, which were sunk by mines off Ramsgate in WW2. It was named after Watkins' former boat of the same name , which returned from Dunkirk with 230 men.
Whilst in service one of Cervia's roles was freeing ships aground on the Goodwin Sands & in 1954 she was involved in her own maritime disaster in Tilbury. Here she was undocking the liner Arcadia when it was forced to manoeuvre suddenly, avoiding collision with another large ship. In the process Cervia was dragged over & sunk with the loss of 6 of her crew. She was eventually salvaged & refitted in Ramsgate before being restored to service in 1969.
Ramsgate RNLI
Image source (thanetonline.blogspot.com)
The current RNLI station was opened in 1998 costing £230,000. Before this the service was spread around the harbour between various moorings & facilities. It has a rich history & the crew pride themselves in taking no more than 10 minutes from receiving a distress call to leaving the station. It's a busy station on account of the dangerous Goodwin Sands, which has over 2,000 recorded wrecks.
One of the most famous incidents for the station was the shipwreck of the Indian Chief in 1881. This saw a 1,238 ton Barque on route from Middlesbrough to Yokohama caught & then grounded off the SE coast in a fierce storm. The crew sent distress signals and as the ship broke up they strapped themselves to the masts. Receiving word of a signal the lifeboat Bradford & tug Vulcan set out from Ramsgate & unable to locate the ship made the brave decision to remain at sea overnight. They located the Indian Chief the following day & rescued 11 of the 29 crew, who had survived on the only remaining of the three masts. The dead captain's brother, Howard Primrose Fraser died on the Bradford during their return to Ramsgate. The grandchild of one of the RNLI crewmen was named Howard Primrose in his honour and went on to take the Ramsgate lifeboat to Dunkirk. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his role in the evacuation of troops.
Survey report for Indian Chief (1879). (Lloyds Register Foundation)
Lazy Days: Dunkirk Little Ship
Image source © IWM C 1720
Ramsgate harbour was critical for Operation Dynamo both as an assembly point for little ships & as the place where 40,000 Dunkirk survivors disembarked on their return.
Lazy Days was built in 1930 in Yorkshire & was probably attached to the Sheerness Naval Base HMS Wildfire as a minesweeper during WW2. She spent a full 3 days at Dunkirk ferrying troops to larger vessels off East Beach under fierce aerial attack. Sustaining major damage she eventually returned with many of her ribs broken beneath the water line.
After Dunkirk she was on mine-sweeping patrol when her petty officer took a disliking to a young lieutenant on board. Drunk he assaulted the young man and was court-martialed in Chatham before being sent to military prison. On the way to his sentence he gave his guards the slip & disappeared.
Lighthouse & pier battery
Though a pier lighthouse was designed by John Smeaton in 1783, there is no evidence it was actually built. However it's known that a substantial lighthouse was built in 1795 by Samual Wyatt, on such a scale the light alone was reported to have been 34 feet tall. The one seen today is made from Cornish granite & replaced it in 1842. Inscribed in the stone are the words PERFUGIAM MISERIS meaning refuge for those in need.
In WW2 a battery was situated on the other pier arm just across from this point. It's role was in targeting fast moving surface vessels such as German motor torpedo boats. Known as schnellboots, these were used for mine laying in the area & capable of accelerating to 48 knots. The 12 pounder guns were quick firing & manned by members of the 549 coast regiment.
The Grange & Augustus Pugin
Famous Architect Augustus Pugin is best known for his collaboration with Charles Barry in designing the houses of parliament, however in 1841 he bought land in Ramsgate & subsequently designed & built The Grange. Conceived to fulfill his aspirations of living a simple & communal Catholic way of life it became his family home in 1848.
Pugin's design incorporated a tower at the top of the building which he used as a lookout post. From here he could scour the Goodwin Sands for signs of sailors in distress, before putting out on his own personal lifeboat Caroline, rescuing the survivors & claiming the wreck as salvage. A cynical reading of Pugin's heroic & eccentric pursuit is that he had setup an elaborate business model, which enabled him to procure free high-quality interior building materials in the form of stricken ships.
Sailors' Church & Smack Boys' Home
Image source (thanetonline.blogspot.com)
Formerly a prolific centre for fishing, by the mid-19th century Ramsgate had become the foremost fishing port in Kent and prior to WWI could boast a fleet of over 160 trawlers. However the war took it's toll & with heavy losses to U-boats & mines the fleet was relocated to Brixham never to return, though some vessels remained forming part of the armed Dover Patrol.
The fishing smacks relied heavily on apprentices & in 1882 the Smack Boys' home was founded. It could accommodate 41 young apprentices, sometimes as young as 10 & often from local workhouses. The Sailor's Church was founded in 1878 to provide a harbour mission & spiritual refuge for seamen. It would also house shipwrecked sailor's at no charge & sheltered 3,300 such mariners over the course of its lifetime.
The steps to the left of the Sailor's church are known locally as Jacob's Ladder. Before Military Road was built, during the Napoleonic wars, this provided the main access to the harbour. Originally constructed in 1753 from wood, it was replaced by stone in 1823 & is the subject of local smuggling legends.
Royal Temple Yacht Club & HMS Fervent
Image source (rtyc.com)
Facing the harbour & above Royal Parade, the Royal Temple Yacht Club can be seen. Founded in 1857 it saw the relocation of London's elite gentlemen's yachting circles, following difficulties they faced through commercial shipping in the Thames.
Towards the end of the 19thC there were many famous regular yachts at their annual Ramsgate week, including Kaiser Wilhelm's Meteor & George V's cutter Britannia.
During WW2 the building was established as the mess & control station for HMS Fervent. This was an important Naval Coastal Forces base which conducted activities out of Ramsgate Harbour and coordinated Motor Torpedo Boats, Motor Gun Boats & Motor Launches between 1940-1945.
Obelisk: seaside resort & Royal Harbour
This Obelisk was erected to commemorate Ramsgate receiving the only Royal Harbour status in the UK from George IV in 1821. Allegedly this was to celebrate the hospitality he received on his departure and return whilst visiting his native Hannover that year. However there is an alternative story.
George disliked his wife Caroline of Brunswick so much she wasn't invited to his coronation. When she arrived at Dover, irrespective of his wishes, the people celebrated ostentatiously and displayed great affection for their new Royal. Allegedly George begrudged Dover for this & wanted to embark elsewhere when visiting home. The Royal Harbour status may have been a symbolic act designed to undermine Ramsgate's sister port.
Queen Victoria famously holidayed in Ramsgate as a child, where she enjoyed donkey riding on the beach and bathing. In 1854 she bought this painting which shows Albion House (topmost) where she stayed. She also stayed in Townley & West Cliffe house, though disliked the latter, possibly due to her favourite donkey dying there.
The Royal Pavilion behind the obelisk was built in 1903. Based on Versaille's Little Theatre it was constructed for £35,000 and finished in just 6 weeks, in time for the festival season that year.
Wellington Crescent & coastal battery
During the Napoleonic Wars, Ramsgate became a busy garrison town. For a short period it was even fortified, though there is little evidence of this remaining. Rifle shooting took place on the sands & drill parades were performed in Spencer Square. During this period it is estimated over 300 ships took 50,000 troops to the continent & in 1815 the Household Cavalry & Royal Dragoons were transported from Ramsgate in 34 ships to fight in the battle of Waterloo. Those that died during their return to the port are buried in St Laurence's churchyard. The Duke of Wellington is said to have socialised in the Falstaff pub, which still stands on Addington Street.
Wellington Crescent is named as an apt reminder of this history & is situated where many men camped in tents, as part of a system of overflow to the busy barracks. In WW2 a coastal battery consisting of 2 breech loading ex-Naval 6" guns was situated in the crescent, forming part of Eastern Command's coastal defences.
Granville Hotel
Image source (thanetonline.blogspot.com)
Built in gothic-revival style architecture in 1869, The Granville Hotel was designed by Edward Pugin, son of the more famous Augustus Pugin. Forming an important part of Ramsgate's seaside identity, when the hotel opened it could boast 25 different types of bath and specialised in providing spas.
In WWI it served as The Granville Canadian Special Hospital and in 1915 accommodated 805 wounded soldiers. In WW2 the Granville suffered a direct hit by a bomb, the damage from which is still traceable through the newer brickwork visible in the southern half of the building.
Ramsgate tunnels
Image source (www.michaelsbookshop.com)
Originally constructed for a railway connecting the harbour station with the main line, Ramsgate Tunnels are two and a half miles long and in some places as much as 27 metres below the surface.
In WWI Ramsgate was known as the most bombed seaside town due to Zeppelin & Gotha Bomber raids. The tunnels became a major shelter. This function was increased in WW2 when Ramsgate suffered badly from air-raids, resulting in evacuation for the majority of inhabitants. So severe were the bombings that for some periods of the war those remaining in Ramsgate lived exclusively beneath the ground, in a tunnel complex capable of sheltering up to 60,000 people. On the 24th August 1940, 500 bombs were dropped on Ramsgate in 5 minutes.
Merrie England & WW2 ammunition store
Image source (www.britainfromabove.org.uk)
In 1863 Ramsgate Harbour Station was opened on this site, improving Ramsgate's status as a seaside destination. After closure in 1926 the site was converted into Pleasureland, a funfair later known as Merrie England.
In WW2 the complex was transformed into a major centre for Naval shore base HMS Fervent, which made use of the protective tunnels & established accommodation for servicemen in a series of huts. It also provided the ammunition store for the 6" coastal battery situated above in Wellington Crescent, which could draw quickly from the store using a lift system.
This is the last point on the trail. If you would like to learn more about the sites we work on, please go to www.citizan.org.uk to see local events, our interactive coastal map & to help us monitor vulnerable coastal archaeology by becoming a CITiZAN volunteer .
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