Eastern Arm, Dover Harbour

Eastern Arm, Dover Harbour

A harbour pier completed by 1908, constructed by the engineering firm Coode, Son and Mathews as part of the Admiralty Harbour project. The late 20th-century control tower at the end is not of special interest.

The structure is 3,300 feet long and projects from the landward side in a south-westerly direction, forming the eastern side of Dover Harbour. It is constructed of concrete blocks weighing 26 to 42 tons each, faced above sea level with granite. The seaward side is battered while the harbour side has vertical sides. The seaward end is splayed. Towards the end on the harbour side is a flight of stone steps.

During the First World War, accommodation and magazines were provided towards the end on the harbour side for gunners protecting the 670-foot-long entrance to the harbour between the Eastern Arm and the Southern Breakwater.

The Eastern Arm was built between 1898 and 1908 as part of Admiralty Harbour, a scheme also including extensions to Admiralty Pier and the Southern Breakwater. The harbour was designed to provide a protected anchorage for the naval fleet and increase protection of the commercial harbour. The structure does not appear on the 1898 Ordnance Survey map but is shown complete on the 1908 sheet. Defences were concentrated on the ends of the breakwaters during the final construction phases, including anti-aircraft guns in concrete emplacements, searchlights in boom defences, and associated accommodation and magazines. During the First World War, the harbour served as a haven for the Dover Patrol maintaining control of the English Channel.

In 1926, the three components of Admiralty Harbour were handed over to the Dover Harbour Board for administration as a commercial undertaking, the military having determined the harbour had limited military use. A car ferry service began from the Eastern Arm in 1928. During the Second World War, Dover Harbour played a crucial role in the 1940 Dunkirk evacuation. After 1945 the Navy withdrew, and in 1953 a car ferry service was started from the Eastern Docks. A Hoverport opened here in 1966 but was relocated to the Western Docks in 1978. A car ferry terminal currently adjoins the site.