Open Weekends
Every year the Western Heights Preservation Society (“WHPS”) host two open weekends where the Drop Redoubt Fort & Grand Shaft are open to the public. These are an ideal opportunity for visitors to explore the fort at their leisure and experience life as it may have been in Napoleonic times with re-enactments, period costumes, replica cannons and displays.
Dates See calendar page
Times Sat/Sun first admission 1000, last admission 1600 fort closes 1700 (No booking required)
Address Drop Redoubt Fort, Drop Redoubt Road, Dover, CT17 9DZ
Prices
- Adults £5
- EH members £2.50
- Children up to 18 free
- WHPS members free
All money raised goes back into the fort and our work once costs have been covered as none of our committee or volunteers take any type of financial reward for their work.
Entry No booking is required, we operate an open site policy on event weekends so you can pay on entry and explore at your leisure
Facilities On site café selling hot and cold drinks, cakes, savouries
Toilets There are no toilets on site although for open weekends a temporary facility is provided outside the fort
Children We welcome visitors of all ages but children must be carefully supervised due to the nature of the site (see site specific info below). The site is not suitable for pushchairs. Visitors are welcome to leave them at the entrance although WHPS cannot accept responsibility for the supervision or loss of left items.
Pets Dogs are welcome on site as long as they remain on a lead and under control. Owners are required to clear up after their pets and should be aware that re-enactments may involve very loud firing.
Disability access We regret that due to the nature of the site and the access difficulties the Drop Redoubt is not suitable for wheelchair access or visitors with limited mobility. Access to the ditches is through a small tunnel with limited headroom for approx. 3-4 feet. There are steps into the fort and access to the vast majority of the fort requires navigating at least 70 steps.
The grand shaft is wheelchair friendly at the lower entrance on Snargate Street where good views up the central light well are available but the upper entrance requires the navigation of a significant number of steep steps.
Parking Free parking is provided for the open weekends. Refer to the event details for location. Directions are available from the fort to nearby parking where provided
Smoking We kindly ask visitors not to smoke in the Drop Redoubt or Grand Shaft for the H&S of other visitors and to protect the monument from damage.
Public Transport There is a regular Stagecoach bus service that runs to the Western Heights, service number 64, running every half an hour on Saturday and every hour on Sunday. Timetables can be downloaded from the Stagecoach website by entering the bus route 64 and selecting Dover Aycliffe route
Photography Visitors are welcome to take video, photographs and utilise photographic opportunities with our re-enactors. Please note that we do not allow the use of drones or other aerial recording devices within the fort for safety reasons.
Site specific The Drop Redoubt & Grand Shaft are Napoleonic structures and listed scheduled ancient monuments. There are numerous steep drops, grass banks, hidden trip hazards and areas of loose brickwork. Safety signs and temporary barriers are installed to protect visitors and we ask you to respect them as they are for your safety. Marshals are on site at all key areas to provide safety and support advice. Please adhere to their instructions. All WHPS marshals will be clearly identified with Hi-Viz vests.
The Western Heights Preservation Society reserve the right to refuse admission to anyone for H&S reasons and may require any visitor to leave the site immediately if they do not comply with clearly identifiable safety instructions or marshal requests.