Western Heights: The Grand Shaft
We've been meaning to visit the Grand Shaft ever since we'd seen Dan Jones talk about it on Great British Castles. We've walked past the upper gates many times but it never coincided with their opening times as they are only open on certain dates, however it worked out nicely thanks to the Heritage Open Day and we managed the main sites in one visit.
The Grand Shaft was constructed between 1806 and 1809, it took three years due to bad weather causing the shafts to collapse. It is the only triple spiral staircase in the country and its reason to be was as a quick means to get from town to the barracks and vice versa. Designed by Brigadier-General William Twiss, the shaft consists of three staircases to ensure the safety and efficiency of the troops using them. It was thought that if the French invaded this would be the quickest way for the troops to reach the town below, having three times as many men being able to race down the staircases at once. Without the shaft the men would have had to use the roads or tracks which were unreliable or slow due to slipping hazards caused by the chalk of the cliff. At the nearby Citadel there are two double spiral staircase shafts leading to elsewhere within the fort.
The staircases begin at the parade ground by the Grand Shaft Barracks and lead down to a long corridor that connects to Snargate Street. A guardroom and cells were built at the end of the corridor in order for many a disgraced solider to sleep off his wares before returning to the barracks above as Snargate street was known for its taverns and places of ill-repute.
The threat of a French invasion subsided and the barracks became merely holding accommodation which led to a supposed segregation of these staircases. It was rumoured that one was for Officers and their ladies, one for Sergeants and their wives, and finally one for Soldiers and their women. This was the core of Victorian hierarchy rearing its ugly head and causing segregation. Of course this is but an urban legend due to there being no evidence of such a use of this shaft, but it does seem likely as class was everything during this era.
Once the Second World War passed, the site fell to ruin along with the rest of Western Heights and the 1960s brought demolition to the fortress. The Grand Shaft Barracks were demolished and the shaft became a dumping ground before it was cleared out by the council and reopened to the public as a tourist attraction following the preservation order of the area. A replica guardhouse was even built on the site of the original and is now the visitor centre.
Now we wont lie and say this was an easy staircase to scale. There are quite a few steps, all made of limestone and all of slightly different levels of steepness. Yogi, ever willing to show he has mastered stairs (when we first rescued him he couldn't climb stairs), raced up and down them with the skill only a Chow Chow evolving into a mountain Goat can while we followed with speed downward but had to force ourselves upward. There are 140 steps per stair case with another 59 leading from the shaft back up to the former barracks. We were sweating, out of breath, but it was worth it.
The shaft is quite haunting in itself as it acts as a conduit for sounds below at Snargate street to travel up to the heights. This can be a bit scary when you have kids at the bottom making ghoulish noises and there is no one in sight. No doubt phantom footsteps can be heard at night as several pairs of boots scale the stairs, as for us, we didn't see anything spooky, but the premise is there. It really is a stunning structure and we are glad it survived the demolition 60s.
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
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