Southern Breakwater, Including Knuckle And Southern Breakwater Lighthouses

A harbour breakwater completed by 1909 at Dover, constructed by the engineering firm Coode, Son and Mathews as part of the Admiralty Harbour. The structure is listed at Grade II.

The breakwater is an island structure 4,212 feet in length, running east to west between the southerly ends of the Eastern Arm and the Admiralty Pier, with the east end curving to the north. It was constructed of concrete blocks weighing between 26 and 42 tons each, faced above sea level with granite.

At the eastern and western ends are batteries comprising flat-roofed terraces of barracks and magazines built of granite block and concrete, set back from the landward side to allow a walkway along the breakwater. Concrete gun emplacements sit above the barracks, accessed by stone steps from the walkway. Early 20th-century fittings survive, including cast iron railings, panelled timber doors and urinals. The guns have been removed but the emplacements remain. Some barrack rooms retain early 20th-century murals and graffiti, including a depiction of Popeye above a fireplace.

Two cast iron lighthouses mark the breakwater. The West Head Light stands on the west end, painted white with a cylindrical base and four tapering stages between the second and fourth. An external walkway supported on curved brackets surrounds the dome-headed light. The Knuckle Light, approximately three-quarters of the way along the breakwater to the east, marks the point where the breakwater curves to the north. Built of white-painted cast iron on a large rectangular granite plinth, it has three cylindrical stages stepping in above the first stage, with an external walkway supported on brackets surrounding the dome-headed light.

The Southern Breakwater began in 1898 and completed by 1909 as part of Admiralty Harbour, which also included the Eastern Arm and an extension to Admiralty Pier. In an era of torpedo assaults, this harbour was designed to provide protected anchorage for the naval fleet and increase protection of the existing commercial harbour. The breakwater received two six-inch guns installed in concrete emplacements with associated accommodation and magazines at its west end, known as the Breakwater Battery.

During the First World War, the harbour protected the Dover Patrol, a fleet of approximately 40 warships, motor boats and fishing vessels controlling the English Channel. Following the war in 1926, the three component structures were handed to the Dover Harbour Board for commercial administration. With the outbreak of the Second World War, the harbour again became a naval base. The breakwater batteries were reinforced, receiving a new twin six-pounder battery in May 1940. The Knuckle was equipped with searchlight emplacements and, towards the war's end, two four-inch guns were added. The harbour proved particularly important during the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation, when 200,000 men were returned from Dunkirk to Dover in eight days. After 1945, the Navy withdrew and the harbour returned to commercial activity.

The Southern Breakwater survives little altered apart from removal of its guns and includes later 20th-century additions.